News Archive

Thus far, 2007 has been a big year for MaryEllen Bishop. Not only did she celebrate her 25-year reunion with the IU Law class of 1982 in May, she also became Chairwoman of the Indiana University Alumni Association (IUAA) for a one-year term beginning July 1. In addition, Bishop was inducted into the inaugural class of Indiana Estate Planning and Administration Specialists in April and she recently joined the firm of Bose McKinney & Evans, LLP. She practices in their Estate and Business Succession Planning Group. Bishop, who has done quite a bit of volunteer work in a broad array of areas, says that her involvement with the IUAA has been the most rewarding because everyone in the organization has a common goal and is genuinely interested in advancing the interests of Indiana University.

“Involvement with IUAA is contagious and has been personally very fulfilling for me,” she says. “It’s a family atmosphere and along with my husband, a fellow law school graduate (Michael Bishop, ’80), we have met many wonderful people from all over the country.” She says she is very excited about the IUAA campaign to celebrate IU’s reaching the half-million alumni mark (making it the 3rd largest alumni base in the country). During her year as Chair she intends to be as visible as possible to promote the association and the University. Bishop says that alumni who get involved almost always stay involved and that joining the IUAA helps the university and enhances the value of everyone’s degrees from IU.

She recently attended a dinner for her 25th law school class reunion that she says was “a tremendous amount of fun.” For her, the highlight was having dinner with Chancellor Emeritus Jerry Bepko (who will always be “Dean Bepko” to her) and reconnecting with Dean Grove and numerous classmates.

Looking back on her 25 years of practice, Bishop says the toughest part has been balancing the many aspects of work and family life. (Her daughter, Liz is a recent graduate of the Kelley School of Business and her son, John will be entering his sophomore year at IU this fall.) MaryEllen says being in private practice with her spouse for years was a big help in that respect. She and her husband Michael met in law school, in Dean Frandsen’s Professional Responsibility class. She tells the story that she met Michael when Dean Frandsen asked her a question she could not answer and Michael gallantly spoke up with the right response, thereby “taking the heat off” of MaryEllen.

Although she misses working with her spouse, she is very excited to be working for Bose McKinney and Evans, a place she characterizes as “a wonderful firm” full of “great opportunities.” Let the year of MaryEllen commence!