On this episode of The Omnibus Show, we welcome Curt Simic, Indiana University Foundation President Emeritus. He is a national leader in fundraising for higher education and has worked for several universities in his over 40-year career.
Simic discusses the successes during his years, the challenges of higher education, today, how donors make a difference, his advice for those who are interested in pursuing a career in higher education development and philanthropy, and the complexity of running a contemporary university.
Simic is from Gary, Indiana, and graduated from Indiana University. Over the years, he served at Yale University and the universities of Tennessee, Alabama, Oregon and California-Berkeley, before returning to IU as president of its foundation in 1988.
He spent 13 years as the head of IU's official fund-raising agency, and increased gifts from the private sector from $37 million to more than $230.1 million by 2001. He helped IU become ranked as one of the top 20 universities in the nation in total voluntary support from the private sector.
IU recognized Simic with several awards. In 1994 he received the Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion. In 2008, he was awarded the University Medal, and in 2012, Simic was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. In 2016, Indiana University awarded him with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at its Bloomington campus for his outstanding achievement in the arts and humanities, and for his continued community engagement and public service. Simic also received the Bicentennial Medal for his distinguished contributions to IU.
Simic helped found the National Committee for Institutionally Related Foundations, now a part of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He served on CASE's National Board of Trustees and received CASE’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
He was a faculty member and then dean of the Big Ten Fundraisers Institute.
Simic has authored book chapters and articles about the relationship between foundations and their educational institutions, the fundraising responsibilities of foundations and of institutional governing board members, faculty relations, and funding mechanisms for foundations.
He is a member of the boards of the Finish Line Youth Foundation, the Indiana University Art Museum, the Indiana State Museum, and the Indiana Golf Foundation.
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