Robert McKinney, IU Indianapolis law school namesake, died Sunday at 98. He was surrounded by family in his home in Walloon Lake, Michigan.
“Above all his many other professional and public achievements, Bob always said that his family was his greatest accomplishment,” a statement from his family read. “In our time of loss, we are comforted in knowing that he felt this way—and that he shared this sentiment often, both privately and publicly.”
According to an IU Indianapolis news release, McKinney was born Nov. 7, 1925, in Indianapolis. He graduated in 1943 from Shortridge High School. After World War II broke out, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy and received a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
After serving in the Pacific War for three years, with a period on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff, he returned to Indianapolis to attend law school in 1949. He was recalled to the Navy after graduating from law school and served in the Korean War for two years.
McKinney served as chairman and CEO of First Indiana Corporation, the holding company for First Indiana Bank (now BMO bank), and The Somerset Group, Inc. He also co-founded Bose McKinney and Evans LLP, a major Indianapolis law firm.
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, his classmate from the U.S. Naval Academy, McKinney served as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation in 1977, the release said.
He led an extensive career, serving as a director of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, the Indiana Foundation and the Conservative Law Center. He was also the director of numerous civic corporations.
From 1989 to 1998, he served on the IU Board of Trustees and was president from 1993-1994. He was a director and chairman of the Board of Trustees at Marian College and chairman of the Board of Advisors at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
In 2017, he received the Herman B Wells Visionary Award, which “honors that rare individual whose lifetime commitment of time, talent and treasure to Indiana University reveals a deep understanding of the power of philanthropy to shape the future of the institution, and a determination to see that future realized,” along with several awards in various disciplines.
He and his five children established the McKinney Family Foundation in 2010. He gave a $24 million gift to the IUPUI law school in 2011, which was then named the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in recognition of his legacy and the largest donation given to the school. The funding was used toward five endowed chairs and many McKinney Family Scholarships for higher education.
“The Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law community is deeply saddened by and mourns Mr. McKinney’s passing,” IU Indianapolis Dean Karen E. Bravo wrote in the release.
