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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana University will recognize the generations-long generosity of Col. Eli Lilly and his family by naming its new school of philanthropy for them.
The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy—believed to be the first of its kind—is set to be christened at a ceremony Tuesday afternoon, although the university’s board of trustees still must formally approve the moniker.
Lilly, a chemist and Civil War veteran, founded pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co.. In 1937, his son, Josiah, and grandsons seeded the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment with gifts of stock in the company. It remains one of the country’s largest private foundations.
“The Lilly family’s name is synonymous with philanthropy in Indiana and around the world,” founding Dean Gene Tempel said in a prepared statement. “We are pleased that the school’s name will honor their philanthropic leadership.”
The endowment has given IU and its Center on Philanthropy—the predecessor to the new school—more than $80 million over the years to build a philanthropic studies powerhouse. Ruth Lilly donated another $10 million to establish the Ruth Lilly professorship program there, the university said.
Approved by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education last year, the School of Philanthropy will offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, programs that are already in place on the IUPUI campus.
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