On January 31, 2009, Senator Richard Lugar received the IUPUI Chancellor's Medallion from Chancellor Charles R. Bantz in honor of Senator Lugar's contributions to improving the life of Hoosiers and making our nation safe and secure.
As mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1976, Lugar championed the creation of a university in downtown Indianapolis.
With the combined efforts of community leaders and the presidents of Indiana University and Purdue University, Lugar's dream for a downtown university was realized with the establishment of IUPUI.
In 1977, Lugar was elected state senator in Indiana. He held his position for 6 terms, becoming the longest-serving senator in Indiana's history. Lugar exercised leadership on critical issues such as food security, nuclear non-proliferation, energy independence, and free trade. After leaving the Senate, Lugar created a nonprofit organization, The Lugar Center, that specializes in the policy areas he pursued while in office.
Lugar also serves as a Professor of Practice and Distinguished Scholar at the School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University. He is also a co-chair of the IU International Advisory Committee. The Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy is located on IUPUI's campus and housed in the Purdue School of Engineering & Technology.
