John M. Mutz, a consultant and private investor who served Indiana as lieutenant governor, senator, and congressman for over 20 years, will be the speaker for Tri-State University’s 149th commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 3. The processional begins at 10 a.m. in Hershey Hall.

Mutz has over 45 years of executive experience in the fields of politics, philanthropy, and business. He now chairs the Lumina Foundation for Education, a billion-dollar private charitable organization dedicated to expanding access to higher education.

 

For more than three decades, Mutz has helped to further the interests of the state and its residents. Prior to being named president of PSI Energy, Indiana’s largest electric utility, in October 1993, he served four years as president of Lilly Endowment Inc., one of the five largest private foundations in America. As head of the endowment, he led the foundation’s effort to support the causes of education, religion, and community development. Under his leadership, the endowment expanded its community development work outside the Indianapolis area by using matching grants to encourage the creation of more than 45 local community foundations.

Before joining the endowment, Mutz built a sizeable record of community service as a public official, serving two terms as Indiana’s lieutenant governor from 1981-89.  While in office, he served as president of the Indiana Senate and led the Department of Commerce and the Department of Employment and Training Services, in addition to serving as Commissioner of Agriculture. As lieutenant governor, he initiated an agenda of job creation, training, and placement. Under his guidance, Indiana dramatically altered its investment in economic development, which resulted in the state taking the lead in job creation among the Great Lakes states.

Prior to his terms as lieutenant governor, Mutz was a member of the Indiana General Assembly for 13 years. A state senator from 1971 to 1980, he served as chairman of the state budget committee from 1977 to 1978. He served as state representative from 1967 to 1970. During his tenure he helped write the Unigov legislation, which created unified government in the Indianapolis metropolitan area.

Mutz is a former columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal and is the author of Fundraising for Dummies.

In addition to devoting over two decades to public life, he has been a successful entrepreneur and manager. His successes include the development of 31 Burger Chef restaurants and the formation of equipment company Circle Leasing Corp., which was ultimately sold to Xerox Credit Corp.

Mutz is a director of Clarian  Health Ventures Inc., a for-profit affiliate of Clarian Health Partners Inc. which provides capital for business enterprises Salin Bank and Trust Company. He is a member of the advisory boards of CID Equity Partners, Indiana’s largest venture capital firm, and Langham Transport. In addition, he serves on the board of managers of Ontario Systems Inc., the largest provider of accounts receivable software in America. His community service directorships include the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, the Indiana and Indianapolis chambers of commerce, Indianapolis Zoological Society, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the United Way of Central Indiana, as well as other civic boards.

Mutz formerly served as a trustee of Hudson Institute, as well as a director of five public corporations: ADESA Corp., Conseco Inc., CCP Insurance Co. (a subsidiary of Conseco), National City Bank Indiana, and PSI Resources. He also is a former director of Security Group Inc., Senex Financial Corp., and Walker Information, and has served as national chairman for Ways to Work, a program to help former welfare recipients stay off welfare. Long active in school reform, Mutz has been a director of the 21st Century Charter School Program, the first charter school designated in the state of Indiana, and serves as co-chairman of All Children Matter Indiana, a leader in the advocacy of choice in education.

Mutz earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in advertising and business management from Northwestern University. He and his wife, the former Carolyn Hawthorne, are parents of two grown children, Diana and Mark, and have five grandchildren.