Follow

• 

  Milton Roy Stewart

  Milton Roy Stewart was born in Clovis, New Mexico. Raised in West Lafayette, Indiana, he graduated from West Lafayette Senior High School in 1964. He enrolled at Indiana University later that fall and ultimately received his A. B. degree in political science in the spring of 1968. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law, where, in 1971, he was awarded his JD degree, summa cum laude.

  After law school, Stewart served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Upon his discharge from the military, Stewart moved to Portland, Oregon, where he joined the firm of Davis Wright Tremiane, an international full-service firm with offices around the world. For 13 years, Stewart served on the firm’s Executive Management Committee; he also served as the firm’s client relations partner. Stewart's practice has focused on structuring merger and acquisition transactions, reorganizations, and management buyouts. His business experience has also includes ownership and operation of manufacturing, distribution, and retailing enterprises. He regularly speaks and publishes on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and the globalization of the legal profession. Additionally Stewart has taught business development and client relations skils at the Lex Mundi Monterey Institute.

  Stewart served on the law school’s Board of Visitors (1994-2001) and chaired the Board in 1999/2000. He has also served on the boards of the IU Foundation and the IU Art Museum. Milton R, Stewart was inducted into the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2009. In 2010, he and his wife helped established the law school’s Center on the Global Legal Profession. In 2016, in recognition of their longstanding commitment to the Law School and a substantial bequest, the center was named the Milt and Judi Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession. In addition, the Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law professorship was created and is now held by the center’s director.

• 

  Penelope Sue Farthing

  Penelope Sue Farthing was born in New Castle, Indiana. She was raised in Kennard, Indiana (Henry County), where she attended and graduated from Knightstown High School (1963). She then enrolled at Purdue University where she received her B.A. in Political Science and Education in 1967. Later that fall she enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law and was granted her J.D. degree in 1970.

  Since graduation, Farthing’s legal career has been based in Washington, D.C. She began as a Staff Attorney for the Federal Communications Commission before working in the Legislative/Congressional Affairs department of the Federal Trade Commission. She then joined the Department of Agriculture where she served as Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service. Additionally, Farthing lead an industry wide coalition on gender-based insurance ratings, served as the Washington counsel for the Denver airport project, and worked successfully on safety and privacy matters as in-house counsel to the Allstate Insurance Company. Farthing rose to the position of Senior Partner at the Washington offices of Patton Boggs, LLP, before serving as Counsel to the Bose Public Affair Group (Bose McKinney & Evans, LLP). Since 2017, she has been Of Counsel to the Estell Group.

  Penny Farthing served on the Indiana University School of Law’s Board of Visitors from 1994 to 2004 and was inducted into the Law School’s Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2010. Farthing also serves on the Board of Advisors of the Indiana University Center on Representative Government.

• 

  Robert Aden Long

  Robert Arden Long was born in Martinsville, Indiana. After graduating from Frankfort High School (1964) in Frankfort, Indiana, Long attended Indiana University. As an undergraduate, he served as President of both the IU Student Foundation and Phi Gamma Delta. Additionally, he served on the Student Supreme Court and was a member of the Marching Hundred. After receiving his A. B. degree in Economics (1968), long enrolled at the IU School of Law.

  Upon receiving his JD in 1971, Long joined the Los Angeles offices of Latham & Watkins. He would remain with the firm for more than 30 years, primarily focusing on complex business litigation and trial practice. Long also developed a specialty in representing major law firms in professional liability and partnership matters. He served as Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins from 1992 to 1997. Long was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers, and served as a member of the California Commission on Access to Justice, a collaborative effort dedicated to finding long-term solutions to the lack of legal assistance for low-income Californians.

  In the late 1990s, Long became involved in the pro bono prosecution of a habeas corpus petition on behalf of Mario Rocha. Rocha had been convicted of murder in 1996, when he was just 16, and received a life sentence. Long persuaded the California Court of Appeals to hear the habeas petition and the conviction was eventually set aside. The state later dismissed all charges against Rocha. The case was documented in the award-winning film, Mario’s Story.

