The finding aid for the presidential records of former Indiana University president Myles Brand is now available online.
Myles Brand was born on May 17, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. He earned degrees from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Rochester before beginning his career as a professor of philosophy. He soon moved into administration in addition to his teaching duties, among his positions serving as the dean for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arizona and as provost and vice-president for academic affairs at Ohio State University. From 1989-1994, he served as president of the University of Oregon.
Brand became the sixteenth president of Indiana University on August 1, 1994, a position he held until 2002. During his tenure as president, IU saw a great deal of growth both economically and academically. Among his achievements are growth in fundraising and the university endowment, research grants, the creation of the School of Informatics, development of the Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative, and creation the IU Advanced Research and Technology Institute (now the IU Research and Technology Corp).
The School of Informatics, now the School of Informatics and Computing, was the first of its kind in the country and helped make IU a leader in the field of informatics and information technology. Brand also oversaw the gift of the Lilly Endowment to fund the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN). At $105 million, it was the largest private gift in the university’s history to date. It is considered by some IU administrators to be one of Brand’s most lasting legacies.
During the course of his career, Brand served or headed a number of academic committees, including the American Council on Education (1994-1997), the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (1995-1998, and the Association of American Universities (1999-2000).
Upon his departure from Indiana University, Brand became the fourth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2003 where he worked to bring reform to college athletics. Myles Brand passed away on September 16, 2009.
Contact the University Archives to learn more about the presidency of Myles Brand.
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