IU to Name School After Hamilton, Lugar

(L to R) Lee Hamilton and Richard Lugar (photo courtesy of Indiana University)

Indiana University has announced plans to rename its School of Global and International Studies after two prominent Hoosier statesmen. President Michael McRobbie announced Wednesday the school will be named in honor of former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton and former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar.

Lee Feinstein, founding dean of the school and former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, says there are not two better respected foreign policy voices in the country than Hamilton and Lugar. He says their efforts throughout their careers set the tone for the school and inspire its students, faculty, and staff.

The renaming of the Lee H. Hamilton and Richard G. Lugar School of Global and International Studies will also kick off a $25 million fundraising campaign. The effort aims to establish a scholarship program and endowed faculty positions at the school. 

"We are proud to bring the great legacies of Hamilton and Lugar, two of the most revered voices in foreign policy in the United States, to further cement our commitment as one of the nation’s most internationally focused universities," McRobbie said in a news release. "In their spirit, where partisanship stops at the water’s edge, we will embody and set the tone for a school that truly promotes an understanding of contemporary and global issues with the mission to educate the next generation of global leaders."

Hamilton and Lugar spent a combined 70 years in Congress and were each awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Hamilton founded the IU Center on Congress in 1999 and is a professor of practice at IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He and Lugar both joined the School of Global and International Studies in 2013 as distinguished scholars and professors of practice.

You can learn more about the Lee H. Hamilton and Richard G. Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the involvement of its new namesakes by clicking here.