  Long served as member of the law school’s Board of Visitors from 1994 until his retirement in 2005 and served as Chair of the Board in 2001. He received the law school's Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and was inducted into the Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2009.

• 

  William Clarence Lawrence

  William Clarence Lawrence was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. The son of a Tuskegee Airman, he knew early in life that public service was in his future. Lawrence received his B.A. in Political Science from Tuskegee Institute in 1968. After college, he was commissioned into the United States Air Force. During his years of service, Lawrence received the Bronze Star and the Air Force Commendation Medal, as well as completing a Master's of Science degree at St. Mary's University (1976). Upon leaving the military, he enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1979.

  After law school, Lawrence worked as a tax attorney with the United States Internal Revenue Service, before moving into the corporate world. He worked in corporate management for the next twenty years with companies ranging from Cummins Engines to GTE. He then opened his own consulting company, specializing in dispute resolution and general management issues. In 1993, Lawrence received a Masters of Management from the University of Dallas.

  In 2000, Lawrence was elected Mayor of Highland Village, Texas. Lawrence was the first African-American mayor elected in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and served three terms. Lawrence is a dedicated public servant, serving on numerous community boards and councils, including the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct. In 2001, he retired after thirty years of service in the Air Force Reserve with the title of Colonel. In 2008, William C. Lawrence was inducted into the Indiana University School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows.

• 

  Dan Emiel Spicer

  Dan Emiel Spicer was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in Salem, Indiana, he graduated from that town’s Salem-Washington Township High School in 1962. After high school, Spicer enrolled at the Miami University (Miami, Ohio). He transferred to Indiana University in 1964, where he received (1966) his B.S. degree in business. He then enrolled in the graduate program of the IU School of Business, receiving his M.B.A. in 1967. Spicer then accepted a position as a member of the Business and Economics faculty at Indiana University Southeast. In 1970, he was promoted to Assistant Professor.

  While teaching, Spicer began taking classes at the Indiana University School of Law as a “Special Student.” In 1972, he decided he wanted to purse a law degree fulltime. He was accepted into the JD program and received his degree in 1973. After law school, Spicer moved to Denver, Colorado, where he began his legal career. His practice focused on litigation and arbitration, particularly regarding real estate development and financial transactions. Spicer has co-managed closely held entities for multiple companies, created two international media companies, and assisted numerous nonprofit organizations around the world in efforts to improve living and health conditions of the underserved.

  Dan E. Spicer was awarded an Indiana University Maurer School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.

• 

  James Glidden Richmond

  Although born in Sacramento, California, James Glidden Richmond was raised in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he graduated from Valparaiso High School (1962). He then enrolled at Indiana University, where he received his B.S. degree in Business Administration in June of 1966. After his undergraduate studies, Richmond enrolled at Indiana University’s school of Law. He received his JD degree in 1969.

  Richmond’s legal career began in Washington, D.C., in 1970, when he became a Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent. Four years later, he became a Special Agent in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. In 1976, Richmond returned to Indiana as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana. Between 1980 and 1985, Richmond worked for serval Indiana law firms, becoming a partner with Goodman, Ball & Van Bokkelen in Highland, Indiana.

  Richmond returned to public service in 1985, serving as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, before heading back to Washington, D.C., in 1991, to become Special Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. From 1992-1995, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the National Health Laboratories. He also spent eight years at the Chicago firm Ungaretti & Harris, rising to Managing Partner and Chair. In 2002, he joined the Chicago office of Greenbert Traurig and later the Neiman law firm.

  Richmond received the United States Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award (1993) and his name regularly appears on national “best lawyers” lists. James G. Richmond has served on the law school’s board of visitors for more than fifteen years and was inducted into the Indiana University School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2006.

