I would like to take a moment to thank the Indiana chapter of the American Institute of Architects and its board of directors for not only bestowing this great honor to me on behalf of Ball State University, but also for having the vision to partner with us in establishing the Ball State Indianapolis Center.

For many years, the Indiana chapter of the AIA and Scott Truex, director of our College of Architecture and Planning's Indianapolis Center, had discussed the possibilities of coming together to open a single location. From those early conversations, we have been able to open this high-tech, interactive education, research, information, and outreach center.

Both the American Institute of Architects and Ball State now have a solid presence in downtown Indianapolis—a place where AIA members, the university's students, faculty, and alumni can proudly call their own.

We now have built a place that offers educational opportunities for working professionals; a central location providing key resources for Indianapolis and state leaders promoting job growth and economic and quality-of-life development initiatives; and a center that will further our reputation as Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson stated during the grand opening, "a key partner in the city's efforts to improve our neighborhood quality of life and keep our economy moving forward."

Based on our past success collaborating on many high-profile projects in Indianapolis, combined with what the center has been able to accomplish in just a few short months, I believe the Ball State Indianapolis Center will continue serving a key role in helping the city and the state of Indiana further its strategic initiatives.

If I could be allowed to take a cue from the American Institute of Architects' theme—"Designing for Change"—from your most-recent convention. I believe that Ball State is also "Designing for Change." AIA beautifully says that they are "designing for change from the river's edge to the world." I'd like to echo those sentiments by saying that Ball State is designing for change from Muncie and downtown Indianapolis to the rest of the world.

Part of Ball State's long-term strategic plan is opening this key center, in the heart of the Hoosier State's largest metropolitan area. The focal point of this plan is redefining education—establishing key partnerships with Indiana companies, communities, and organizations to differentiate Ball State from other public higher education institutions in Indiana.

These vital partnerships will allow us to develop many more immersive learning opportunities for our students. These experiences are a far cry from traditional classrooms. Immersive experiences allow students to drive the learning process and to work with a faculty mentor and community partner to create a product, such as a DVD, a play, or a business plan.

These innovative courses effectively address the so-called brain drain and plug our students into Indiana communities and companies. A $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment allowed us to open four immersive learning institutes to eventually make these innovative learning experiences available to all of our students. These projects are already yielding fruit, even though they've been open just a few months.

At the Institute for Digital Fabrication, which is headed by one of architecture professors, Kevin Klinger, our students are working on a project that will benefit Indiana's limestone industry. It's called "SmartScrap" and it is a system the institute has developed to recycle limestone remnants that can be sold for a profit. Students help catalog the scrap through digital images, and they use special design software to figure out how the shapes can be combined for reuse.

At another immersive learning center, the Institute for Entertainment and Education, students are partnering with Indiana-based film producers to further the university's reputation as a leader in digital media. For one project, our students worked on a new form of advertising called "a webisode" for HotBox Pizza in Indianapolis. The original webisode, which can be found on the restaurant's Web site, tells a short story and enhances the humorous theme that runs through the site and will help the pizza parlor reach even more customers.

As with all of our immersive learning initiatives, these projects illustrate how Ball State is connecting our students with Hoosier companies—well before graduation—to establish relationships that will keep our brightest students in Indiana.

Here at the center, we will continue to seek out and nurture innovative partnerships to extend our educational reach—not just for our students—but for working professionals as well. Already we have hosted the insurance summit for Governor Mitch Daniels. At this gathering, the governor outlined the benefits of doing business in Indiana with more than 40 insurance executives, who represented companies from across the nation.

Another example is Ball State's Center for School Innovation, which hosted the Institute for Entrepreneurial School Leadership. School leaders from across Indiana gathered here to explore entrepreneurial thinking and leadership and increase student achievement.

Next month, the center will host the 2010 Imperative Global Emergency Teach-In. This live webcast from New York, which is expected to reach more than 500,000 students, faculty, and professionals, will address the impact buildings have on energy use and global warming.

Other programs include our successful Developing Leaders program. This program, developed in part with a group of executives and training directors from Indiana companies, is a month-long program that has a tradition of helping transform functional managers into organizational leaders.

And these courses are only the beginning.

It is the American Institute of Architects' mission to be the voice of the architectural profession and the resource for its members in service to society. At Ball State, we are a distinct voice among Indiana's institutions of higher learning. And we are striving to be the source for renewing Indiana—one community, one partnership, at a time.

Our partnership with the people in this very room is indicative of the power of what those collaborative relationships can achieve. Thank you again for this award.