Brand portrait unveiled at IMU

More than 100 attendees, including former IU presidents John Ryan, Tom Ehrlich and Gerald Bepko, as well as several trustees, came to the Indiana Memorial Union Thursday morning to witness the unveiling of the portrait of IU's 16th president, Myles Brand. Brand, now president of the NCAA, was honored in the East Lounge of the mezzanine level of the Union.\nThe portrait was painted by James A. Fox of New York and given to the University as a gift by the IU Foundation.\nBrand's wife, Peg, newly-inaugurated President Adam W. Herbert and Dean of the School of Informatics Mike Dunn gave speeches at the event. \nBrand addressed those in attendance after his portrait was unveiled and said the successes he had while serving as president could not have been accomplished without the help of the students and faculty. \n"It's a group effort, a team effort," he said. "That's what gets it done. The challenges were there, but I couldn't be more proud of this University and where it is today."\nBrand said after the presentation he hopes his legacy will entail IU being a better place than before he came. \n"It's a great honor and privilege to be honored at the Indiana Memorial Union with all of the other former University presidents," he said. \nBrand added that what he misses most about working at IU is not having the opportunity to be on a campus. \n"I miss not being in a campus setting and being able to see students everyday," he said. "I also miss living in the Bryan House in the middle of campus and being able to see students walk by everyday." \nBrand praised his successor, Herbert, and said he anticipates he will do a good job.\n"The University is in good hands and is fortunate to have him," he said. "I support him with the visions he has for this University."\nHerbert said Brand had a great impact on the University during his time as president.\n"He was a remarkable leader during a period of significant growth and development of all aspects of University life," Herbert said.\nFred Eichhorn, president of the IU board of trustees, said he enjoyed working with Brand.\n"It was a great pleasure for me to be on the board of trustees while (Brand) served as president," Eichhorn said. \nBrand, who also served as president of the University of Oregon from 1989 to 1994, served as IU's president from 1994 to 2002. He stepped down effective Jan. 1, 2003 to take the position of NCAA president.\n"Being president of IU helped me prepare for being president of the NCAA," Brand said. "IU is such an athletic-oriented school, and it naturally prepared me." \n-- Contact staff writer Craig Ginsberg at cginsber@indiana.edu.