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U.S. Senator Daniel R. Coats, ’72, will join Indiana University at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies as distinguished scholar and ambassador at large, IU President Michael A. McRobbie announced on June 9, 2021.

Since its establishment in 2012, IU's Hamilton Lugar School has grown into one of the nation's largest international affairs schools, and a national leader in the study of the strategic languages, cultures and perspectives that shape the world.

The school offers instruction in about 70 languages, uniquely combining international and area studies to help students develop cultural fluency and expertise in nearly every region of the world. The school hosts the largest number of global institutes designated by the Department of Education as National Resource Centers under the prestigious Title VI program.

Coats represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1989 and in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to 1999 and 2011 to 2017. He also served as director of national intelligence from 2017 to 2019. As an ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2005, Coats played a critical role in establishing robust relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and in the construction of a new U.S. Embassy in Berlin.

As a senator, Coats was a member of several high-profile committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He also was a member of the Senate leadership, serving as Midwest Regional Whip. In the Senate, he focused on issues of national security, health care, education and human resources. He was a strong advocate of a bipartisan approach to national security issues, and he joined with Democrats in pursuing several defense reform and transformation initiatives.

Coats has been honored by IU with the President's Medal for Excellence, the highest honor that an IU president can bestow, and also received an IU honorary degree.