INDIANAPOLIS, IN (September 23, 2016) – The Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC) is pleased to announce that Sarah and John Lechleiter, the retiring Chairman, President and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company, will receive the 2016 Charles L. Whistler Award.

The annual award recognizes individuals who, outside the regular duties of their chosen professions, have brought together the public and private sectors for civic improvement in Indianapolis.

“Sarah and John Lechleiter embody the true spirit of the Whistler award,” said Jeff Gaither, GIPC board chair and managing partner of Bose, McKinney and Evans. “GIPC is delighted to announce their inclusion in a long list of selfless individuals who have made Indianapolis a stronger, more compassionate city.”

“Sarah and John have dedicated their energy, time, and personal resources to make Indianapolis the place it is today,” said Mayor Hogsett. “Their most recent personal gift of $5 million to support early childhood education and Centers for Working Families will have a real and lasting impact on our city for generations to come.”

Through board service at the United Way Worldwide, the United Way of Central Indiana, the Central Indiana Community Foundation, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indiana Repertory Theater, the Lechleiters have demonstrated their commitment to our community. In 2003, Sarah Lechleiter became a founding member of the United Way women’s leadership giving group, Women United, and remains active as leader of UWCI’s Women of Tocqueville group.

Join us on Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse beginning at 7:30 am where Mayor Joe Hogsett will present Sarah and John Lechleiter with the 2016 Charles L. Whistler Award.  Thank you to our Title Sponsor Faegre Baker Daniels.  To purchase tickets or tables, visit www.indygipc.org. Questions?  Contact info@indygipc.org.

About the Charles L. Whistler Award

Charles L. Whistler understood working for the future. To ensure Whistler’s legacy lives on, GIPC instituted The Charles L. Whistler Award – the most prestigious award given annually to a community volunteer. The Charles L. Whistler Award continues to honor the legacy of Whistler, a lawyer and community leader in the grand tradition, who gave his time and extraordinary abilities to the Indianapolis community without asking for power or position in return. At the time of his death in 1981, he was a senior partner at Faegre Baker Daniels and chair of both the GIPC’s Urban Growth and Revitalization Task Force and the White River State Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

The Lechleiter’s name will be added to a limestone and granite monument containing past award recipients’ names and located in the Charles L. Whistler Memorial Plaza at the City Market in downtown Indianapolis.

Past Whistler Award Recipients:

1983: Thomas H. Lake
1984: Thomas W. Binford & David R. Frick
1985: Frank P. Lloyd
1986: Phillip R. Duke & Thomas W. Moses
1987: Mattie M. Coney
1988: Donald W. Tanselle
1989: Ramon L. Humke & Henry C. Ryder
1990: Richard O. Morris
1991: Eldon Campbell
1992: Michael A. Carroll
1993: William W. Mays & James T. Morris
1994: Fred C. Tucker, Jr.
1995: Robert H. Reynolds
1996: Thomas M. Miller & Sam H. Jones
1997: Dr. Gene Sease
1998: Jack Shaw & Dan & Lori Efroymson
1999: Andrew Paine & Yvonne Shaheen
2000: Rev. T. Garrott Benjamin & Michael Maurer
2001: Jerry Semler & Fay Williams
2003: Alex Carroll & Rev. Charles Williams
2004: Dr. Beurt Servaas & Gerald Bepko
2005: Joseph D. Barnette, Jr. & G. Frederick Glass
2007: P.E. MacAllister & Marge Tarplee
2008: Patrick J. Early
2009: John T. Neighbours & Sallie W. Rowland
2010: Michael G. Browning
2011: Samuel L. Odle
2012: David Shane
2013: John M. Mutz
2014: Martha Lamkin
2015: Thomas A. King

More about Charles L. Whistler:

As an Indianapolis Star editorial noted shortly after his death in 1981, “Charles L. Whistler was a visionary, talented and energetic prime mover who had a leading role in shaping the Indianapolis of today and its modern political structure. He loved the capital city and the Hoosier state, town and county, urban scenes with beauty and character, and the great outdoors. He had the persuasive ability often associated with the authors of constitutions, and used it to win strong support and positive contributions from others, often representing diverse interests, for the array of projects and programs that he helped conceive and bring to fruition. He wrote much of the legislation consolidating city and county governments under UniGov. He also had a leading role in the modernization and beautification of downtown Indianapolis and the creation of the City Center on Monument Circle, the adaptive reuse of the Indiana Theater, the downtown retailing mall concept, and the planning of the White River State Park.”

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