The IU Foundation awarded three individuals and one family as the University’s 2016 Partners in Philanthropy.
IU President Michael McRobbie and IU Foundation President Daniel C. Smith presented the awards June 9, distinguishing the volunteerism shown by individuals whose unwavering service and charities have fashioned IU’s future in lasting ways.
The IU Foundation supervises one of the largest public university endowments in the country — with a market value in excess of $1.9 billion.
In 2015, IU received $359.3 million in support from the private sector. IU is ranked among the top four Big Ten universities in annual voluntary support.
“Countless Indiana University programs, schools and campuses have benefited enormously from the generosity of these special few whose leadership and service have created extraordinary opportunities for the success of our students, faculty, staff and alumni,” McRobbie said in an IU press release. “To say we are grateful for their service would be an understatement.”
Honorees received one of four awards: the Cornerstone Award, the Keystone Award, the inaugural Family Legacy Award and the Herman B Wells Visionary Award.
A committee of representatives from IUPUI, IU-Bloomington and regional campuses selected recipients.
“In addition to their philanthropic support of Indiana University, these special friends make a lasting impact on our state, our nation and our world through their outstanding commitment to our university’s mission,” Smith said in a press release. “The generosity and years of selfless dedication they have shown are truly incredible, as is the breadth of their engagement, from the Jacobs School of Music to the Maurer School of Law at IU-Bloomington, to the Lilly Library and more; they have touched virtually every facet of Indiana University, helping us reach our goals in teaching, research and community engagement.”
Anthony J. Moravec received the Cornerstone Award, which recognizes individuals whose partnership, volunteerism and generosity have been instrumental to the success of a single IU philanthropic initiative for a campus, program or school.
Moravec is co-founder of Applied Laboratories Inc., president of Blairex Laboratories Inc. and owner of Zaharako’s Ice Cream Parlor and Museum in Columbus, Indiana.
He serves on the Ivy Tech Foundation Board of Directors and is a member of both the 1820 Society and Presidents Circle recognition societies of the IU Foundation, according to a press release.
The Keystone Award, which recognizes an individual who has shown exemplary volunteerism and generosity through multiple IU fundraising campaigns, was presented to Michael D. Shumate.
Shumate graduated with honors from IU and soon after became a certified public accountant. He was selected to serve as an IU Foundation Board Director in 2008 and was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2010.
Shumate is active in improving the quality of life for IU’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, faculty, staff and alumni in his role as president of IU’s GLBT Alumni Association.
He established the GLBTAA Student Scholarship Campaign in 2013 which provides financial support for GLBT students who exhibit academic achievement and offers emergency funds to IU students who, after coming out, have been financially estranged from their families, according to a press release.
The family of Martha and Gene Tardy received the inaugural Family Legacy Award, which recognizes families that have created a time-honored tradition of exemplary volunteerism and generosity toward IU, according to a press release.
Martha has served as president of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Alumni Board and a member of its Executive Dean’s Advisory Board, a member of the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council Grants Committee and a student recruitment volunteer for the IU Foundation Class Campaign Committee.
Following in her family’s footsteps, Martha and Gene’s daughter Sallie Jo Tardy Mitzell was named president-elect of the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Board. Sallie Jo has served on the IU Student Foundation Board of Associates for more than 25 years and was president during the 50th Little 500.
Patricia R. Miller received the Herman B Wells Visionary Award, which recognizes an individual whose lifetime commitments of time, talent and treasure to IU reveal an understanding of the power of philanthropy to shape the future of the institution.
Miller came to IU as a first-generation student from a town in Illinois. With an initial investment of $250 each, Barbara Baekgaard and Miller founded Vera Bradley Inc.
Vera Bradley is now an international brand with sales of more than $500 million annually. The co-founders established a philanthropic duty for the company. In 1998, the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer was formed to channel income from the company’s fundraising efforts to IU. The foundation has committed $35 million to breast cancer research at the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.
Miller’s link to IU also includes serving as director of the IU Foundation, as co-chair of the IUPUI IMPACT Campaign, and as chair of the School of Medicine’s campaign. Additionally, she is a member of the Jacobs School of Music Dean’s National Advisory Board and the Varsity Club National Board of Directors and is a founding member of the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council.
Miller retired from Vera Bradley in 2012 and lives in Fort Wayne with her husband, Mike, who is also an IU alum.
