Awards
- Presidents Circle Laurel Pin - 2018
- Fellow
About Katherine B. Jarvey
Katherine “Kate” Jarvey is the niece of the late Ruth Lilly, who was the great-granddaughter of Eli Lilly, the founder of the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis. As Ruth had no children of her own, her six nieces and nephews, including Kate, now oversee the Ruth Lilly Philanthropy Foundation’s grantmaking.
Kate first brought competition horses to England in 1976, and has spent her life pursuing her equestrian interests in both England and Ireland. She is also a founding trustee of the Hestia Charity Foundation, a small, private UK trust established in 1997. The foundation’s governing constitution states that its purpose is to support projects that relieve poverty and distress for women and children worldwide.
Together with her husband, Frank, she owns Attington Sport Horses, a noted equestrian property located in Oxfordshire, England. The property now boasts a state-of-the-art equestrian center. The couple is also associated with Mellon Stud, a 350-acre equestrian property based in County Cork, Ireland.
The Lilly family’s philanthropy is well-known, and Indiana University is home to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Kate’s late father, Josiah K. Lilly, III, donated hundreds of acres of land and millions of dollars to conversation causes. Her late grandfather, Josiah K. Lilly, Jr., donated his rare book collection to IU, which formed the core collection of the Lilly Library. In 2017, Kate directed the Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation to give funds to establish the Ruth Lilly Spina Bifida Fund at the IU School of Medicine in order to facilitate collaboration between IU researches and the Crann Centre, a rehabilitation and collaborative care organization in Ballincollig, Ireland.
In 2016, she began her service with the Indiana University Center for Global Health Development Board. In 2018, she received the Presidents Circle Laurel Pin in gratitude for her generosity to the university by the IU Foundation.