Richard G. Lugar

Listen to President B. Joseph White's introduction.

Listen to Senator Lugar's remarks.

Read Senator Lugar's remarks [pdf]

Richard G. Lugar is the longest serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history. He is the Republican leader of the Foreign Relations Committee and a member and former chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and won a sixth term in 2006 with 87 percent of the vote, his fourth consecutive victory by a two-thirds majority.

Senator Lugar graduated first in his class at both Shortridge High School in Indianapolis and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He attended Pembroke College at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, studying politics, philosophy and economics.

Senator Lugar manages his family's 604-acre Marion County corn, soybean and tree farm. Before entering public life, he helped manage the family's food machinery manufacturing business in Indianapolis with his brother Tom.

Senator Lugar served first on the Indianapolis School Board and then was elected mayor of the city. During his two terms (1968-75), he envisioned the unification of the city an dsurrounding Marion County into one government.

Senator Lugar has been a leader in reducing the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In 1991, he forged a bipartisan partnership with then-Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) to destroy these weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union. To date, the Nunn-Lugar program has deactivated more than 7,200 nuclear warheads that were once aimed at the United States.

Senator Lugar has been recognized many times, including such awards as Guardian of Small Business, the Spirit of Enterprise, Watchdog of the Treasury and 40 honorary degrees from colleges and universities in 14 states and the District of Columbia. He was the fourth person ever named Outstanding Legislator by the American Political Science Association.

Richard Lugar and his wife, Charlene, were married Sept. 8, 1956, and have four sons and 13 grandchildren.

Douglas Education Lecture - Nov. 11, 2008, Urbana

Watch Senator Lugar's Douglas Education Lecture - 11/11/08 - Part 1

Watch the Douglas Education Lecture - Part 2

Watch the Douglas Education Lecture - Part 3