Katie Jenner leads the Indiana Department of Education and chairs the State Board of Education, overseeing a budget of more than $10 billion, more than 2,200 schools, 1.13 million students and 80,000-plus teachers and administrators. She has secured a $170 million investment in literacy, allowing the department to deploy solutions aimed at achieving Indiana’s goal of 95% of third-graders reading at grade level by 2027. Under her leadership, the state is rethinking high school, focusing on increasing flexibility in diploma requirements while maintaining rigor, increasing access to high-quality work-based learning, and increasing access to credentials of value before graduation.
First job: Summer swim instructor “was really my first ‘teaching’ role. … While being a lifeguard involved being around friends and getting a good suntan, it also involved cleaning all of the public bathrooms. With every job, there is good that is seen by all, but there is also the roll-up your sleeves and cleaning up the messes kind of work too.”
Walk-up song: “Thunder,” by Imagine Dragons
Sue Ellspermann has served as president of Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana’s largest post-secondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide post-secondary institution, since 2016. Ivy Tech’s total enrollment is slightly less than 200,000 and has grown about 20% over the past three years. Ivy Tech has expanded its nursing program by 600 students to 1,900 to meet the needs of Indiana’s health care system. In 2023, Eli Lilly and Co. granted Ivy Tech $15 million to build a 1,000-person talent pipeline for technicians and operators to meet their growing needs. In June, Ellspermann announced that she plans to retire in June 2025. Before Ivy Tech, Ellspermann served as Indiana’s 50th lieutenant governor.
First job: working at her dad’s store, Boeglin’s Jewelry and Gents Shoppe, in Ferdinand
Surprising: “I am a ‘wannabe’ architect. I read home plan books like other people read magazines. I have designed and built two houses —three additions/remodels and two external spaces.”
Walkup song: “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy
Karen Plaut oversees Purdue University’s Office of Research, which brings together researchers and resources to drive discoveries designed to improve health outcomes, protect the environment while finding efficient energy sources, strengthen national defense, support infrastructure, enhance the digital economy through artificial intelligence and ensure food security. Its active research portfolio is $2.8 billion. Previously, Plaut led mammary gland biology and breast cancer research at the University of Vermont. She then joined NASA and served as lead scientist for International Space Station biological research building life sciences habitats for zero gravity. She joined Purdue in 2010 as associate dean of research in the College of Agriculture.
Advice for a young person: Take advantage of opportunities when they come, even if they’re not part of your career trajectory. “I had the rare opportunity to send animals up on the space shuttle with NASA to experience microgravity. It was not something I expected to do, but it sounded like fun. It led to many additional opportunities.”
Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz began his tenure as 24th president of the University of Evansville in 2018. Under his leadership, the university was awarded a $30 million Promise Neighborhood grant from the U.S. Department of Education—with a total investment of $62 million, including matching funds—to address generational poverty. The Evansville Promise Neighborhood provides cradle-to-career services for six schools in an area that includes four ZIP codes and affects 18% of the Vanderburgh County population. He also oversaw the establishment of the UE Mental Health and Wellness Clinic and Emily M. Young Assessment Center, addressing critical community mental health needs, and helped the institution achieve the second- and third-highest fundraising years in its 170-year history.
First job: McDonald’s. “I was very good at making fries and even made the secret Big Mac sauce when the store ran out.”
Something surprising: “I wear Purple Nike Dunk Low Tops on Fridays to the office.”
C. Todd Richardson has served as the chief human resources officer and vice president at his alma mater, Indiana University, for two years. There, he is responsible for overseeing the talent acquisition, talent development and overall people strategies related to roughly 50,000 employees across nine campuses. Previously, he was CEO of EDGE Mentoring, executive vice president of Salesforce/ExactTarget, executive vice president of CP Morgan, and an attorney at Hall Render.
First job: Ritz Charles doorman. “In engaging with thousands of guests each day, it taught me early what love, common decency and compassion for people looks like (and does not). Treat ALL of those you encounter with respect and compassion.”
Lesson learned: “I fail literally every day and have worked to ensure that it doesn’t derail me.”
