About Michael A. McRobbie
Michael A. McRobbie was the 18th president of Indiana University. As one of the longest-serving university presidents in the country, he began his term in 2007, and in 2021 assumed the titles of president emeritus and university professor, as well as the honorary title of university chancellor. IU is one of the largest university systems in the U.S. with eight campuses, a total budget of around US $3 billion, and over 6,000 faculty, 11,000 staff, and 110,000 students.
McRobbie was appointed Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer in 1997, and in addition was appointed Vice President for Research in 2003, and Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for IU's Bloomington campus in 2006.
He holds faculty appointments in computer science, philosophy, cognitive science, informatics, library & information science, and computer technology, and has been an active researcher in information technology and logic over his career. He has been the principal investigator on many major grants, has published a number of books, many articles, and has served on numerous editorial boards and conference committees.
While president, McRobbie refocused IU on its six Principles of Excellence: an excellent education, world-class research and scholarship, an outstanding faculty, enhanced international engagement, excellence in health sciences and in engagement." Supporting these core principles is an essential framework of excellence in the four areas of advancement, infrastructure and facilities, information technology, and administration.
Under his leadership IU saw a major expansion in the size and quality of IU's student body, a record level of expenditure, a billion dollar expansion of IU's facilities, and the completion of $1.1 billion endowment campaign at IU Bloomington, the first phase of a $5 billion campaign that was completed in IU's bicentenary year of 2020.
He has served on many committees, and was the chair of the Big 10 Athletic Conference, the vice-chair of Internet2, and the chair of University Research Associates, which is responsible for Fermi Lab. He was a member of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board and a number of private boards including the Indiana University Health system, one of the largest hospital systems in the U.S., the OneAmerica insurance company, and the Indianapolis Symphony.
He received a PhD from the Australian National University in 1979, and has honorary doctorates from the University of Queensland (2007), Sung Kyun Kwan University in Korea (2008), the Australia National University (2010) and the South East European University in Macedonia (2011), which IU helped found. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012 and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019. He is an honorary fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities. In 2007, he was made a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor the State of Indiana can bestow. And in 2010 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, Australia's national honors system. In 2021, he received the honorary title of university chancellor, a title that recognizes his past achievements and anticipates his continued support of IU's core missions. McRobbie is just the third person in the university's more-than-200-year-old history to receive the title.
