Tempel chosen to lead IU Foundation

Eugene Tempel, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, has been chosen to replace Curt Simic as president of the IU Foundation, the university announced this morning.

Many of Simic’s peers and colleagues said his shoes would be hard to fill, but Tempel, considered nationally an expert on philanthropy and not-for-profit management, might be able to do so.

During Simic’s 20-year tenure with the foundation, IU’s endowment swelled to $1.6 billion, from $189 million. It consistently ranks among the top 15 public universities based on the market value of its endowment.

Tempel has led the philanthropy center, which is headquartered at IUPUI, since 1997. He was involved in the center’s founding a decade earlier and served as vice chancellor for external affairs at IUPUI.

But when Tempel takes over for Simic, he’ll be returning to the foundation; he served as its vice president from 1985 to 1989.

Tempel has been listed by Nonprofit Times as one of the country’s 50 most influential leaders in the not-for-profit sector.

The Center on Philanthropy is considered a leading national resource for education, research, training and public-service programs related to the not-for-profit sector.

Tempel’s accomplishments at the center include developing a cutting-edge research program, and expanding an academic field of study, Philanthropic Studies, which serves as a model for other universities nationally and internationally. He also created the country’s first Ph.D. in philanthropic studies, and received a $40 million endowment grant from Lilly Endowment to help support the center’s operations.

Tempel will assume his new role Sept. 1.