BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — John Rau, the eighth dean of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, will return as its Poling Chair of Business and Government during the 2024-25 academic year.
John Rau
Since its establishment in 1993 by the late Harold “Red” Poling, a Kelley School alumnus and Ford Motor Co. chairman and CEO for nearly a decade, the Poling Chair has been held by a variety of business and government leaders.
While Rau led the school from 1993 to 1997, he also fits into the Poling Chair’s tradition of inviting those who share professional insights and experiences with students in matters of public policy, enterprise competitiveness, business and finance. He has nearly 40 years of executive and managerial experience.
Rau served as president and CEO of the private investment and holding company Miami Corporation for more than two decades, and previously as president and CEO of Chicago Title Corporation and of the LaSalle and Exchange National Banks. At the age of 35, he was the youngest of the top 100 bank presidents in the United States.
An 11-time corporate director, including six times as lead or chair, Rau also has held leadership positions at numerous business, civic, and philanthropic organizations.
In addition to leading and teaching at Kelley, he also taught in the graduate and executive education programs at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He also is a frequent contributor to Forbes.
“We are thrilled to welcome back someone whose legacy at Kelley includes initiatives that continue to be impactful today,” said Ash Soni, dean of the Kelley School and the Sungkyunkwan Professor. “John appointed our first two Poling Chairs – a former White House chief of staff and a former Indiana governor who later served as a U.S. senator. But he also introduced important ideas at Kelley, such as our distinctive, foundational academies, which have evolved into workshops that provide experience to complement what our students learn in the classroom.
“His vision has not dimmed, and I look forward to hearing from our students and faculty how the discussions he leads are meaningful,” Soni added.
The chair was established through a gift from Kelley alumnus Harold A. Poling, seen here in 1990, during his tenure as CEO and chairman of the Ford Motor Company. (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
The first two Poling Chairs were Samuel Skinner, who served as chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush and as secretary of transportation in Bush’s cabinet, and Evan Bayh, Indiana’s 46th governor and the state’s U.S. senator from 1998 to 2010.
“I am honored to serve as the Poling Chair of Business and Government Leadership at Indiana University — a place that was once and still truly feels like home. I look forward to sharing perspectives and experiences with the next generation of policymakers and business leaders,” Rau said.
“Carrying on ‘Red’ Poling’s unwavering belief in the open, unbiased pursuit of knowledge, the Kelley School is a model of candid, serious, and respectful academic dialogue, and I hope to build on that tradition during my time as the Poling Chair,” Rau added. “Today’s students need to hear and learn from leaders who have been in the actual rooms where pivotal decisions are made, and I will try to keep paying that forward in the spirit of Red Poling.”
Rau follows a long line of successful leaders, many of them Kelley alumni, who have served as Poling Chairs.
They have included top executives at major companies, including Janet Foutty, former chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP; Jeff Fettig, former chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Corporation; Elizabeth Acton, retired chief financial officer of Comerica and a former vice president and treasurer of Ford Motor Co.; Randall L. Tobias, chairman emeritus of Eli Lilly and Co., and former vice chairman of AT&T Corp; and Bob Eckert, former CEO of Mattel Inc. and Kraft.
They also have included two former state governors –Maryland’s Martin O’Malley and Bayh — Hollywood producer Kristin Hahn, Indian parliamentarian Deepender Singh Hooda, the Countess of Frederiksborg in Denmark Alexandra Christina, former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and Mae C. Jemison, the first African American female astronaut.
Rau holds a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in economics and mathematics from Boston College.
Arrangements have been made for Rau to attend undergraduate and MBA classes and meet with student leaders and faculty. During his initial visit Oct 13-17, he will be at IU Bloomington, but he will meet with Kelley Indianapolis students and faculty when he returns in the spring.