Saying goodbye: IU Foundation president ends his tenure with the Little 500

IU Foundation President Curt Simic still has cinders in his hands, knees and elbows from his first Little 500 riding experience almost 50 years ago – just a few of the impacts the race has had on his life that do not seem to go away. And don’t expect the impacts that Simic has had on the race, to go away any time soon either.

Simic, who came to IU as an undergraduate in 1959 and is retiring in July, is about to watch his final Little 500 as president of the foundation after spending the past 20 years heading the organization. In addition to his prestigious position, Simic has also been IU Student Foundation director of student activities, a Little 500 rider and a coach.

Matt Ewing, Little 500 race director, said Simic’s involvement with the event has been monumental.

“When he worked here as director of the student foundation, he directly oversaw the Little 500,” Ewing said. “Without his leadership, dedication and commitment to the IU Student Foundation, the race would not be where it is today.”

When Simic, a Kouts, Ind. native, came to Bloomington for college, he had no idea what the Little 500 was. Little did he know, he would go on to become one of the race’s biggest catalysts.

“I didn’t know about it at all,” Simic said. “When I went to summer school, my roommate lived in Dodds House and was very interested in the bike race. I became a rider and had a great experience. It was just nice to be a part of it.”

After riding his freshman year for the independent team Dodds House, Simic became the coach his sophomore year and rode again in his junior year. As a senior, he took on a new challenge as president of the student foundation, a student-run organization that sponsors campus events and raises money for working students.

When he completed graduate school at IU, Simic decided to explore other career options. He went to work at Tennessee’s medical campus and later joined Yale’s medical school.

“I decided that I had to go to grow and wanted to learn more about fundraising,” Simic said. “The whole idea was, in my mind, to set up a set of credentials that when this job came open, they could not ignore me. (IU Foundation president) is the job I always wanted.”

Simic said the IU Foundation does three things: raise money, invest that money to get a return on it and make sure the money is spent the way the donors gave it.
Judy Palmer, alumni coordinator and archivist for the foundation, said Simic still plays a large role in Little 500 decisions.

“The Student Foundation falls under the Foundation president’s office,” Palmer said. “He is the last person to sign off on any kind of major changes that would affect policy. He may not sit in on committee meetings, but he is always in the loop.”