• 

  Kenneth Robert Yahne

  Kenneth Robert Yahne was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After graduating from that city’s Central Catholic High School in 1962, Yahne enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington where he entered the pre-law program, allowing him to start law school before he received his undergraduate degree. He began law school in 1965 and after completing his first year he was awarded his A.B. degree in government. He went on to receive his JD degree in 1968. After law school, Yahne was drafted into the U. S. Army, earning both the Army Commendation Medal for his work at Fort Jackson as a legal clerk, and a Bronze Star for his service in Long Binh, Vietnam.

  After two years in the military, he returned to his hometown where he became a corporate lawyer for the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. He remained with the company until his retirement in 2003. In addition to his legal work for the company, Yahne developed and managed the Lincoln National Corporation Pro-Bono Legal Services Program. Yahne is a co-founder and past president of the Indiana Equal Justice Fund which advocated and raised money for the state’s legal assistance programs. Long active in the Fort Wayne volunteer community, Yahne has worked to improve services for the poor and disenfranchised.

  Yahne has received numerous awards for both his work as an attorney, and for his work in the community. The American Corporate Counsel Association presented him the Pro-Bono Service Award for Outstanding Service in 1989. In 1993, he was named Allen County Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year, and in 1995 he was made a Fellow of the Indiana Bar Association. Kenneth R. Yahne received the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Distinguished Service Award in 2007.

• 

  Larry Jim McKinney

  Larry Jim McKinney was born in South Bend, Indiana, on the Fourth of July, 1944. A graduate of John Adams High School (Class of 1962), in South Bend, McKinney then attended MacMurry College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Majoring in Government, McKinney graduated with an A.B. degree in 1966. He then enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law, receiving his JD degree in 1969. He would later receive honorary doctorates from Franklin College and MacMurray College.

  After law school, McKinney was hired by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, first as a law clerk and then a year later as a Deputy Attorney General. In 1971, McKinney and his friend Charlie Rogers opened a private practice in Edinburgh, Indiana. In 1974, he moved to Greenwood and joined Jim Sergeant in the firm of Sergeant & McKinney. He remained with the firm until 1978, when he was elected to the Circuit Court of Johnson County.

  Nine years later, President Ronald Reagan nominated McKinney to the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana. McKinney was confirmed and was sworn in on July 27, 1987. McKinney served as Chief Judge of the court from 2001 until 2007. Judge Larry McKinney assumed Senior Status on the court in 2009, and died in 2017.

• 

  Lynn Harry Coyne

  Lynn Harry Coyne was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Raised in the Pittsburgh area until he was 14, Coyne’s family moved to Bloomington, Indiana, in 1958. Coyne graduated from Bloomington High School in 1962. He then enrolled at Indiana University, but before graduating, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force (1965). Serving as an aircrew member who accumulated more than 1,000 hours flying time, Coyne rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. While in the Air Force, he attended the East European Language Institute at Syracuse University, graduating third in his class. Upon completing his tour of duty n 1969, he returned to Bloomington and completed his studies at IU, graduating with an AB degree in Slavic Language and Literature in 1970. He then enrolled at the law school and ultimately received his JD in August of 1972.

  Coyne practiced law in Bloomington from 1972 to 1996, with an emphasis on real estate matters. After 24 years as a practicing attorney, Coyne switched gears in 1996 when he became Indiana University’s Assistant Vice President for Real Estate. During his 18 years at IU, Coyne also held titles of Associate University Counsel, and Special Assistant to the Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities. In addition, he served as an Adjunct Instructor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Kelley School of Business. Since his retirement in 2014, Coyne has served Of Counsel with the Bloomington firm of Bunger and Robertson. He also continues to serve on a variety of civic and educational boards in Monroe County.

  Coyne has received the Indiana University President’s Distinguished Service Medal (2013), the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2012), and the Maurer School of Law’s Distinguished Service Award (2012).

