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IUPUI Chancellor Emeritus Gerald L. Bepko, who is also Dean Emeritus of IU McKinney Law, presented the inaugural Gerald Bepko Faculty Community Engagement Awards at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s 2019 Faculty Leadership Conference. 

The conference took place on February 15 at Ivy Tech College in Indianapolis with a theme of “Community Engagement: Moving from the Basics to Impact.”  Bepko presented the awards named in honor of him to Ball State University’s “Schools Within the Context of Community” program and Purdue University’s “Engineering Projects in Community Service” program. 

“We are pleased to present this award to faculty members and programs whose service exemplifies outstanding community engagement at their institution, thus honoring Jerry’s ongoing service to the Commission and Hoosier students,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers.

Recipients of the Gerald Bepko Faculty Community Engagement Award (Bepko Award) receive a $500 grant to help further their community engagement work.

The Bepko Award was established in 2019 to honor Jerry Bepko’s legacy and his work in service to Indiana University and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is a 14-member public body created in 1971 to define the missions of Indiana's colleges and universities, plan and coordinate the state's postsecondary education system, and ensure that Indiana's higher education system is aligned to meet the needs of students and the state.

For more than a decade, Chancellor Bepko was a member of the Permanent Editorial Board of the Uniform Commercial Code, is currently a member of the American Law Institute, and is a life member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. He also is a member of the American Bar Association and a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation. In addition, he has served on the advisory board for M&I Bank of Indiana, the board of trustees of Citizens Gas and Coke Utility, the board of AUL/OneAmerica, the board of the Lumina Foundation for Education, the board (chair of the executive committee) of the James Whitcomb Riley Children’s Foundation, and as an at large member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. He previously served for nearly a decade on the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission, four of which were as chair.

Chancellor Bepko joined the IU McKinney faculty in 1972, and was named dean in 1981. He served as IUPUI’s Chancellor from 1986 to 2002, while at the same time serving as Indiana University’s vice president for long-range planning. Chancellor Bepko led a movement to unify the various programs of IUPUI academically and geographically by bringing all schools to the West Michigan Street campus and presiding over the construction of more than 20 buildings.

At IU McKinney, Chancellor Bepko teaches leadership and law.