Leaders in Service

IU’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award recognizes outstanding achievements in a field of endeavor as well as significant contributions to the recipient’s community, state, nation, or university. It is the highest accolade that IU presents to an IU alumnus or alumna. Since its inception in 1953, only 345 people have received the annual honor.

The 2019 class offers outstanding examples of the varied pursuits and accomplishments of IU’s DASA recipients. Watch their stories to see their paths to success.

Matthew R. Gutwein, BA’85, JD’88

Matthew Gutwein, president and CEO of Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County, played a key role in the creation of the $745 million Eskenazi Hospital, which replaced the aging Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. Gutwein was key to a successful campaign to win taxpayer and private support for the new institution.

Bart Peterson, who was mayor of Indianapolis when the city was considering the replacement of Wishard, writes, “None of it would have happened without Matt Gutwein. His record of achievement, which continues to this day, puts him among the most important community leaders in our city and state of the last half century.”

Prior to joining HHC in the early 2000s, Gutwein was a legal star, serving as a partner at Faegre Baker Daniels and chief counsel for former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh, BS’78, LLD’96. Gutwein represented the state in its 1993 case against boxer Mike Tyson, and the next year argued Heck v. Humphrey before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jane M. Jorgensen, BS’72

A passionate supporter of the arts, Jane Jorgensen played a key role in the opening of the IU Cinema in 2011. She and her husband, Jay, ’72, directed the Ove W. Jorgensen Foundation to provide funds for the building’s renovation, and the creation of a guest lecture series that has brought to campus influential actors and directors from the world of film, such as Meryl Streep, LHD’14, Werner Herzog, Glenn Close, and Danny Glover.

Jorgensen, a lecturer in the School of Public Health, is a founding member of  the IU Foundation Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council, and chaired an $8 million capital campaign to fund the Jorgensen Family YMCA in Fort Wayne, Ind. In 2004, she won the Unsung Hero Award from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

“There is simply no finer alumni volunteer worker, host, counselor, advisor, committee member, recruiter, cheerleader, and organizer than Jane Jorgensen,” writes Richard Dupree, executive vice president of the IU Foundation, which elected Jorgensen to its board of directors in 2012.

Edwin C. Marshall, BS’68, BS’70, OD’71, MS’79

A professor emeritus of optometry at Indiana University, Edwin Marshall has devoted his career to improving the health of people in underserved communities, as well as providing guidance to students of color who want to pursue opportunities in health care.

For 17 years, Marshall served as director of the IU Summer Institutes in the Health Professions program at IU Bloomington. During that time, he mentored nearly 800 undergraduate students of color. He helped create two key programs that now make up the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs.

Marshall’s accomplishments also extend to the state and national spheres. He is the only optometrist to serve as chairman of the executive board of the American Public Health Association and president of the Indiana Public Health Association.

“During my nearly 50 years of affiliation with IU, I have not met a more accomplished and committed servant leader than Dr. Marshall,” writes Charlie Nelms, former vice president for IU’s Institutional Development and Student Affairs.

Lillian S. Stokes, MSN’69, PhD’98

During the span of a 40-year nursing career in Illinois, Indiana, and Virginia, the late Lillian Stokes became a leading voice for improvements in how nurses are trained and how nursing, as a profession, is performed.

Stokes, who joined the faculty of the IU School of Nursing in 1972, authored or co-authored textbooks used by leading nursing schools throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. One of them, Adult and Child Care: A Client Approach to Nursing, is considered a landmark publication that, with its call for client-centered nursing care, radically changed the curriculum framework of academic nursing programs.

Stokes, who died on Nov. 24, 2019, was also a champion for diversity in her field. She developed a mentorship program called Career Connections for underrepresented students who want to pursue graduate programs in nursing.

“Dr. Stokes’ career has been dedicated in service to others with the goal of improving the lives of individuals and communities as a role model, a leader, and a mentor,” writes Diane Billings, EdD’86, professor emeritus at the IU School of Nursing.

Isaac P. Torres, MBA’00

Inspired by his studies at IU South Bend of how Latin-American immigrants in the United States return so much of their earnings to the economies of their home countries, Isaac Torres launched InterCambio Express Inc., headquartered in Elkhart, Ind. The company, which has grown into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, makes international wire transfers easier, cheaper, and more secure for Hispanic immigrants.

Born and raised in Mexico, Torres worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Mexico City and Herberts Mexico S.A. in Toluca prior to immigrating to the United States in 1995.

Since arriving in northeast Indiana, Torres has become a force for good. His generosity also led to the creation of the Isaac P. Torres Family School of Business and Economics Scholarship, an award that supports low-income business students at IUSB’s Leighton School of Business.

Philip Newbold, former CEO of Beacon Health System, praises Torres as an epitome of servant leadership, writing, “He has been a beacon of light in the Elkhart region and leads by example, generosity, and ethical leadership.”