• 

  Virgil William Hunt

  Virgil William “Bill” Hunt was born in Washington, D.C. Raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Hunt is a graduate of that city’s North Central High School (1962). Hunt enrolled at Indiana University in 1962 and received his A.B. degree in 1966. Hunt then attended the Indiana University School of Law, receiving his JD in 1969. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and holds an honorary doctorate from IU-Kokomo.

  After law school, Hunt practiced labor law in Indianapolis for six years, but when one of the firm’s largest clients recruited him to serve as their labor counsel, he joined the team at Arvin Industries (an international manufacturing company supplying automotive parts and related products and services). Hunt rose through the company’s ranks and was named Vice President of Administration in 1980, Executive Vice President in 1990, President in 1996, CEO in 1998, and Chairman of the Board in 1999. When Arvin merged with Meritor Inc., in 2000, he became Vice-Chairman and President of ArvinMeritor, before retiring in 2001. Since his retirement, Hunt has served as an Executive Partner of Cardinal Equity Partners, Strategic Advisor at Titan Equity Partners, and Chairman of Hunt Capital Partners.

  Hunt has been a member of the law school’s Board of Visitors (2002-2017), was awarded the Indiana University President's Circle Laurel Pen (2014), the Indiana University Partners in Philanthropy Herman B Wells Visionary Award (2014), and has served on numerous boards of non-profits organizations. Bill Hunt was inducted into the Indiana University School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2007.

• 

  Betsy K. Greene

  Betsy K. Greene was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and graduated from Broad Ripple High School. After completing a degree in English from Indiana University, Greene enrolled in the Indiana University School of Law, graduating in 1982.

  Greene has spent her entire legal career in southern Indiana, starting with roles in the Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office including Chief Deputy Prosecutor, after which she became an injury attorney, first with Ken Nunn, ’67. In 2005, Greene opened Greene & Shultz with Fred Shultz, ’96.

  Greene serves on the board of governors for the American Association for Justice (AAJ), also serving as chair of the public education committee. She also serves on the Monroe County Public Defender Board, and has previously served as president of the Indiana chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Monroe County Bar Association, as well as the Maurer School of Law Board of Visitors.

  The Indiana Lawyer named her a Distinguished Barrister in 2015 AAJ has presented her with the AAJ Women Trial Lawyers Caucus Marie Lambert Award for leadership and the Howard Twiggs Commitment to Justice Award.

  In 2017, the law school appointed her to the board of visitors. Greene was inducted into the Maurer Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2020.

• 

  Stephen Fesler Burns

  Stephen Fesler Burns was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. After graduating from Shortridge High School in 1961, he enrolled at Denison University in Ohio, where he received A. B. degree (1965). Burns then enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law and earned his law degree, Order of the Coif, in 1968. After law school, Burns joined his father’s law firm in Indianapolis, where he developed a strong working relationship with Earnest S. Wheaton, founder of growing and successful moving company, Wheaton Van Lines.

  In 1987, Earnest Wheaton hired Burns to take the helm of WVL as Chief Executive Officer. Under Burns’ leadership, the company grew beyond expectations. When Burns and his team developed a five-year plan for the company to reach $95 million in revenues by 2007, the company achieved the goal by 2005. In 2012, the company purchased Bekins Van Lines and in 2013, they purchased Clark & Reid – making Wheaton Worldwide Moving the fourth-largest moving and storage company in the United States, with revenues in excess of $240 million.

  In 2002, Burns and Wheaton started a relationship with the Orlando-based charity, Give Kids the World. Through his efforts, the company has raised millions of dollars to help children with life-threatening illness visit Disney World. Burns is a recipient of numerous industry awards, including its highest, the American Moving and Storage Association’s Lifetime Achievement award (2008). Burns stepped down as CEO in 2008 but remains Chairman of the Board.

  Burns has had a long and close relationship with the law school, serving on the Board of Visitors from 2012 to 2017. In addition, through his generosity the Stephen F. Burns endowed Professorship was established in 2017. Stephen Fesler Burns was inducted into the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2008.

