Ivy Tech Lawrenceburg Unveils Names Manufacturing Tech Center After Retiring President

A special unveiling ceremony took place on Monday at the Lakefront Campus.

Photo by Miranda Chase, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - Monday, April 14th, Ivy Tech Community College welcomed and honored College President, Dr. Sue Ellspermann at their Lakefront Campus in Lawrenceburg. Dr. Ellspermann is retiring in June after 9 years as Ivy Tech's president. Chancellor Mark Graver, the Lawrenceburg Campus Board of Trustees, Faculty, Staff, and Administration unveiled the new naming of the Manufacturing Technology Center in her honor with a "Sue Ellspermann Manufacturing Technology Center" overhead hallway sign and wall plaque.  

Dr. Ellspermann graduated from Purdue University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. She was 1 of 1000 women in the Engineering school at that time. In 2006 she became the founding director for the Center for Applied Research at the University of Southern Indiana. At the time she was consulting a lot with the government with building jails and getting commissioners to agree on stuff. She noticed there were a lot of issues in rural Indiana that needed to be addressed. So, she went through the Lugar Series, a Political Leadership Development program for Republican women who might want to be engaged in politics. She sat with Representative Mark Messmer, who was also an engineer, to talk about what it would take to run. In 2010 she decided to dedicate her time to Indiana and won serving the Indiana House of Representatives 74th District from 2010 to 2012. 

Dr. Ellspermann led trade missions to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China where she got to represent Agriculture and Small Business. Her appreciation for America grew during this time. 

In 2012, someone from the Mike Pence campaign called wanting to know if she wanted to be vetted for Lieutenant Governor. Dr. Ellspermann was sworn in as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana in 2013. She noted yesterday how Mike Pence was an incredible person to serve with and how she wasn't surprised when he became the Vice President in 2017.  After convincing Governor Pence that Ivy Tech was the right thing for her to apply for, she resigned in 2016 and began the interview process. She received a call mid-May 2016 with the offer to become the President of Ivy Tech Community College and she accepted. 

She explained how the most fun thing she did during her time representing Indiana was a helicopter ride over the Indy 500! 

From working in a Jewelry store at a young age to manufacturing and politics, Dr. Ellspermann was sworn in as the 9^th President of Ivy Tech and the 1^st Female President on July 1st , 2016 serving 9 years, 2016-2025. 

Dr. Ellspermann went on to say how Ivy Tech is an incredible institution because of all of you (the attendees of the new naming yesterday, 4/14/25) and Chancellor Mark Graver who was most gracious at teaching her. She could not be prouder how collectively they restructured with almost a year of strategic planning with 7 goals and an 8th one added. This made them good to great. She further went on to say how proud she is on what they have accomplished together and how the Lawrenceburg and Batesville campuses are always at the top of the measurements. All Hoosiers want to make sure there's an Ivy Tech within 30 miles.  Ivy Tech is the model of community colleges in other states. 

Dr. Ellspermann said she can't thank everyone enough for caring about the students and the community and she really does love you all. She knows that everyone at the ceremony would not be there if they did not care about Ivy Tech and it's a true reflection of love and incredibly thoughtful. 

Lunch was served after with photo ops.