Awards

Chancellor and Provost Medallion - 2000

IU South Bend Chancellor's Medallion

South Bend, Indiana

About Judd Leighton

Judd Leighton was born in South Bend, Indiana. He earned a liberal arts degree from Northwestern University. He served in the United States Navy and then returned to Northwestern University Law School to earn his J.D. in 1947. Leighton’s career began as a law clerk in Washington, D.C., before returning to his South Bend roots and pursuing careers in business and banking.

An influential and involved community leader and philanthropist, in 2000 he established The Judd Leighton Foundation, to ensure that educational, healthcare, and economic initiatives important to the community would be funded. In 2012, then President Michael McRobbie announced the naming of the Indiana University South Bend School of Business and Economics in honor of Leighton. The Judd Leighton Foundation Inc. received the largest single donor gift of $4 million to support undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, faculty development and the creation of two positions focused on retention and student success, including a challenge grant of $1 million to help fund the completion of the renovation of the Administration Building. For all of this and more, Judd Leighton will always remain an inspiration for future leaders.

In acknowledgment of his contributions as a businessman, banker and philanthropist, to the South Bend community, Leighton was presented an IU South Bend Chancellor and Provost Medallion in 2000.