Awards

Distinguished Alumni Service Award - 1994

About Donald F. Carmony

As a dedicated scholar of Hoosier history and a prolific author, Donald F. Carmony came to Indiana University to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees and spent his early teaching career at Indiana colleges. As director of the South Bend Extension Center, and then academic dean for all IU extension centers, he was committed to developing the academic strength of IU’s regional campuses and to turning them into significant forces in Indiana’s system of higher education. As a faculty member of IU Bloomington’s Department of History for 23 years, Carmony combined a scholar’s insistence on academic integrity with an understanding of the interests of people outside the University.

Passionately believing that history and scholarship need audiences, he actively sought listeners in the classroom and far from campus, becoming a prime contact with IU for many Hoosiers. For more than two decades he meticulously edited the Indiana Magazine of History, and he served on numerous state historical commissions, effectively using his unique ability to apply historical background to current issues. He played a major role in historic preservation in Indiana and conducted numerous popular historical tours of the region. His scholarly articles and books will continue to reach students of Indiana history for generations to come.