Teresa Lubbers, the Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education, was presented with an IUPUI Chancellor's Medallion by Chancellor Nasser H. Paydar on February 10, 2022. Lubbers was honored for her visionary leadership and service to the state of Indiana as commissioner and as an Indiana senator dedicated to strengthening higher education and post-secondary academic opportunities available to all Hoosier students.
An Indianapolis native and first-generation college student, Lubbers was appointed as Commissioner for Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education in 2009. During her tenure as commissioner, Lubbers worked to increase college graduation rates, to ensure academic quality and student success, to align postsecondary credentials with meaningful careers, and to develop and implement Indiana’s higher education strategic plans. Prior to joining the Commission for Higher Education, she served as an Indiana State Senator for 17 years, leading education and economic development issues as chair of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee.
An active and engaged community and civil servant, Lubbers co-founded the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series to increase the number and influence of women in local, state, and national elected and appointed offices. She is a past chair of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, and the Higher Learning Advocates Board of Directors. Lubbers is a member of the Advisory Council for the Institute for Workforce Excellence, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, and the Indiana Education Roundtable.
Lubbers is a three-time recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash award, Indiana’s highest honor. In 2022, she was received the Indiana University President’s Medal of Excellence and in 2020, an IU Bicentennial Medal for her ongoing support of the university. She is the 2020 recipient of the Michael A. Carroll Award in recognition of her commitment to the Central Indiana community. She has also been awarded the Welsh-Bowen Distinguished Public Official Award by Hoosiers for Higher Education and been recognized as Education Leader of the Year by the GEO Foundation, Government Leader of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and Most Influential Women in Indianapolis by the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Lubbers received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University and her master’s in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
