A well-deserved honor for Professor Genevieve Shaker

By Gene Tempel

Dr. Maynard K. Hine was the first chancellor of IUPUI. In 1969, he left the deanship of the IU School of Dentistry to take on the task of creating a new university by bringing the IU and Purdue programs in Indianapolis together to form a new kind of institution.

He was no longer chancellor when I arrived to my first assignment on campus in 1983. But I came to know him well. He was a person of wisdom and humility and service. He constantly responded to calls for advice, service, and assistance. And he always responded. So it is appropriate that the IUPUI award for alumni leadership is named in his honor: the Maynard K. Hine Medal.

And is also quite appropriate that Professor Gen Shaker be awarded the Hine Medal in 2021. She is accomplished (wise) but humble. When she was appointed a full-time faculty member in the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, there were no faculty offices available (this didn’t seem to phase her). So I offered her mine. Instead of accepting she said, “Why don’t we share it.” Humility. When new offices were constructed I suggested she ask for one of the new, larger offices. She said sharing was working fine for her. Humility.

She gladly accepts leadership opportunities but does not seek them, whether it is chairing school committees, or chairing the faculty, or taking the lead role in editing the fifth edition of Achieving Excellence in Fundraising (thank you!). And perhaps more pertinent to the Hine Medal, representing IUPUI and the school on boards in the community from the Children’s Museum to Indy Talks.

She has served on board for seven years and most recently charged the governance committee of the board for the Central Indiana Chapter of the American Red Cross. She now serves as chair elect.

Of particular importance from my perspective is the quiet role she plays as a mentor to students and alumni, assisting them in both academic and practitioner job searches and careers. Work in this arena often is not reflected on faculty reports, and it often does not carry much weight in promotion and tenure. But it is important in our role as faculty and our roles as alumni no matter which institution we call alma mater. It is exactly the kind of service that the Hine Medal was organized to recognize.

So a hearty congratulations to our colleague Professor Genevieve Shaker on being named a  2021 recipient of the Hine Medal! The legacy of Maynard K. Hine lives on. Well done!

Gene Tempel is the founding dean emeritus of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. An internationally recognized expert on the philanthropic sector, he has four decades of leadership and fundraising experience. He helped found the school’s precursor, the Center on Philanthropy, and was its executive director for 11 years, transforming it into a leading national resource.