• 

  Jeffrey Jospeh Kennedy

  Jeffrey Joseph Kennedy was born in Connersville, Indiana. Raised in Linton, Indiana, Kennedy graduated from Linton Stockton High School in 1960, before enrolling at Indiana University. He received his A. B. in government from Indiana, with high distinction and departmental honors, in 1965. After receiving his undergraduate degree, Kennedy enrolled at Indiana’s law school, receiving his JD degree in 1967. While in law school, Kennedy served as Editor-in-Chief of the Indiana Law Journal (v.42).

  After receiving his law degree, Kennedy clerked for Hon. John S. Hastings of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. After the clerkship, Kennedy became an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago specializing in antitrust matters. He remained with the firm for the next twenty-nine years.

  Always connected to, and supportive of, the law school, Kennedy was the first Chair of the Board of Visitors (1980-81), and later served an additional twelve years as a board member (1975-1987). He has also taught Antitrust courses at the law school. Equally involved in the Oak Brook, Illinois, community, Kennedy has served on the village board of Oak Brook. Jeffrey J. Kennedy was awarded the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Distinguished Service Award in 2017.

• 

  Leonard Dennis Fromm

• 

  Michael S. Maurer

• 

  Terry Morehead Dworkin

  Terry Morehead Dworkin graduated from the Maurer School of Law in 1975 as a member of the Order of the Coif. After teaching legal writing at Maurer and serving one year as assistant director of the legal writing program at the University of Virginia Law School, Dworkin joined the faculty of the Kelley School’s Department of Business Law (now Business Law and Ethics). There she rose through the ranks to eventually hold the Jack Wentworth Chair. She served two terms as chair of the department before becoming the Dean of Women’s Affairs for the Bloomington campus. In that office she established a reputation for vigorous advocacy for women coupled with total fairness and objectivity that made men accused of inappropriate behavior secure in the knowledge that they would receive just, unbiased consideration. Outside of IU Dworkin rose through the ranks and served as national president of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. She continues to be active in the Academy, attending meetings and frequently serving as a mentor to beginning academics. Dworkin has for many years been one of the three co-editors of a leading business law textbook. Dworkin is known as a preeminent employment law scholar, particularly around whistleblower laws. She retired in 2007. Dworkin continues to publish and present scholarship.

• 

  Bruce Alan Polizotto

  Bruce Alan Polizotto was born in Gary, Indiana. After graduating from that city’s Lew Wallace High School (1959), he enrolled at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Wabash awarded him an A.B. degree in English (Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude) in 1963. After spending a year as the Wabash College News Bureau Director, Polizotto enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law in 1964. While in law school he served first as Notes editor of the Indiana Law Journal (v.41), and then as Assistant Editor-in-Chief (v.42). After spending the summer of 1966 clerking in the Indianapolis firm of Ice Miller Donadio and Ryan, Polizotto returned to law school and received his JD in 1967.

  Polizotto spent his entire legal career in Indianapolis with the firm he had clerked for in law school, rising to be a partner and retiring as a nationally respected municipal finance attorney. Polizotto also served as a Trustee of Wabash College from 1989 to 2005, as well as Trustee and Chairman of the board of Christian Theological Seminary in Indianpolis. From 1990 until 1993, he served on the board of directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

  Polizotto co-chaired the Indianapolis campaign committee of the 1996-1999 law school capital campaign. Bruce Alan Polizotto was the first receipient of the Indiana University School of Law Distinguished Service Award.

• 

  Elliott Dordek Levin

  Elliott Dordek Levin was born in Chicago, Illinois. Raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, he graduate from Shortridge High School in 1959, before enrolling at Indiana University. He received his B.S. degree in Business from IU in 1963. Levin then enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law. While in law school, Levin served on the student editorial board of the Indiana Law Journal (v.40) and was Managing Editor for volume 41. Levin received his JD degree, Order of the Coif, from IU in 1966.

