Background
Shindle was born on November 2, 1930 in Van Orin, Illinois, United States; the son of Ira William Shindle and Elsie Virginia Showalter.
Shindle was born on November 2, 1930 in Van Orin, Illinois, United States; the son of Ira William Shindle and Elsie Virginia Showalter.
Shindle earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Illinois Wesleyan University in 1959. Four years later he was given a Master of Music degree in Musicology and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Musicology in 1970 from the Indiana University.
Shindle began his career as a teacher at Calvert County High School in 1959 and held it for a year. In 1962, he took a position of a research assistant at Indiana University. Two years later William became an instructor at Harpur College (nowadays Binghamton University).
Then in 1966 he was appointed a professor of a music history at Kent State University. Since 1991 Shindle has been a professor emeritus at the same university.
In 2001, he published numerous articles for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Shindle is a member of American Musicological Society and Pennsylvania German Society.