WARGO FOR IU TRUSTEE

WARGO FOR IU TRUSTEE
In 42 years of volunteer service to Indiana University, I’ve raised money for student scholarships, guest-lectured in their classrooms and recruited them to work for my employers. I’ve advised multiple chancellors, lobbied the Indiana General Assembly in support of IU's capital priorities, facilitated the establishment of fellowships and endowed chairs, and collaborated on many of IU's national and international initiatives.
In short, I bleed cream and crimson and am well-prepared to assume this new role as your IU Trustee.
My wife Dena (BA ’90, MS ’99) and I (AS '81, BGS '82) are both proud IU alums. We have three amazing children, two of whom currently attend IU Bloomington. Blair is a sophomore and Grant is a senior, majoring in finance & accounting at the Kelley School of Business. Our oldest son, Mike, works at Sony ATV Music Publishing in Nashville, TN.
The pandemic has provided us with an unexpected opportunity. Its profound disruption to our global marketplace has caused virtually every industry to consider how they can reinvent themselves to better serve employees, customers and stakeholders. As one of the leading comprehensive public universities in the world, IU’s existing areas of expertise and advanced technological capabilities uniquely position us to help our partners in business, government and healthcare create integrated environments that marry the best of the past with the best new practices we’ve learned during the pandemic. As we do so, we’ll be better able to prepare our students for careers in these newly reimagined workplaces.
Our ultimate success will be defined, however, by our ability to address the workforce and societal needs of the future by preparing students with the knowledge they’ll need to make an immediate impact in their chosen fields, along with the emotional resiliency and leadership skills they'll need to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Online course offerings that emerged during the past year enabled students to continue their education safely and with more flexibility. That experience is now core to how students will evaluate their enrollment options in the future. Remote and distance learning is nothing new to Indiana University. Our IU Online has long offered students the ability to take remote classes, which helped many members of our faculty transition to the expanded online learning necessitated by the pandemic. As the digital delivery of education becomes more prevalent, we must ensure that faculty across all disciplines receive the technical training necessary to continue providing a world-class education.
Learning is not just about the transfer of information, it’s also about personal and social interactions. As a trustee, I will advocate for the further development of a hybrid educational model – informed by the needs of students and employers and delivered by a well-trained faculty – that strikes an appropriate discipline-specific balance between in-person and online learning that promotes student success. IU’s preeminent technological infrastructure enables us to literally meet learners where they are. We must invest in future technological innovations that empower students by providing convenient connectivity to the entire curriculum thereby further enhancing the experience of learning.
EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE
Chief Operating Officer, Hospice Foundation, 2008 to Present
Chief Operating Officer, Global Partners in Care, 2016 to Present
President & CEO, Wargo Enterprises, Inc., 1999 – 2010
VP of Human Resources, Quality Dining, Inc., 1994 – 1999
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Assistant Vice President, Valley American Bank & Trust Company
Human Resources Officer, NBD Bank, N.A.
Business Education Chair, Michiana College
Management Instructor, Ivy Tech Community College
MILITARY SERVICE
Personnel Manager, 168th Air Refueling Squadron
NCOIC, Performance Assessment Unit, 343rd Tactical Fighter Wing
Formal Training Manager, 343rd Combat Support Group
IU AWARDS & HONORS
IU South Bend Commencement Speaker, 2010
IU South Bend Distinguished Alumni Award, 2010
IU Alumni Association President’s Award, 2001
IU School of Continuing Studies Distinguished Alumni Award, 1999
IUSB Student Government’s Outstanding Alumni Award, 1999
IUSB Chancellor’s Medal for Service, 1997 *
*As President, accepted this inaugural award on behalf of the IU South Bend Alumni Association on which the honor was bestowed.
OTHER AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Zachary Morfogen Art of Caring Award, Nat'l Hospice Foundation
Humanitarian Award, Accolade Film Competition
Distinguished Guest Professor, Purdue University
Air Force Commendation Medal (w/Oak Leaf Cluster)
Eielson Air Force Base Personnel Specialist of the Year
Chapman Award, American Institute of Banking
Van Gogh Award, Amsterdam Film Festival
Grand Jury Award, Hollywood Florida Film Festival
Best Documentary Film, Los Angeles Film Awards
Best Director, Documentary Feature, LA Independent Film Awards
ALUMNI SERVICE
IUAA Executive Council, 2020 to Present & 1999 - 2002
President, IUSB Alumni Association (2 years)
Vice President, IUSB Alumni Association (2 years)
IU South Bend Alumni Board (16 years)
Community Captain, Hoosiers for Higher Education, 1993 - 2013
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
IU South Bend Advisory Board (11 years)
Vice Chairman, IUSB Advisory Board (4 years)
Bicentennial Steering Committee, 2016 to 2020
Vera Z. Dwyer Chair of Palliative Care Search Committee, 2018
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Advisory Board, 2015 – 2018
Chairman, IUSB Campus 150th Anniversary Event, 2003-2004
IUSB Chancellor Search Committee, 1995-96
IU South Bend Silver Celebration Committee, 1990-1992
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
Editor-In-Chief, The PREFACE Newspaper, 1981 - 1982
President, Student Government Association, 1980 - 1981
Treasurer, Student Alumni Council, 1981
Senator, Student Government Association, 1979 - 1980
CURRENT BOARD SERVICE
Member, IU Alumni Association Executive Council
Board Chairman, Business Development Corporation
Board Member, Michiana Public Broadcasting Corporation/WNIT Public Television
Executive Director, South Bend Rotary Charitable Foundation
Commander/Adjutant, American Legion Post 151
1st Source Bank Business Banking Advisory Board
PAST BOARD LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
President, American Institute of Banking
Vice Chairman, Northern Indiana Workforce Investment Board
Board Chair, Workforce Development Group, Inc.
Board Chair, Center for Hospice Care
Board Chair, Hospice Foundation
Ambassador, Foundation for Hospices in Subsaharan Africa
OTHER BOARD SERVICE
Penn Harris Madison Education Foundation
Concord Schools Business Advisory Council
Founding Member, South Bend Parks Foundation
Association of Fundraising Professionals
The Indiana University Board of Trustees is the university’s governing body, its legal owner and final authority. The board holds the university's financial, physical, and human assets and operations in trust for future generations.
Established by the state legislature in 1820, the board has shaped the growth of the university since its beginning. Its membership, terms of office, responsibilities, powers and electoral procedures are governed by the Indiana Code.
The board is made up of nine trustees, and its business is overseen by six officers. Three trustees are elected by alumni, and the remainder are appointed by Indiana’s governor.
The range of responsibilities assigned to trustees by state law covers all aspects of the university, including the power to:
The board meets six times a year on IU campuses around the state. Meetings are open to the public and anyone with an interest in the governance of the university is welcome to attend.
Indiana University alumni help steer and steward the university by electing three of the nine members of the IU Board of Trustees. Indiana's governor appoints the other six, including a student trustee.
All trustees serve three-year terms, with the exception of the student trustee who serves a two-year term. Alumni-elected trustees serve rotating terms, and alumni vote for one trustee each year. A successful candidate begins the three-year term on July 1 immediately following the election; the term ends on June 30 of the third year in office.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 trustee election was canceled. Therefore, two alumni-elected trustees will be chosen in 2021. The candidate with the highest number of votes will serve the normal three-year term. The candidate with the next highest number of votes will serve an abbreviated two-year term.
The 2021 IU Trustee Election voting site will go live on June 1, 2021 at 12:01 am ET and will close on June 30, 2021 at 10 am EDT.
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