  Levin’s legal career began with the Indianapolis law firm, Bamberger & Feibleman, in 1966, but was interrupted after six months, when he entered the Armed Forces as a captain in the United States Army Armored Force. He rejoined the firm after two years of military service and focused on the practice of bankruptcy law. Levin became a partner in 1974 before founding the firm of Rubin & Levin in 1977. He has remained with the firm for the last 40 years.

  Levin has participated extensively in the Indiana State Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education forums, has chaired the committee that drafted the proposed local rules for submission to the judges of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and has served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. He has also served as a panel member of the Sigmund J. Beck Bankruptcy Roundtable. Levin has chaired the Board of Association Editors of the Commercial Law Journal, was president of the Commercial Law League of America, and is the first Hoosier elected from the Seventh Circuit to be a distinguished Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.

  Elliott D. Levin was inducted into the Indiana University School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2008.

• 

  Ezra H. Friedlander

  Ezra H. Friedlander was born in Newark, NJ. He graduated from Weequahic High School (1958) and headed west to enroll at Indiana University. His decision to attend IU was largely based on his uncle who had attend the IU School of Medicine. During his junior year, however, he decided he was more interested in history and government than he was in medicine. He received his A.B. in history from IU in 1962, and enrolled at the University’s law school. While in law school, he served as an Investigator for the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as working in the IU Business Law Department.

  After graduating with a JD degree in 1965, Friedlander began his legal career as an associate with the Gary, Indiana, firm of Lucas Holcomb & Medrea. He also served as a part-time Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the Lake County Juvenile Court. In 1970, he became corporate counsel in the office of the Indiana Secretary of State, as well as a partner at the Indianapolis firm Dann Pecar Newman Talesnick & Kleiman. In 1992, Governor Evan Bayh appointed Friedlander to the Indiana Court of Appeals, where he served until his retirement in 2015.

  Friedlander has been a long-time member of the IU Foundation Board of Directors, the Indiana University Varsity Club, and the IU College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. He is Past President of the Law Alumni Board and served on the law school’s Board of Visitors from 1984 to 1987. He received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2015 and the Presidents Circle Laurel Pin in 2016. Ezra H. Friedlander was inducted into the Indiana University School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 1998.

• 

  Robert Neil Irwin

  Robert Neil Irwin was born in Greencastle, Indiana. He graduated from Fillmore High School in the small town of Fillmore, Indiana, in 1959, and then attended Rose Polytechnic Institute (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology). He received his B.S. degree in civil engineering from RPI in 1963, and then enlisted in the United States Army. Upon his discharge, Irwin worked in the construction industry for several years, before enrolling at the Indiana University School of Law. While in law school, he served on the student editorial board of the Indiana Law Journal (v.46) and served as Executive Editor for the volume’s last two issues. Irwin received his JD, Order of the Coif, in 1971.

  After law school, Irwin headed west and began his legal career in Phoenix, Arizona, where he would rise to become a senior partner in the Phoenix office of the international firm Bryan Cave, LLP. Over his more than 35 year career, Irwin practiced law in the area of business, with special emphasis on transactional matters for public and private companies.

  In addition to his legal career, Irwin has served in leadership positions of many Phoenix business, economic, and non-profit organizations. He co-founded the Downtown Phoenix Partnership and chaired the Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board and the Phoenix Valley of the Sun Visitors and Convention Bureau. He has served as Chair of the Phoenix bond election and served on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Irwin was named one of the 25 most admired chief executive officers and top-level executives by the Phoenix Business Journal (2009) and was presented with the Downtown Phoenix Visionary Award (2010). He was awarded the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association’s Career Achievement Award in 2018, the same year he and his wife established the R. Neil and Michele Irwin Fund (a fund to support Putnam County, Indiana, projects with an emphasis on social services, education, histroic preservation, and animal welfare.)

  Irwin currently directs The Irwin Companies, focusing on areas of real estate, farming, and consulting. R. Neil Irwin has served on the law school's Board of Visitors for more than fifiteen years, and was inducted into the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2011.