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Memorial services for Gerald Bepko, IUPUI chancellor emeritus and former Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law dean, will be 1 p.m. Oct. 14 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
Bepko, 83, died Sept. 5, Indiana University announced in a press release. He was the longest-serving chancellor of IUPUI. He held the post from 1986 to 2003, when he also served as interim president of Indiana University from Jan. 1, 2003, to Aug. 31, 2003.
Bepko joined the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, now called the Robert H. McKinney School of Law, as an associate professor in 1972. He became a full professor and was named associate dean for academic affairs before becoming the dean of the law school in 1981.
“Our beloved colleague, Jerry Bepko, embodied servant leadership, deep goodness, integrity and a rare humanity,” Dean Karen Bravo said in a news release. “He gave time and attention to all those with whom he interacted, and never failed to offer kind gentleness and percipient analysis. He will be deeply missed.”
“Jerry Bepko was and will always be a giant on the IUPUI campus, deeply respected in the community, and at his heart a servant leader always looking for ways to build relationships that would help people grow and would also serve the institution,” IUPUI Chancellor Emeritus Charles Bantz, who succeeded Bepko in the position, said in a news release. “I speak with a combination of authority and humility when I say that nobody has been able to fill his shoes as chancellor, so deeply engaged was he in building the IUPUI campus and shaping the future of higher education as a whole.”
Bepko also served a stint as an associate professor at Chicago-Kent and earning a master of laws degree at Yale Law School.
Bepko didn’t always work in higher education. After graduating from Northern Illinois University and Chicago-Kent College of Law, he joined the FBI. He was stationed in Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the federal government’s efforts to investigate civil rights abuses and violence in the late 1960s and was one of the agents tasked with investigating violence and threats by white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan on James Meredith’s 200-mile March Against Fear.
He was also involved in the consolidation of IU hospitals with Methodist Hospitals of Indiana to form Clarian Health Partners Inc., now IU Health.
Bepko also served on several not-for-profit boards, including Riley Hospital for Children, United Way of Central Indiana, Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and Indiana Sports Corp.
He has several awards, achievements and programs named after him, including the Bepko Scholars and Fellows Program and the Bepko Learning Center.
He holds honorary degrees from Indiana University, Purdue University and Chicago-Kent College of Law.
In 2015, he received the University Medal from Indiana University. He is also a two-time recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash.
IU said Bepko credited much of his success to his wife, Jean Cougnenc Bepko. They were married for 54 years and had two children, Gerald Jr. and Arminda.
Memorial donations may be made to the Bepko Scholars and Fellows Program at IUPUI.
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Godspeed Jerry. We worked with you during the RCA Championships era.
A friend, colleague, and leader. His legacy as head of a great urban university will live on.