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IU Bloomington Chancellor Gros Louis announces 2001 retirement
May 10, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Kenneth R. R. Gros Louis announced today (May 10) that he will retire as vice president for academic affairs and chancellor of the Indiana University Bloomington campus on June 30, 2001. His retirement will mark the end of a 21-year term as the campus chief executive.
Gros Louis, professor of English and of comparative literature, is former dean of the IU College of Arts and Sciences and former chair of the IU English department. He received a distinguished teaching award in 1970.
"Ken has provided outstanding leadership for the Bloomington campus for an extraordinarily long period of time," said IU President Myles Brand. "He is a man of deep learning and human compassion and someone who has represented the best values of the academy. As a result, the IU Bloomington campus has made enormous strides during his tenure. Every member of the IU community will miss his steady hand, his insight and his wonderful humor. Our university is a far better place because of him."
With few exceptions, Gros Louis has appointed every major administrator now serving on the Bloomington campus. His administration has been known for its support of new ideas and programs from many quarters, including the Wells Program for Outstanding Young Scholars, more international opportunities (he himself has traveled on behalf of the university to Hungary, Poland, Vietnam, Thailand and Spain), Arts Weekend and individual faculty projects.
"Ken Gros Louis is something that I as a faculty member thought that I would never see: a good administrator," said Myrtle Scott, professor emerita of education and former president of the Bloomington Faculty Council. "In fact, he has been an excellent administrator: an academic all the way, but knowledgeable about and sensitive to all of today's issues in the modern university."
Students also participated in many of his initiatives, including the establishment of the Friends and Fellows programs in the residence halls, the appointment of a vice chancellor for academic support and diversity, and the Minority Achievers Program.
"The chancellor's commitment to students has been a hallmark of his tenure at Indiana and a reflection of everything that is special about this university," said Mark Jensen, a former student and currently a lawyer in Indianapolis. "His accessibility to students and the genuine warmth with which he regards them are remarkable attributes that truly make him a student's chancellor."
Gros Louis also fashioned his administration in concert with the principles of faculty governance of the institution.
University Dean of Education Donald Warren said, "Ken has profound respect for the faculty voice in university affairs, and indeed for the voices of students and staff. He also listens deeply. His uncompromising civility has infused the campus and the university so thoroughly that the rest of us tend to take it for granted. In fact it is one of IU's strikingly unique characteristics, and it can be traced to Ken's example and leadership, exerted typically with wry, penetrating humor. He has set the elevated tone of our academic community."
Sherry Fisher, director of recruitment and retention for the School of Education and a former head of the Bloomington Professional Council, recalled the respect Gros Louis brought to his relationships with university staff.
"Ken has had a profound influence on professional staff on the Bloomington campus," Fisher said. "Through the Bloomington Professional Council, he has supported this constituency in numerous ways. In addition to providing generous financial support, he has consistently ensured the presence of members of the professional staff on university committees. He has invited, listened to, and considered our ideas, concerns and questions on a variety of university initiatives. He not only talks of collaboration among faculty, staff and students, but he works hard to ensure its success."
Active in broader higher education circles, Gros Louis has served since 1986 as chair of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the consortium of academic interests of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago.
"Ken Gros Louis is a national resource," said Robert Bringel, vice president for academic affairs and provost of Purdue University. "He is the person everyone in our position calls for advice. No one has done the job better, and no one has served longer. He is the glue, the conscience and the stability of the CIC."
Gros Louis also is a trustee of the North Central Association, an accrediting body for universities. He is a former member of the board of directors of Blue Cross of Indiana, the Associated Group, Anthem Inc., and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He was elected in the early 1990s to the Indiana Academy and is a former chair of the Indiana Humanities Council.
Gros Louis said he plans to continue teaching in retirement and to be available to help the university in any way possible.
(Perry Metz, 812-855-9014, metz@indiana.edu)