Professor Michael McRobbie

Michael A. McRobbie AO is a member of the US Studies Centre's Council of Advisors. McRobbie became the 18th President of Indiana University in 2007. IU is one of the largest university systems in the US with eight campuses, a total budget of more than $3 billion, and more than 9,000 faculty, 11,000 staff, and nearly 115,000 students.

McRobbie joined IU in 1997 as Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, and was appointed Vice President for Research in 2003. He was named interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for IU’s Bloomington campus in 2006, and became President the following year. As President, McRobbie has refocused IU around six Principles of Excellence — an excellent education, world-class research and scholarship, an outstanding faculty, enhanced international engagement, excellence in health sciences, and in engagement. Supporting these core principles is an essential framework of excellence in the four areas of advancement, infrastructure and facilities, information technology, and administration.

Under McRobbie’s leadership, IU has seen a major expansion in the size and quality of its student body; a large-scale academic restructuring, during which eight schools have been newly established or reconfigured; a reinvigoration of the global partnerships that support the university’s international academic and educational programs; the construction or renovation of 70 major new facilities across all campuses with a total value approaching $2 billion; the completion of the $1.1 billion “Matching the Promise” endowment campaign at IU Bloomington and the $1.39 billion “IMPACT” campaign on the Indianapolis campus; and the launch of the $2.5 billion “For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign.” McRobbie also oversaw the development of The Bicentennial Strategic Plan for Indiana University, a sweeping set of strategic initiatives that will guide the university’s work across all campuses in the years leading to Indiana University’s 200th anniversary in 2020.

In addition to his duties as President, McRobbie serves on several outside committees and organizations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher specialising in US foreign policy and international affairs. He is a member and former Chair of the Board of Trustees of Internet2 and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Digital Preservation Network. He is a member and former Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, and a member of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, and a member and former Chair of University Research Associates, which is responsible for Fermi Lab.