Michigan professor accused of sexual misconduct retires

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A University of Michigan violin professor whom students accused of sexual misconduct going back years has retired.

The Ann Arbor school told The Detroit News that Stephen Shipps retired on Feb. 28.

The school hired Shipps in 1989. He took a leave of absence on Dec. 7, three days before the Michigan Daily published a story in which students accused him of engaging in sexual relationships with teenage students, unwanted touching and making inappropriate statements.

Neither Shipps’ attorney, David Nacht, nor a school spokeswoman replied to messages seeking comment left by The Associated Press.

One of Shipps’ accusers told The Detroit News that she lost her virginity to Shipps when she was a 17-year-old high school student in the late 1970s, when Shipps was concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony in Nebraska.