Happy New Year from IU University Relations!
Welcome to the Indiana University Relations Report! As our team begins its work in 2026, we want to provide our colleagues, friends and partners across the state with information about the truly amazing work members of the IU community are doing to improve the health and well-being of Hoosiers. We hope this report can be informative, entertaining, and useful to you. Our team is available as a resource to everyone, including state and federal policymakers, business leaders, and community and regional partners, interested in how IU can best leverage the university’s talent and resources to make our campuses, state and country a better place.
Welcome to the Indiana University Relations Report! As our team begins its work in 2026, we want to provide our colleagues, friends and partners across the state with information about the truly amazing work members of the IU community are doing to improve the health and well-being of Hoosiers. We hope this report can be informative, entertaining, and useful to you. Our team is available as a resource to everyone, including state and federal policymakers, business leaders, and community and regional partners, interested in how IU can best leverage the university’s talent and resources to make our campuses, state and country a better place.
As the legislative session evolves, this weekly report will provide updates on the happenings at the Statehouse and information on bills the university is tracking.
We hope each of you has a safe, healthy, and happy 2026, and we look forward to communicating with all of you soon.
Legislative Caucus Priorities
The beginning of the legislative session presents an opportunity to hear about the legislative priorities of the Indiana General Assembly. Each of the four legislative caucuses have introduced their legislative priorities this week, which can be reviewed here:
State Update
The IU State Relations team has reviewed every bill that has been introduced at the Statehouse and determined if and how the bill could impact the university. This Statehouse Update provides a summary of bills the team is tracking that have had activity up to this point in the third week of session.
Read the State Update
Federal Update
This week’s Federal Update covers Congressional, Executive and Judicial Branch activities of interest in Washington, D.C.
Read the Federal Update
Previous Federal Reports
Economic Engagement Update
IU researchers take steps toward personalizing asthma treatments for children
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers are taking a closer look at how young patients respond to biologic treatments for asthma. By analyzing clinical parameters and identifying which children are still likely to have severe asthma attacks despite the use of specialized asthma medications, the team hopes to help healthcare providers intervene sooner and tailor treatment to each child’s needs.
Learn more about the personalized treatment
IU in the News
Football Gameday: Peach Bowl (College Football Playoffs Semifinals)
No. 1/1/1 Indiana will face No. 5/5/5 Oregon in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff Semifinals on Friday (Jan. 9) at 7:30 p.m. inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on ESPN. The game marks Indiana's third appearance in the Peach Bowl and first since 1990. Indiana is 0-2 in the game, losing to Auburn (1990) and Tennessee (1988). The matchup between the Hoosiers and the Ducks marks the fifth game in the series history with a 2-2 record between the programs. The two teams met earlier this season when Indiana won 30-20 at Oregon (10/11).
Visit Football Gameday for the latest
Kelley Direct Online MBA returns to No. 1 in Poets & Quants’ latest ranking
The Kelley Direct Online MBA program at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business has returned to its familiar No. 1 ranking by Poets&Quants, a leading news site about business education. This is the fourth time that Kelley Direct has held the No. 1 position since Poets&Quants launched their ranking nine years ago. It has always placed in the top five.
Read the full story
Work in war-torn Kyiv reinforces IU researcher’s mission for drug discovery
IU Indianapolis researcher William Scott recently took his Distributed Drug Discovery program to Ukraine. D3’s goal is to accelerate drug discovery for developing and neglected diseases such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria or COVID-19, using low-cost equipment, essentially allowing anyone within the world of science and chemistry to perform affordable research.
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Philanthropy skills launch student’s new career, chart future of domestic violence nonprofit
A friend attending IU Indianapolis advised Elizabeth Greene to consider the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy for a successful career transition. Greene said she was pleasantly surprised to learn that the world’s first philanthropy school was in her own backyard. She chose to pursue the online graduate certificate program in philanthropic studies for maximum flexibility, since she works full time and has a busy family life. She called the decision a game changer.
Read the full story
