Long-time civic leader and philanthropist Ernestine M. Raclin will receive the Chancellor's Medal from Indiana University South Bend on October 18.

The reception will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Associates Building, Ruskin Street.

Invitations have been mailed.

Raclin is a tireless supporter of the arts, community projects and education. She, and her late husband, Oliver C. Carmichael, were the principal negotiators for the IU South Bend campus and worked for the land acquisition that is the site of the campus.

She has been involved with numerous aspects of IU South Bend for decades from the Chancellor's Advisory Board, to chairing the capital campaigns. Raclin has been a member of the Arts Foundation and organizer for the Toradze Piano Festivals. In 2002, because of her close ties to the IU South Bend, the school of the arts became the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts.

Her ties to the community are long-standing. She is a director emeritus of the board of trustees of the South Bend Symphony. The symphony was founded in 1933 by her mother, Ella Morris.

Raclin has long been recognized as a business, education, and community leader in Indiana and across the nation. She is chairman emeritus of the board of directors of 1st Source Corp., and a former director of First Chicago Corp. and First National Bank of Chicago.

In 1931, First Bank and Trust Company was formed when her father, Ernest M. Morris and Vincent Bendix, engineered a merger of several banks during the Depression. It later became 1st Source Bank.

A life trustee of the University of Notre Dame, Raclin also is a former trustee of Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C. She is a board member of Indiana University Foundation, the President's Council of Purdue University, and the Independent Colleges of Indiana.

Raclin serves or has served on many other education and community service boards, including the Community Allies Board, which works to improve understanding of cultural diversity and provide better housing, job opportunities and education in north central Indiana. She is past chairwoman of the Regional Approach to Progress.

Numerous state, community and social service organizations have presented awards for Raclin's service, including Indiana Public Broadcasting, the United Way of Indiana, Hospice of St. Joseph County, the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, the Family and Children's Center, and the South Bend School Boosters.

Educated at Briarcliff College in Briarcliff Manor, New York and Saint Mary's College, she holds honorary degrees from several Indiana colleges and universities. She received an honorary degree from IU South Bend in 1999.

The Chancellor's Medal is given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding support of IU South Bend, serve as exceptional advocates for the campus and who personify the attributes of leadership, trust, respect, dignity and teamwork.

For information about the evening, contact the Chancellor’s Office at IU South Bend at (574) 520-4220.

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10.5.06