Governor Pence has presented the Sachem Award, one of Indiana’s highest honors, to businessman and civic leader Pershing Edwin MacAllister. An official awards ceremony will take place in the coming months.
The Sachem Award was established by Governor Mitch Daniels in 2006 to honor civic leaders.
“P.E. MacAllister embodies the character, industriousness and generosity that is the essence of the Sachem Award,” Pence said in a press release.
Following his service in World War II, where he served five years in the U.S. Army Air Corps before being honorably discharged, MacAllister worked for his family’s Caterpillar trucking and equipment dealership and managed a local television show about the arts and culture of Indianapolis.
MacAllister also played key roles in the campaigns of both Richard Lugar and William Hudnut, serving as campaign treasurer and campaign chairman, ?respectively.
Campaign finance disclosures show MacAllister has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and initiatives in the past 15 years. MacAllister’s contributions have benefited the Indiana Republican State Committee and Pence himself.
“His impact on the life of our capital city, and Indiana as a whole, is incalculable,” Pence said. “His civic involvement promoting economic development and the arts has made our economy and our cultural life more robust and enriched the lives of countless Hoosiers.”
As a president of the Capital Improvement Board in Indianapolis, MacAllister played an instrumental role in the development of the Hoosier Dome, Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center. MacAllister also served on the advisory committee for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after being appointed by then-president George W. Bush.
In 1990, MacAllister and his wife established the P.E. MacAllister Endowed Chair at Carroll University, a $1-million endowment that provides full-tuition scholarships to students exhibiting academic excellence and high achievement.
“Young people who aspire to make a difference in our state need look no further than the life and example of the creative visionary and legendary leader P.E. MacAllister,” Pence said.
Since its inception, the Sachem award has been presented to a variety of Hoosiers including former University of Notre Dame President Theodore Hesburgh and former Los Angeles Dodger Carl Erskine. The 2013 recipient was Don Wolf, president and CEO of Do It Best Corp. in Fort Wayne.
