Awards

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 2006

McKinney School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award - 1998

About Martha D. Lamkin

Martha Lamkin is the retired chief executive of Lumina Foundation for Education. She became its CEO when the organization formed in 2000 and retired in 2007. She also was the vice president of the USA Group, the nonprofit organization that preceded Lumina, from 1991 to 2000. Under her leadership, Lumina's assets grew to over a billion dollars and developed a focus on issues of college access and success on a national scale. Also, it created more than 360 grants totaling more than $121 million dollars, such as the Achieving the Dream, a $55 million program for improving student attainment rates in the country's community colleges. In addition to Lumina, Lamkin was the vice chairman for Citizens Energy Group and its former director.

She has extensive leadership experience in higher education and philanthropy. Lamkin served as a trustee and chair of The Indianapolis Foundation, a co-founder and former chair of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, president of the Cummins Engine Foundation, and as a member of the boards of visitors of the Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis and DePauw University, as well as the President’s Cabinet of Indiana University. Lamkin also served as board member and chair of the Christian Theological Seminary and as a board member of the Independent Colleges of Indiana, in addition to a number of civic and corporate boards. She was on the board of directors of Meridian Mutual Insurance Company from 1988 to 2001.

She holds degrees from California Baptist University, Vanderbilt University, and Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.