Gene Tempel

Gene Tempel is Founding Dean Emeritus of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a Professor of Philanthropic Studies. He led the world’s first school devoted to research and teaching about philanthropy. An internationally recognized expert on the philanthropic sector, he has four decades of leadership and fundraising experience. He helped found the school’s precursor, the Center on Philanthropy, and was its executive director for 11 years, transforming it into a leading national resource.

Generous donors recently established the Eugene R. Tempel Endowed Deanship at the school to honor Professor Tempel. It will enable future deans to continue the development of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to reach its full potential and to achieve its goal of improving philanthropy to improve the world.

A member of several nonprofit boards, Professor Tempel is a past chair of the National Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Ethics Committee. An early leader in creating the field of philanthropic studies, he was the first elected president of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council and a member of Independent Sector’s Expert Advisory Panel that helped create national guidelines for nonprofit governance and ethical behavior.

The author of several works in the field, he has won numerous awards and has been named among the 50 most influential nonprofit sector leaders 13 times by The NonProfit Times, which also named him the sector’s first “Influencer of the Year” in 2013. He earned his Ed.D. from Indiana University and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive.