Robert G. Bringle, W. George Pinnell award for outstanding service

 

Robert G. Bringle Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Philanthropic Studies Director, Center for Service and Learning School of Science University Graduate School IUPUI

Interim President Gerald Bepko, Bringle and IUPUI Acting Chancellor William Plater at the Founders Day ceremony

Through the work of Robert Bringle, IUPUI has earned an international reputation as a leader in providing learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom and into the community.

Bringle has focused his energies for the last decade on service learning, inspired by the belief that teaching and learning can be improved when educational institutions are connected to and engaged with their communities. His efforts have resulted in numerous achievements, including the formation of service learning courses, faculty training programs, community projects and IUPUI’s Center for Service and Learning, which he now directs.

He was introduced to service learning in 1981, when he obtained a grant that had students from a “Psychology of Aging” course visiting homebound, elderly Indianapolis residents.

Today, more than 50 service learning courses have been developed at IUPUI. Last fall, IUPUI’s service learning program was listed among the top 10 in U.S. News & World Report’s national ranking. Nations as distant as South Africa are turning to Bringle for help in establishing their own programs.

Bringle’s work in the scholarship of service learning is multifaceted. Through the Center for Service and Learning, he has played a significant role in faculty and curriculum development at IUPUI. He has published widely on the subject; for example, his Service @ Indiana: Defining, Documenting, and Evaluating is a resource that is used university-wide.

His work in the community is no less significant. A founding member of the Education Task Force, Bringle was instrumental in persuading local officials to reopen a west-side Indianapolis middle school. That school, now known as Washington Community School, is recognized nationally as a model community school. An elementary school based on the same model is scheduled to open soon.

The recipient of numerous teaching, professional and community awards, Bringle was recognized in 1998 by the prestigious Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service Learning by the Campus Compact and American Association for Higher Education. In 2001, he was named volunteer of the year by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis.

His commitment to taking learning beyond the classroom has grown from a simple classroom project to a movement that is benefiting peers, students and the community at large. Indeed, through his dedication to service learning, Bringle has made a difference in Indianapolis. Or, as one colleague has observed, he created something locally that now has global impact.

Bob Bringle’s belief that campuses should be integral parts of their surrounding communities has led to a focus on the development of service learning.