Innovate Indiana’s Kirk White is selected for state’s upcoming Bicenntennial Torch Relay

More than 2,000 people were named Thursday to serve as torchbearers for the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay set for September and October throughout the Hoosier State.

And Kirk White is one of them.

White, who serves as assistant vice president for strategic partnerships and military liaison for Indiana University, will join 16 other representatives from Monroe County for the Sept. 20 leg of the event set to take place from 3 to 7 p.m. that day. In all, 23 Monroe County representatives were selected for the event — seven posthumously.

The relay begins Friday, Sept. 9 in Corydon — Indiana’s first state capital — and ends Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Indiana Statehouse.

“I am extremely proud of Indiana’s heritage and what it means to be a Hoosier. I have been blessed and honored to be able to serve the state in local government and at Indiana University,” said White, who is also a colonel in the Indiana Army National Guard. “In September as I carry the torch in Monroe County, I will also be thinking about my roots in Montgomery, Hamilton and Warrick counties and what Indiana’s bright future might hold for my children.”

Torchbearers were nominated by the public and selected by local committees on a county-by-county basis. More than 4,000 nominations were received. Those selected demonstrate exceptional public service, excellence in their profession and acts of heroism or volunteer service to their neighborhood, community, region or state.

“The 2,000 plus Hoosiers selected as torchbearers embody the Indiana traditions of service, civic pride, community involvement and volunteerism,” Indiana Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb said. “As we reflect on Indiana’s first two hundred years, it is only fitting that we celebrate Hoosiers who serve as inspirations in their communities.”

Among other IU representatives selected as torchbearers are Debbie Lemon, secretary of IU’s Board of Trustees; Susan Sciame-Giesecke, chancellor for IU Kokomo; and Lynn Coyne, an adjunct professor with IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Coyne recently retired as IU’s assistant vice president for real estate and associate counsel and currently serves as president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corp.

To learn more about the torch relay, read here and here.