IU Preparing For University’s Bicentennial
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana is celebrating its bicentennial this year and Indiana University is preparing to do the same very soon. IU President Michael McRobbie has created a Bicentennial Steering Committee to plan and organize activities leading up to the university’s bicentennial in the 2019-2020 school year.
The committee will be in charge of gathering input on themes and a framework for the bicentennial as well as setting goals and objectives for university-wide activities, publications, public engagement and other signature events and projects. It will also create plans for public art and campus beautification projects and ways to "enhance and expand the historical record of the university."
"The Bicentennial Year will be, in the truest sense of the word, a unique occasion in the life of this great university," said McRobbie. "It will be a marvelous and unrepeatable opportunity to reflect on Indiana University’s extraordinary contributions to education, learning and research for 200 years, its impact on the state, nation and the world, and to begin to envision all that it will become in its next century."
The Bicentennial Steering Committee will be co-chaired by professors Kathy Johnson and Steve Watt. Kelly Kish, deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President, will serve as bicentennial director. Members of the committee include:
- Simon Atkinson, Chancellor’s Professor of Biology and Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, IUPUI
- Kelly Bomba, Senior Assistant Athletic Director for External Operations/Director of Principal Gifts, IU Athletics
- Doug Booher, Director of University Events
- Katy Börner, Victor H. Yngve Professor of Information Systems, IU Bloomington
- David Brenneman, Director, IU Art Museum
- James Capshew, Associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Science and University Historian (ex-officio)
- Rebecca Carl, Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice President for Engagement
- Janet Carpenter, Distinguished Professor of Nursing, IUPUI
- Lillian Casillas, Director, La Casa/Latino Cultural Center, IU Bloomington
- Niki DaSilva, undergraduate student, IUPUI
- Zebulun Davenport, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, IUPUI
- Richard Dupree, Executive Vice President for Development, IU Foundation
- Valerie Eickmeier, Dean, Herron School of Art and Design, IUPUI
- Janice Lin Farlow, M.D./Ph.D. student and former member of the IU Board of Trustees
- J T. Forbes, Chief Executive Officer, IU Alumni Association
- Dennis Groth, Associate Professor of Informatics and Computing and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, IU Bloomington
- Richard Gunderman, Chancellor’s Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Philosophy, Liberal Arts, Philanthropy, and Medical Humanities and Health Studies, IUPUI
- Kathy Johnson, Professor of Psychology and Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, IUPUI (co-chair)
- Kelly Kish, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President and Director, IU Bicentennial (ex-officio)
- James Madison, Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor Emeritus, Department of History, IU Bloomington
- Michael Martin, Professor of Communication and Culture, Professor of American Studies and Director, Black Film Center/Archive, IU Bloomington
- Shawn Reynolds, Associate Vice President for International Partnerships, Office of the Vice President for International Affairs
- Gwyn Richards, Dean, Jacobs School of Music, IU Bloomington
- Jim Sherman, Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences, IU Bloomington
- Jack Tharp, former Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, IU Kokomo
- Adam Thies, Assistant Vice President, Capital Planning and Facilities, Office of the Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities
- Carolyn Walters, Associate Librarian and Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries
- Jalen Watkins, undergraduate student, IU Bloomington
- Stephen Watt, Provost Professor of English and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, College of Arts and Sciences, IU Bloomington (co-chair)
- James Wimbush, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs and Dean, University Graduate School
- Marianne Wokeck, Chancellor’s Professor of History, IUPUI
McRobbie also named faculty member James Capshew as IU’s first university historian. Capshew will chair IU’s Council of Historians, which will coordinate research and public outreach for all aspects of the bicentennial. Its members include:
- Dionne Danns, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, School of Education, IU Bloomington
- Sarah Heath, Chair of the Department of Sociology, History and Political Science, IU Kokomo
- Elizabeth Gritter, Assistant Professor of History and Director, Institute for Local and Oral History, IU Southeast
- James Lutz, Chair of the Department of Political Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
- Stephen McShane, Director of the Calumet Regional Archives, IU Northwest
- Alison Stankrauff, Archivist and Associate Librarian, Franklin D. Schurz Library, IU South Bend
- Stephen E. Towne, Assistant University Archivist, University Libraries, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
- Frances Yates, Director of the IU East Campus Library, IU East
The work of the steering committee and council of historians will come in conjunction with IU’s Bicentennial Strategic Plan and the For All: The Bicentennial Campaign for Indiana University initiatives. The latter is a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign, the larges in IU’s history.
