IUPUI law school renamed after alumni donation

The Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis will now be the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, IU President Michael McRobbie announced today.

McKinney’s $24 million donation, along with matching funds committed through the IUPUI IMPACT fundraising campaign, will equal $31.5 million.

The gift, which is the largest received by the school, will fund five endowed chairs to attract and retain nationally regarded scholar-teachers to the faculty.

“This gift will be instrumental in our efforts to attract nationally renowned legal scholars to our law school in Indianapolis, as well as top-flight students from around the country, and we are deeply grateful to Bob for his generosity,” McRobbie said in a press release.

With the donation, a $17.5 million endowment will fund the McKinney Family Scholarships for students.

“With this extremely generous gift, Bob McKinney will have a transformative impact on a law school that already has provided the academic foundation for a remarkable number of lawyers, judges and community and government leaders across Indiana and beyond,” McRobbie said.

Gary Roberts, the school’s dean, said the gift will make a difference in achieving long-term goals.

“It is impossible to overstate the impact of this gift upon the law school, the campus and the state,” he said in a press release. “It provides for faculty chairs and student support to create an unparalleled resource with which to realize the aspirations of our school: to become one of the finest public law schools in the nation. And because this law school produces so many leaders throughout the state, this is an investment in the future of the people of Indiana and beyond.”