President McRobbie highlighted the growth and progress IU's seen over its 200-year history during a speech at the Rotary Club of Indianapolis Jan. 28.

The presentation touched on the university's yearlong bicentennial celebration and how it aligns with the Bicentennial Strategic Plan trustees approved in 2014. McRobbie shared how IU celebrated both its official 200th birthday and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 20. The historic Day of Commemoration included a keynote lecture from Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis.

McRobbie also told Indianapolis Rotarians about the significant changes made to IU's academic structure during his tenure. Since the publication of a 2011 report on New Academic Directions, IU has closed one school and created ten new ones. McRobbie said the changes better position the university and its students for the 21st century. 

The landscapes of IU's campuses have also been transformed, with the addition or renovation of nearly 200 buildings. Among them is the Rotary Building on IUPUI's campus, which was once a convalescent home. The building underwent $10 million in renovations that were completed in 2014, and it now houses multiple global health and academic programs of the IU School of Medicine.

"The building is now a fitting home for those who are working to address some of the most serious regional and global health threats of the 21st century," McRobbie said. 

The initiatives have resulted in transformation at IU on a scale that McRobbie said hasn't been seen since the days of its 10th president, William Lowe Bryan.