INDIANAPOLIS (December 10, 2014) – The Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC) and Mayor Greg Ballard presented Martha Lamkin with the 30th annual Charles L. Whistler Award during a breakfast and ceremony December 10, 2014, at the Ivy Tech Corporate College and Culinary Center.
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.
“At every step in her career, Martha Lamkin has worked hard to make Indy a great place to live,” said Mayor Ballard. “She routinely thinks outside the box in a way that draws people together to accomplish big things. Martha is an outstanding addition to the prestigious group of Whistler Award recipients. The impact she has left on the city will be felt for decades to come.”
Lamkin served as the founding president, CEO, and member of the board of directors of Lumina Foundation for Education, Inc. from its launch in 2000 until her retirement in 2007. An independent, private foundation with assets of approximately $1.3B, Lumina strives to increase the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials beyond high school. Lamkin helped develop the concept of Lumina Foundation while serving as executive vice president of USA Group, Inc., which she joined in 1991 and on whose board she served.
Currently, Lamkin chairs the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Symphony Society and the Gateway to College National Network in Portland, OR. She serves as vice chair of Tourism Tomorrow, Inc. at Visit Indy, for which she chairs the Music Crossroads initiative and Tourism Master Plan Steering Committee. She serves on the Boards of Directors of Christel House International, Inc., Ivy Tech Community College Central Indiana Region Advisory Board, the Indiana Education Savings Authority, and Mayor Ballard’s Your Life Matters Task Force.
In the past, Lamkin served as president of the Cummins Foundation, Columbus, IN; executive director of corporate responsibility and government affairs at Cummins; and manager of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Indiana office. Additionally, she served on the board of Citizens Energy Group, Inc. (formerly Citizens Gas & Coke Utility) for more than 20 years, retiring as its chair.
Lamkin’s past board service also includes Meridian Mutual Insurance Company; Christian Theological Seminary; the Independent Colleges of Indiana; the National Council on Foundations; and Cathedral Arts, Inc. She served as a trustee and chair of The Indianapolis Foundation and the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), helping to found CICF and its Women’s Fund.
Additional biographical information:
A graduate of the IU McKinney School of Law, Lamkin was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Governors Orr and Daniels. She is a member of The Indiana Academy and serves as Secretary of its Board of Regents. Lamkin and her husband, Dr. E. Henry (“Ned”) Lamkin, Jr., have two adult children and four grandchildren.
About the Whistler Award
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.
Lamkin’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.