“For
years Indiana has been known for its outstanding insurance and
financial services sector. Lilly Endowment believes that NetWorks
can play an important role in shaping the future vibrancy of this
sector of Indiana’s economy through its educational and research
programs. We want more people in our state to believe that
first-rate activities and resources can thrive in Indiana, and the
Endowment hopes that this center will play an important role in
affirming this belief.”
--
Clay
Robbins,
President,
Lilly Endowment, Inc.
“We’re
absolutely delighted to have the confidence of the Lilly Endowment
and we appreciate their generosity. It’s going to be an important
generating force — not only on our campus, but in the community,
state, nation and the world. NetWorks will enable us to think about
policy, to put new lenses on issues that are critical to the
world’s economy, and those ideas will now come from the Crossroads
of America” [audio]
[video]
--
Lloyd W. Benjamin III,
President,
Indiana State University
“In
formulating NetWorks, President Benjamin and his colleagues have
covered every base and included the perspectives of students, the
academy, the business sector and government. By so doing, they have
significantly enhanced the center’s chances for success.”
--
Sara B. Cobb,
Vice President for Education,
Lilly
Endowment, Inc.
“NetWorks
will allow us to bring the brightest minds together, to bring
faculty, students, scholars, practitioners and executives into an
educational setting that can be expanded to deal with issues in the
financial services industry as they arise.” [audio]
[video]
--
Ron Green,
Dean,
ISU School of Business
"The
business community has gone through tumultuous change over the last
year. If you look at the scandals in industry, the questioning of
corporate ethics, lack of confidence in our business community, the
risk management issues which have arisen due to a variety of
terrorist attacks, we truly have gone through dramatic change. I
think now more than ever we need something to address that. NetWorks
is a program that does indeed do that. It provides scholarly
research that can be practically applied. It’s exactly what we
need to be in a dynamic environment and face these issues and come
up with new ideas and solutions and innovation so we can provide
some guidance. I’m excited that Indiana State University has been
given that opportunity and I’m confident that NetWorks will be a
program that can really make a difference.” [audio]
[video]
—
Mike Alley
Member, ISU Board of Trustees,
President and owner
of Patriot Investments,
Retired president and CEO of Fifth Third Bank of Indiana
“In
my view, as we look back at the ownership and operational changes of
the financial services industry in the last decade or so, there’s
a need for new approaches and sharing of information and research.
The industry has become even more demanding than it was even a
decade ago. I see this incubator opportunity that the Lilly
Endowment has made available to ISU as a godsend to that end. I think it will help the students
gain a greater knowledge of
the totality of the financial services industry and the individual
uniqueness of each one of them. It will help them to know the common
traits as well as the differences through the sharing of information
that can occur through this forum. It’s unique because most of the
programs throughout the nation and the world today are regulated to
one particular area or interest. The beauty of this, as I see it, is
that here we will understand each other’s business and the student
can learn a lot more about the holistic picture as opposed to being
silo trained.” [audio]
[video]
[Letter of Support]
— H. Peter
Hudson
Retired chairman and chief executive officer,
Monroe Guaranty Insurance Company, Carmel, Ind.,
Honorary life member of the ISU Foundation Board of Directors
“The
NetWorks initiative seeks to attract the attention and participation
of the best minds in the financial services field, from academia,
government and industry, to create a new and integrated source for
resource, education and development in the financial resources
field. In building this partnership, Indiana will have the
opportunity to claim a new role in the financial services industry.
