Philanthropy center leader chosen as new IU Foundation president

Eugene R. Tempel will take over as IU Foundation president Sept. 1, IU announced today in a news release. IU President Michael McRobbie appointed Tempel, who is executive director of IU’s Center on Philanthropy, to the position after Curt Simic’s recent retirement.\nTempel was chosen after a 15-member search committee conducted a nationwide search, according to the news release. He will be the IU Foundation’s seventh president after the organization was created in 1936. \n“I am honored to have been asked to serve as the next president of the Indiana University Foundation,” Tempel said in the news release. “President McRobbie has created a bold vision for the future of Indiana University and has challenged the IU Foundation to build on what has been accomplished in the past to help bring that vision to life.”\nTempel is active in the Association of Fundraising Professionals and helped create the Center on Philanthropy in 1987, according to the news release. Last year he also received the James L. Fisher Award for his service to education.\nDuring Simic’s time as the foundation’s president, its endowment grew from $214 million in 1988 to $1.6 billion, according to the news release. IU is also one of the top 20 colleges in the country for support from the private sector.