David Johnson Receives Highly Esteemed Whistler Award

David Johnson Receives Highly Esteemed Whistler Award

Mayor Joe Hogsett, GIPC leaders presented CICP’s CEO with the 2022 Charles L. Whistler Award at annual breakfast ceremony at Ivy Tech

 

INDIANAPOLIS – The Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC) and Mayor Joe Hogsett presented the 2022 Charles L. Whistler Award to David Johnson, CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), at a breakfast ceremony this morning at Ivy Tech Community College Culinary and Conference 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.

 

“The Charles L. Whistler Award honors an individual committed to going above and beyond to make a lasting positive impact on our city. David Johnson is a shining example of this commitment,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “Over the past three decades, David has shown an amazing ability to marshal the resources of the private, public, academic, and philanthropic sectors in support of the city he loves.”

 

Long before he took the helm as CEO of CICP in 2012, David Johnson worked as a volunteer to help launch BioCrossroads, Indiana’s initiative to grow, advance, and invest in the life sciences. During his tenure at BioCrossroads, Johnson raised nearly $650 million for the state’s life sciences opportunities.

 

Prior to his work with BioCrossroads, and while working as a finance attorney in 1999, Johnson was instrumental in bringing the NCAA headquarters to Indianapolis, solidifying the city as the amateur sports capital of the world. Since then, he has served on numerous boards, including Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, Indiana Health Information Exchange, and 16 Tech. In addition, he was co-chair for the Regional Center 2020 Plan Commission for the City of Indianapolis.

 

Most recently, when Indianapolis and the world were hit by a global pandemic, Johnson took initiative and stepped in to coordinate and convene top leaders from the public and private sectors to work together to share information and devise solutions to the public health crisis. The calls he moderated during the height of the pandemic were crucial to the region’s and state’s COVID response efforts.

 

“David has been repeatedly described as a mentor by many of his peers and up-and-coming leaders in the community,” said GIPC Board Chair Heather Wilson. “His thoughtful, visionary leadership inspires us all, and it is my pleasure to join Mayor Hogsett in giving him this honor.”

 

The 2022 Charles L. Whistler Award Ceremony and Breakfast was made possible by the generosity of its many sponsors. Faegre Drinker continued as Title Sponsor, and Eli Lilly and CICP/16 Tech were the event’s Legacy Sponsors. Visionary Sponsors included Indiana University Health, Citizens Energy Group, Key Bank, and The Shaheen Foundation, and Progress Sponsors were Cummins, Inc., Old National Bank, Frost Brown Todd, LLC., and Ivy Tech Community College.

 

Photos of the awards ceremony can be downloaded HERE.

 

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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 Whistler Award continues to honor the legacy of its namesake, 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, Whistler was a senior partner at Faegre Drinker (then Baker and Daniels) and chair of both GIPC’s Urban Growth and Revitalization Task Force and the White River State Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

 

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

 

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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

2016: Sarah & John Lechleiter

2017: Andre B. Lacy

2018: Marianne Glick

2019: Bill Shrewsberry

2020: Milton O. Thompson

2021: J. Murray Clark

 

About GIPC:

Founded in 1965, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC) exists to provide a non-partisan forum in which leaders of the public and private sectors of Indianapolis can work as partners to study, discuss, and address issues of concern and areas of opportunity which affect the progress of the city.