The initiative will also create opportunities for students, faculty
and the citizens of Indiana to benefit from and educate themselves
about the financial services industry.” [Letter
of Support]
—
Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator
“First
I want to commend the Lilly Endowment for its foresight in
recognizing the value of NetWorks and for selecting Indiana State to
make it a reality. The original rationale for the Gongaware Center
was and is today to develop leaders for the financial services
industry, a goal consistent with NetWorks. I can see maximum
opportunity for synergy. I look forward to NetWorks providing
enhanced professional and educational opportunities for Gongaware
Scholars now and in the future. Now more than ever it’s obvious
that the business world needs more integrity, higher ethics and
certainly more professionalism. Programs like NetWorks and the
Gongaware Scholars can go a long way to providing that leadership
that I think business needs. This is, without a doubt, a great day
for the state of Indiana and Indiana State. [audio]
[video]
[Letter of Support]
—
Donald F. Gongaware
Former chief operations officer, executive vice
president of Conseco,
contributor of a $5 million gift to ISU in
1998 for the
Don & Patricia Gongaware Center for Insurance and
Risk Management Development
"The
question is which thought leader will have the good sense to assemble
the best and the brightest minds from industry, government and academia
to attack these challenges and exploit those opportunities on a national
and international basis. Indiana State University has the depth, breadth
and commitment to do that, and we applaud your stepping front and center
to lead the way." [Letter
of Support]
--
Charles T. Richardson
Attorney at Law, Baker & Daniels,
Washington, D.C.
“It
is critical that we work closely with the financial services
industry to determine what it is we can bring of value to them that
they in turn can create of value for their stakeholders. This work,
though, must be seen as seminal because what we learn about the
financial services industry will have equal application for all
business, public and private, and for individuals and families. This
is so because financial services, above all else, exists only to
serve other businesses and individuals. … The exciting prospect is
that the Indiana State University School of Business and [NetWorks]
can take a lead role in helping this key industry do its best work
for those who depend upon it to guide them in their quest for a
financially sound and secure future. I will speak for all of my
associates and colleagues when I say, we can’t wait to begin.”
[Letter of Support]
— Steven
Pahl, CPCU, ARM
Executive Director,
ISU’s
Gongaware Center for Insurance
and Risk Management Development
“This
forward-thinking center will leverage our existing strengths in
education, research and application in this important area of
business. By bringing together scholars and industry
representatives, the center will be in a position to focus attention
on identification and solution of problems in a variety of related
fields.” [Letter
of Support]
— Bruce
McLaren
Chairman
and professor,
Management Information Systems,
organizational
department, ISU School of Business
“It’s
interesting to note that credit card debt is rampant in our society
these days but credit cards are so easy to get. It’s also
interesting to note we’ve got interest rates that are the lowest
in, what, 40 or 50 years and we still have foreclosures that are at
record levels. It speaks a little bit about what the public really
knows about personal finance. There was a survey done just a few
years ago of over 1,500 senior high school students, a national
study quizzing them on personal finance knowledge. The average score
was 57 percent. It was done two years ago [and] the average score
was 51 percent. So this initiative will enable us to have a focus on
public education and education for the K-12 schools, providing
curriculum, symposia to also reach our state legislators,
superintendents, school board members, principals, parents. So
there’s going to be a lot of education aimed at the public with
this initiative.” [audio]
[video]
—
Bill Wilhelm
Assistant Professor,
business education,
ISU School of Business
“What it’s going to do is connect ISU with the financial
community, with the business world, and that’s going to help with
hiring. They’re going to look and say, ‘Oh, she’s from ISU.
We’ve heard of them. We’ve worked with them.’ So I think that
will help in that and in the learning process
altogether. Just having more access, I think, to different things,
different experiences. I always feel that the more you practice, the better you’re going to be at
something. So, being able to do hands-on things and being able to
talk to people who’ve been doing what I’m doing for a long time
will give me a better feel for what I want to do
and where I want to go.” [audio]
[video]
—
Aurmaudra Bradley
ISU junior, Indianapolis, Ind.
Accounting major, Insurance minor
“There
is great potential for improved and expanded knowledge about and
sharing of information among the financial services industry in a post
Gramm-Leach-Bliley era. To have a university setting in which to
accomplish this [will] be of enormous benefit to the insurance,
banking and brokerage communities.”
—
Linda L. Lanam
Vice president and deputy
general
counsel, state relations,
American Council of Life Insurers
“[NetWorks]
is a huge step forward for Indianapolis and the State of Indiana in
the financial services industry. The center has the potential to
enable Indianapolis to be recognized nationally and internationally
for its financial service expertise.” [Letter
of Support]
— Larry S.
Boulet
Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
Vice Chairman of
the ISU Foundation Board of Directors
ISU
Public Affairs:
(812)
237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu
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