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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, October 18, 2007

Inaugural address of IU President Michael A. McRobbie: Summary and Highlights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 18, 2007

Summary:

In his inaugural address, Indiana University's 18th president Michael A. McRobbie outlined an ambitious vision for the university and called for a renewed commitment to IU's two fundamental missions: education and research. Furthermore, he emphasized that the university's success in achieving these missions will ensure that IU is fully engaged in the life of the state of Indiana.

President McRobbie introduced a number of goals and initiatives focused on dramatically strengthening a wide range of areas, including faculty and educational excellence, space for teaching and research, the life sciences, engagement with the state, the arts and humanities, and international programs and global literacy. Drawing on IU's proud history of endurance, adaptation and renewal, these goals and initiatives (highlighted below) are aimed at achieving academic excellence and making IU one of the great universities of the 21st century.

Highlights:

• Establishing the Herman B Wells Presidential Professorship to recruit new faculty who are at the pinnacle of their professions, such as Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and elected members of the National Academies.
• Rejuvenating the title of Distinguished Professor to recognize the very best faculty.
• Establishing a $1 million intercampus research fund to support joint research projects between the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.
• Launching a $4 million "Degrees of Excellence" initiative to increase graduation rates.
• Upgrading all IU Bloomington residence halls over the next 15 years, giving students more and better room for living and learning.
• Launching a half billion dollar initiative to construct new buildings and facilities in Bloomington and Indianapolis.
• Building Life Sciences 3, a renewed commitment to IU's life sciences initiative.
• Launching the "Innovate Indiana" initiative to consolidate IU's economic development activities and provide a single point of contact for IU's partners.
• Constructing a new incubator facility in Bloomington at the technology-rich precinct located at 10th and the Bypass.
• Converting the old University Theatre into a state-of-the-art facility to support the study of traditional and modern film.
• Building a new international studies building at IU Bloomington that will house many of IU's international departments, programs and centers.
• Raising a multi-million dollar endowment to support scholarships for overseas study.

Note: The full text of the speech will be available after the inauguration ceremony at https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/6604.html and at the Office of the President Web site, https://www.indiana.edu/~pres.

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