Pat Shoulders receives IUAA President's Award
07/16/2025
Pat Shoulders, J.D. ’78, has received the IUAA President’s Award for his lifetime of service as an alumnus of Indiana University. The IUAA President’s Award was established to pay tribute to the most dedicated alumni volunteers. It is the highest award given by the association to a volunteer leader.
“On behalf of the law school, congratulations to Pat Shoulders. His service, dedication, and commitment to Indiana University, and to IU McKinney, is exemplary,” said Dean Karen E. Bravo. “I am delighted to see him honored with this award and join with the Indiana University community in expressing our gratitude and congratulations to Pat.”
Shoulders has a long record of service to IU. He was honored in fall 2024 by the IU College of Arts and Sciences with its Distinguished Alumni Award. After 10 years of service, including two as chair, on the College’s Alumni Board, he was tapped to serve as the national chairperson of the IU Alumni Association. After that service ended, he was appointed to the IU Board of Trustees. He was elected five times by the alumni, and he served for nearly 20 years on the board. He was also a member of the IU Foundation’s board of directors for more than 18 years and served a term on the IU Varsity Club board.
Shoulders received the Hine Medal from IUPUI for his work with the Center on Philanthropy, now the nation’s first school of philanthropy, and he was awarded the Chancellor’s Medallion from IU Southeast for his tireless advocacy in support of residential housing there. During his trusteeship, Shoulders worked closely with IU President Michael McRobbie toward the establishment of six new IU schools, on countless building projects and campus improvements, and spearheaded the construction of an IU Medical Center Campus in downtown Evansville.
Shoulders has practiced law in his hometown, Evansville, for 46 years. He has received numerous honors recognizing his successful legal career, election to the Indiana State Bar Association General Practice Hall of Fame, the bar’s Excellence in Continuing Legal Education Lifetime Award, inclusion in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the Evansville bar’s highest honor—the James Bethel Gresham Freedom Award. He is a Sagamore of the Wabash and a Kentucky Colonel.
In the photo from left, at the awards banquet at the Indiana State Museum, are Professor Cynthia Adams, J.D. ’82; IU CAO Tricia Riveire Stumpf; Pat Shoulders, J.D. ’78; IUAA Board Chair Dr. Dawn Michele Whitehead; and Assistant Dean for Alumni Relations Jayme Little.
