While Jim Roberts ’52 of Lincoln, Nebraska, attended Wabash for only one year, he saw something in William “Bill” Wheeler ’83 that is still impacting campus today.
“He was a friend of my father’s,” says Wheeler. “He said to me, ‘I’ve never recommended Wabash to anybody, but I
think it might be right for you.’
“I still don’t even know what that means,” Wheeler says with a laugh. “There was no way I was going to an all-male school. But I liked the guy so I promised to visit. I did, and I fell in love with it.”
Wheeler was elected chair of the Board of Trustees in May, replacing Jay Allen ’79, who held the position for eight years. He has served on the Wabash Board of Trustees for 25 years.
“I truly am excited about Bill in his new role,” says Allen. “His long-standing relationships across generations of Wabash alumni, proven executive skills, unwavering support of the College, and significant experience as a trustee ideally position Bill to be an impactful and effective board chair. He has earned much admiration and respect from President Feller, his leadership team, and the board members.”
A Harvard Business School graduate, Wheeler spent his career in finance, including several years at MetLife in roles
including treasurer, chief financial officer, and president of the Americas. He was also the former president of Athene and currently serves on the boards of directors for Ethos and Evercore.
Wheeler says it’s an honor to step into this new role but also a responsibility. “Wabash has a lot of good initiatives in place,” Wheeler says. “In the face of challenges small private colleges in this country face, Wabash is thriving because, one, we have a bigger endowment per student than a lot of places, so we’re financially in better shape. But beyond that, we have a lot of good strategies about coping in this environment.
“Many schools think they have to reinvent themselves to survive; we don’t,” he continues. “We have the right people
in place, focused on the right things. We don’t need to change anything, necessarily, or turn the place upside down to address challenges, but we have to continue to execute on what we’re doing and to refine our approach when necessary.”
According to Wheeler, all members of the Board of Trustees are big believers in Wabash and are as happy to serve as he is.
“We’re a place that does good,” he says. “Even though we’re a small place, we really do change lives and help young men be the best people they can be.”
Most people who ask Wheeler where he attended college have never heard of the little school in Indiana.
“I say to them, ‘There’s really nothing like it. It’s all male, but that’s not even remotely the most interesting thing about it,’” he says.
The uniqueness comes from the traditional liberal arts school and the Gentleman’s Rule.
“I’ve never been to another school that even pretends to have something like that,” Wheeler says. “It’s just a different kind of culture. You’re expected to be a young adult, and that’s how we’re going to treat you. When I was 18, that had an incredible amount of appeal to me, and it still does.”
“We’re a place that does good. Even though we’re a small place, we really do change lives and help young men be the best people they can be.”
Wheeler becoming chair of the trustees meant vacating his role as chair of the executive committee. That role is now filled by David Lewis ’81.
“It’s a great honor to be elected as the chair of the executive committee by fellow members of the Board of Trustees,” Lewis says.
Lewis has been a trustee at Wabash for 11 years. He retired from Eli Lilly, where his career spanned almost 30 years, most recently as Lilly’s vice president of global taxes. He is the current president and CEO of Indy Championships Fund and serves on the board of directors of Indiana Sports Corp. He is a former member of the boards of directors of OIA Global and PwC’s Tax Policy Services and a former CEO for Action for Racial Equity.
“David’s leadership of the executive committee is both a natural progression and recognition of the value he brings to the table,” says Allen. “He has played an integral role in substantially upgrading the College’s ability to assess, plan for, and address the many risks facing higher education and businesses in our rapidly evolving environment. He has been selfless in sharing his time and the knowledge he brings from his career and community service experiences.”
That’s not an accident on Lewis’ part. “In my leadership role at Eli Lilly, I was always thinking not just what’s around the next corner, but what’s around the corner after that, and the corner after that,” says Lewis. “I need to bring that thinking to Wabash as we navigate toward the end of our second century and position the College for its third century. We need to be thinking about the decisions we make today and next year and how those will impact what
happens in the late 2030s or the early 2040s.
“It’s incumbent upon us to continue to make the case for why it is a good thing for an all-male college option,” Lewis continues. “Wabash has a loud voice to project at a time when we have a crisis of academic and college achievement in men. We also have to continue to make the compelling case that a liberal arts education is worth it.”
The summer before his senior year at Arsenal Tech High School in Indianapolis, Lewis attended Opportunities to Learn About Business (OLAB), a weeklong business boot camp at Wabash. It was his first interaction with the College.
“That intrigued me, but I have to give my mom full credit,” Lewis says. “She took me to an admissions event, and said, ‘You just ought to look at it.’”
Through the encouragement of an admissions counselor, Lewis applied for the Lilly scholarship, a scholarship he
later received.
Lewis recounts his mother’s story about the day he interviewed, “I remember your dad and I in the car—you got out,
walked up, and I turned to him and said, ‘This could change his life.’”
“I was scared to go to Wabash because I had gone to an inner-city school,” Lewis continues. “I didn’t know if I could compete with kids that had gotten a 1600 on their SATs, but I wanted to hold myself to a higher standard than many of my peers.
“I can honestly say it changed my life,” he continues. “The financial assistance that came in the form of that very generous Lilly scholarship plucked one kid from the city and allowed him to better himself, realize his leadership potential, contribute to his community, raise his family, and live in a way that enabled me to do good things.”
Giving back to Wabash and ensuring its future is something Lewis does not take lightly.
“I hope we can continue to find those kids who need that little bit of money to come and get an education that will change their lives, because I was the beneficiary of that,” says Lewis. “For a school that changed my life, to be able to pay it forward in such an important capacity is a great honor. It’s a great responsibility.”