BLOOMINGTON – Philanthropist, social activist, technology scholar, and former Indiana University First Lady Laurie Burns McRobbie will be honored Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at the 12th Annual Rotary Toast at Ivy Tech’s Shreve Hall.
The Toast recognizes a local leader for work done on behalf of local people and organizations. Half the proceeds from this year’s event will benefit Middle Way House, an organization chosen by McRobbie, who was a board member for 10 years. The other half will benefit charitable groups championed by the three Bloomington Rotary Clubs. Rotary has directed previous funding to Girls Inc. or Monroe County, Friends of Lake Monroe, Leadership Bloomington-Monroe County and Exodus Refugee Immigration, among other causes.
Bryan Hane, chair of this year’s Toast, said Laurie McRobbie lives Rotary’s motto of “service above self.”
In 2010, she founded the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council, helping guide women’s initiatives at Indiana University. The council has awarded more than $2 million in grants to nearly 200 organizations since it was founded. She also helped found the Center of Excellence for Women in Technology on the Bloomington campus, creating, fostering, and improving academic and professional opportunities for female students, faculty, and staff.
Besides service to the Middle Way House board, she is a former board member of the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County and served on the board of WonderLab, a children’s science museum. She also has had leadership roles with Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship and IU’s Society of Friends of Music.
McRobbie is a founding member of the IU Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Circle and Queer Philanthropy Circle. In 2012, she was named Woman of the Year by the Bloomington Commission on the Status of Women, and in 2018, she was presented with the Women Excel Bloomington Award by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.
She worked in high-tech roles for more than 25 years in higher education, including as an adjunct faculty appointment in the IU School of Informatics and Computing. She co-founded Serve IT, a clinic that provides service-learning opportunities for students to work with Bloomington area nonprofits. She also worked in technology jobs at the University of Michigan before coming to IU.
She received a Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in May 2016. She has a bachelor’s degree in history with honors from the University of Michigan, where she helped establish a major in women’s studies while she was an undergraduate.
She is married to former IU President Michael McRobbie, serving as IU’s 18th First Lady from 2007-2021. She received the IU Bicentennial Medal in September 2019 in recognition of her distinguished service to Indiana University. Upon assuming the title of first lady emerita in 2021, she was awarded IU’s University Medal, which is presented to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to IU or humanity at large.
Since 2022, she has served as co-host of WFIU’s “Noon Edition” public affairs program.
Her chosen organization, Middle Way House, addresses domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. It offers a range of services, including emergency shelter, 24-hour help and crisis line, on-scene advocacy, support services, and transitional and permanent housing solutions for survivors. Middle Way House serves six counties in south-central Indiana.
In the first 11 years of the Rotary Toast, the event raised more than $385,000 for local organizations. The three Bloomington Rotary clubs – Bloomington Rotary Club, Bloomington North Rotary Club, and Bloomington Sunrise Rotary Club – host the event.
Previous honorees were Dr. Larry Rink (2015), Ron Remak (2016), Becky Hrisomalos (2017), Connie and Steve Ferguson (2018), Cary Curry (2019), Bob Hammel (2020), Charlotte Zietlow (2021), Dr. Gladys DeVane (2022), retired Judge Stephen Galvin (2023), Doug Bauder (2024), and Pat Wilson (2025).
To sponsor the event and reserve a table, visit https://rotarytoast.com. Individual ticket sales will open on September 8.
