Economic Engagement

Phone:

812-855-6191

Email:

krwhite@iu.edu

Area:

Economic Development, Local Government and Community Relations

Kirk White joined the Office of the Vice President for Government Relations and Economic Engagement in 2010 and was appointed vice provost for external relations for IU Bloomington in 2021.  He is the primary local government and community relations officer for the Bloomington campus and is responsible for coordinating:

• IU’s mutually beneficial relationships with local government, community and economic development organizations in southwest Indiana
• National defense and homeland security partnerships with state and federal government agencies in Indiana, including the Crane military installation and the Indiana National Guard

He holds additional appointments as military liaison and as a member of the IU Emergency Management incident management team. He served as co-chair of the IU Bloomington COVID Response Unit (2020-2022).

White joined IU’s professional staff in 1984 after completing his Bachelor of Science degree in the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and serving as IU’s student body president. He has served IU in several external, alumni, and government relations assignments.

Local government work

A former elected official, White served eight years as a member of the Bloomington City Council (1988–95) and one term as Monroe County commissioner (1997–2000). In city and county office he focused on land use planning, improving public works, utilities, public safety, emergency management, animal control, and fleet management. The Association of Indiana Counties awarded Monroe County the 2001 Local Government Cooperation Award for an emergency communications system project that White directed.

Military career

Colonel White retired as a field artillery officer in the Indiana Army National Guard in 2020 after 30 years of service. He held command positions at the battery, battalion, brigade, and provisional task force levels while assigned at 2-150th field artillery regiment, 38^th infantry division and 81st troop command.

White was called to active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom for three overseas mobilizations. He served as chief of an embedded training team with a light infantry battalion of the Afghanistan National Army (2004–05), where he was awarded the Combat Action Badge; a second tour in Afghanistan (2009–10) as commander of a provisional task force responsible for base operations and force protection in Kabul and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal; and as officer-in-charge, Task Force Spartan-Jordan (2019-20) where he served as the senior army officer in Jordan directing the 38^th infantry division’s forward command post and assisting Jordanian army partners. 

Additional service

White was appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court as a commissioner on the court’s attorney disciplinary commission. He is chairman of the board of the United Way of Monroe County, and vice president of the Hoosier Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America. White serves on the boards of the City of Bloomington Utilities Services Board, Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, and First United Methodist Church-Bloomington. He is past president of the Rotary Club of Bloomington North.

Family

White and his wife Janice have two daughters, Reagan, (IU BS, ’20) and Jillian.