Chief Lobbyist will be missed

With a persistent, results-oriented attitude IU President Myles Brand pushed and prodded state leaders to do things his way. In a state slow to change, rocky relationships and confrontation didn't deter Brand.\n"He was very dogmatic in what he put his mind to. He was not very warm and fuzzy," said Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Brinegar. "He certainly clashed with folks in the state government and the state house, but he didn't seem to back away from any fights or battles if he felt it was important to maintain his position or principles."\nThe tough mindset allowed Brand, a Brooklyn, New York native, to come to Indiana and plant the seeds he believed would bring the University and the state the most growth.\nThose around Brand expect the seeds to grow while he's planting more with the NCAA.\nBrand created the positions for vice president for information technology and the office of the vice president for student development and diversity. He oversaw the formation of Clarian Health, a merger between IU Medical Center and Riley Hospital for Children and Methodist Hospitals. He led the creation of the school of informatics in November 1999 -- a program designed to educate in in the technical, psychological and social aspects of information technology -- the first new school at IU in 25 years. He helped IU Foundation secure an $105 million grant to fund the Indiana Genomics Initiative, to provide research on the link between genetics and disease. He also made IU a founding partner in the Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative, a $1.5 billion initiative to bring jobs in life sciences to central Indiana.\nBrand has served as an intellectual farmer, IU Trustee Stephen Backer said.\n"The things that he did in the business community and around the state we have not really seen the results of yet," Backer said. "Three or four years ago when he was going around the state talking about his view of what the state needed to do to be in the 21st Century economy, he was right on the money and right on target. Those are the kinds of things everybody is talking about right now." \nThe vision Brand brought to IU is what will be missed most, Backer said.\nIn leading state decision-makers to support the Life Sciences Initiative, Brand consistently attended meetings in Indianapolis to show his support for the future of central Indiana businesses.\n"Myles added immeasurably to the future by focusing on the future and not being content with what had been there," said David Goodrich, president of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. "The job of any leader is to be a visionary and I think Myles has looked at the future of Indiana University and the future of the state."\nWhen Brand begins his new job with the NCAA on Jan. 1, 2003, he will take his vision of academic excellence to college sports -- an attitude that was sometimes unpopular with students.\nBrand fired former basketball Coach Bob Knight in September of 2000, causing an uproar on campus as students burned his effigy outside his house on campus. Many professors supported Brand's decision because they felt Knight's presence was taking away from the academic mission of the University.\nStill, many students were outraged, as they would have preferred Brand leave than Knight.\nBrand will no doubt be remembered by some solely for the firing, but Backer contends that Brand has always looked out for IU's best interests.\n"What's best for the kids and best for education and how do we get Indiana to be the best is a very important legacy he leaves behind," Backer said.\nA legacy, Backer said, that could grow exponentially.\nBrand's remarkable ability to attract new resources, IU spokesman Bill Stephan said, bodes well for the University's future.\n"He's certainly been our champion and opened a lot of doors"