Awards

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 1994

About Lorene Burkhart

Lorene Burkhart was born and raised in Vincennes, Indiana with her three brothers. Her father was an undersecretary of agriculture under President Truman, and her mother was active in the Vincennes community. She attended Purdue University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in home economics in 1956. Before she became the director of consumer services for Ruben, Montgomery, and Associates (an advertising agency) in 1972, she frequently appeared on local radio and television programs and received national recognition for promoting home economics. From 1975 to 1978 she served as the director of consumer services for JennAir Corporation, and in 1978 she became the director of new product development at Borden Inc. Burkhart also founded the Women’s Investment Network in 1983.

Burkhart retired from Borden in 1985 and turned to attention to full-time volunteer fundraising. She has organized fundraising events for many Indianapolis groups and organizations, including the Indianapolis Opera, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Methodist Hospital. In January 1990 the Indianapolis Weekly Update selected Burkhart as the Woman of the Year, citing her “humanitarianism, philanthropy, and dedication to the city of Indianapolis.” In the fall of that same year, she also received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Indiana chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. She was named a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1992, and in 1996 the Indianapolis Business Journal named her a Most Influential Woman. In 1992 Burkhart began publishing the Indianapolis Register, a monthly newspaper that reported on philanthropy in Indianapolis. In September 1997, Burkhart and her husband John became the sole owners of Metropolitan C.E.O. Inc.. John became the chairman of the new company, while Lorene served as the publisher of Metroplitan's publications.

As one of the founders of Meal on Wheels, Inc., Burkhart initiated the organization’s van delivery program and served as the board’s president in 1990. She has also served as trustee of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), vice president of the national board of Girls Inc., vice president of the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and a member of the boards of the national Girls Clubs of America, Girl Scouts, the YWCA, and the Eiteljorg. She has also been actively involved with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Children’s Museum. Active supporters of the Indianapolis Repertory Theatre (IRT), the Burkharts also supported the campaign to renovate the Grand Lobby and add women’s restrooms at the IRT, which recognized their contribution by renaming the mezzanine to the John and Lorene Burkhart Gallery. Already a trustee of the Indiana Historical Society, Burkhart became the co-chairwoman of the Society’s Heritage Campaign fund-raising drive as the Society prepared to move into its new building, and she also co-chaired Musical Heritage Committee of IHS. She also became was elected to board of trustees of the University of Indianapolis in the fall of 1990.