Professor fatally shot on Mississippi campus was KU doctoral grad

The professor shot and killed Monday morning in his office at Mississippi’s Delta State University received his doctorate from Kansas University eight years ago.

Ethan Schmidt, a 39-year-old assistant professor of American history at Delta State in Cleveland, Miss., completed his doctoral degree from KU in 2007, according to his Delta State faculty profile. Prior to studying at KU, Schmidt received master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Emporia State University.

KU history professor Paul Kelton, who was Schmidt’s doctoral adviser, said he was “heartbroken” about the news of Schmidt’s death.

“Ethan was an amazing person — gifted as a teacher and historian, a loving father of three children. KU has lost a dear family member,” Kelton said.

Ethan A. Schmidt

Kelton described Schmidt as “full of energy and optimism.”

“I always thought he brought out the best in those with whom he interacted: his fellow classmates, his students, and his professors,” Kelton said. “He just recently published two books and was on his way to a stellar career. Delta was fortunate to have him; KU was fortunate to have him as a student.”

Schmidt directed the first-year seminar program and specialized in Native American and colonial history, said Don Allan Mitchell, an English professor at the school, who called him “a gentleman in every sense of the word.”

“Dr. Ethan Schmidt was a terrific family man, a good friend, a true son of Peabody, Kansas, and his beloved Emporia State University,” he said.

Karen Manners Smith, one of his history professors at Emporia State University, described him as one of the “brightest students” she’d ever taught.

“He was a super competent human being. He was president of his fraternity, in student government. He was an absolutely delightful student,” Smith said.

Schmidt often posted about his alma maters on Twitter under the name DocJayhawk.

This summer, he proudly followed the KU basketball team’s gold-medal journey at the World University Games in South Korea and helped welcome the team back to Lawrence at Hoglund Ballpark.

Shannon Lamb, who was an instructor at Delta State, was suspected in the fatal shooting of Schmidt as well as that of a woman on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast 300 miles away from the college. Lamb was found dead late Monday near Greenville, Miss., from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

At some point Monday, Lamb had been in contact with police and told them he was “not going to jail,” authorities said.

During the first hours of the police search for suspect, terrified students and teachers hunkered down in classrooms for hours. The Delta State campus was put on lockdown as armed officers methodically went through buildings, checking in closets, behind doors and under tables and desks. The lockdown was lifted hours later, but security remained tight.

Investigators said Lamb, 45, was also a suspect in the slaying of 41-year-old Amy Prentiss, who was found dead in the home she shared with Lamb in Gautier.

Officers said they had not uncovered a motive for either slaying.

Lamb received a doctorate in education from Delta State University in the spring of 2015, according to his resume posted on the university’s website. He started working there in 2009 and taught geography and education classes, and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, according to the resume.

Delta State President Bill LaForge said Lamb was teaching two online classes this semester.