Worries about: “That everyone has lost their minds and cannot maintain proper decorum in engaging with those that think, believe, love, worship, etc., differently than themselves. Life is not a zero-sum game.”
Pamela Whitten serves as Indiana University’s 19th president and is the first woman to lead the university. Her focus is on three core areas: student success, transformative research, and service to the state of Indiana. Since she took office in July 2021, applications to IU increased by 6.75% for 2022-23 and 7.44% for 2023-24, and a focus on research has yielded $772 million in total sponsored research awards in 2023. IU also unveiled IU Innovates, a university-wide program that expands the expertise, mentorship, connections and other resources needed to cultivate successful startups and propel economic growth. She’s led the split of IUPUI into IU Indianapolis and Purdue in Indianapolis, which officially takes effect July 1.
Walkup music: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Career advice: “Continuous learning is paramount. Seek out opportunities to develop your skills and knowledge, whether through online courses, workshops, or independent exploration.”
N. Clay Robbins joined Lilly Endowment’s staff in January 1993 as vice president for community development to supervise that division’s grant-making activities. In 1994, he was elected president, and in 1999 he was elected to the board. In 2012, he was named CEO, and in September 2015, he was elected chair, president and CEO. Since February 2022, he has served as the endowment’s chair and CEO. Before joining the endowment, Robbins was a partner at Baker & Daniels. In 2021, IBJ named him one of 40 persons who have significantly influenced the central Indiana region in the past 40 years.
First job: William H. Block department store. “I was working when leisure suits for men first became available in the early 1970s. They were so popular that I had to referee conflicts between customers who were fighting over who got to them first. This experience taught me never to buy a leisure suit, and I never have.”
Fred Payne became president and CEO of the United Way of Central Indiana in July 2022 with a goal of helping 10,000 central Indiana households escape from poverty within five years. He has launched a strategy focusing on the leading indicators of poverty for residents of central Indiana: basic needs (food, transportation, shelter, etc.); early child care and learning; safe and affordable housing; and economic mobility. Payne previously served as commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and led Indiana’s response to the extreme unemployment brought on by the pandemic. Under his tenure, thousands of Hoosiers were enrolled in job training and credential programs, including work-based learning and apprenticeships.
Something surprising: “I enjoy riding motorcycles and the feeling of speed and freedom on a sport bike. I also enjoy the study of horology. Time pieces and the art of watchmaking fascinate me.”
Walk-up song: “Good Day” by Forrest Frank
Latha Ramchand is the first chancellor of Indiana University Indianapolis. Her goal is “to provide relevant, rigorous and affordable education that meets the state’s most pressing workforce needs. This includes graduating more students that are tech- and industry-ready, especially in the bio- and life-science areas and upskilling our current workforce in Indiana by offering adult learner certification programs.” Ramchand was born and raised in India and was a first-generation college student. She started her higher-education career at the University of Houston and ultimately served as dean of the College of Business. In 2018, she became executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of Missouri.
Leadership lesson: “Leadership is not a title; rather, it is a privilege that has to be earned every day. As a wise person said, ‘Your title makes you a manager and your people make you a leader.'”
Advice for a young person: “Embrace the opportunities and the challenges. Your challenges make you stronger and lead you to your next big assignment.”
James Danko was named Butler University’s 21st president in 2011, stressing a focus on innovation and expansion that included developing new programs and enhancing the university’s facilities. Under his leadership, the university opened the 110,000-square-foot Lacy School of Business building in the summer of 2019 and completed a $100 million expansion of its sciences complex in 2023. In August 2025, Butler will open Founder’s College, which will allow students from historically underserved backgrounds to earn an associate degree with minimal financial burden and to pursue a Butler bachelor’s degree for approximately $10,000.
First job: Substitute newspaper carrier at age 10. “I was eager to have my own route, but you needed to be 12. I befriended the carriers near my home and positioned myself to take over when I reached the eligible age.”
Advice to students: “Strive to do your best at every step, but don’t be afraid to explore the less traveled paths.”
Pets: a Bernedoodle named Daisy and a rock dove named Snow
