William Plater
Adjunct Professor
- Office
- 342 N. Senate Ave.
Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Other Titles
- Chancellors Professor
- Director, Workshop on International Community Development
- Professor of English, Philanthropic Studies, Public and Environmental Affairs, and Informatics
Biography
William M. Plater is currently the Director of the Office of International Community Development, a joint project of the IU Center on Philanthropy, the IU Center on Urban Policy and the Environment, and the IUPUI Office of International Affairs. Plater is also Chancellors Professor of Public Affairs, Philanthropic Studies, English and Informatics. In 2007 he will serve as visiting scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching and Learning.
From 1987 until 2006, Plater served as the Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties of IUPUI. As the chief academic officer, Plater led campus efforts to improve undergraduate retention, enhance the effective use of technology, develop IUPUI as a model for civic engagement, and increase research productivity as a part of the campus vision to become a leading urban research university. In that role, Plater was responsible for faculty appointments and advancements, academic programs, and academic support services.
As the director of the Office of International Community Development, Plater helps coordinate and develop the international work of the two host centers in cooperation with campus and university offices of international programs while developing new initiatives to promote international civic engagement. The Office will help build the capacity of the Indianapolis region as a leading world city through the mission of IUPUI. The Office helps connect the city and the university with those cities and educational institutions world-wide that will ensure Indianapolis' continued economic, cultural, and social development as a global leader. This work will take place within Indiana University's recognized excellence in such areas as the advancement of democratic processes, civil society, urbanization, social entrepreneurship, and applied research. A special focus of the Office is understanding the role of local communities in establishing meaningful and mutually beneficial transnational relationships directly with each other at a time when the traditional national infrastructure for international relations is in sufficient to meet community needs.
Plater holds baccalaureate (1967), Master's (1969) and Ph.D. (1973) degrees in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a Professor of English at IUPUI, he most frequently teaches in the area of contemporary American literature. His research interests in literature focus on contemporary fiction and the social uses of literature. As a result of his administrative career, Plater's intellectual work has shifted toward public affairs, philanthropic studies, and informatics; in these fields, he is interested in examining the role and impact of higher education in community development and civic transformation in the global context.
Before assuming his current position, Plater was Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI (1983-87) and Associate Director of the School of Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1977-83). He is married to Gail Maxwell and is the father of Elizabeth R. Plater and David M.M. Plater.
Plater is active in his community, serving currently or formerly on the boards of the Children's Museum, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Indiana Humanities Council, the Indiana University Press, the Indiana Partnership for Statewide Higher Education, the Indianapolis Economic Development Advisory Board, the Midwest University Consortium for International Affairs, WFYI (Indianapolis' public radio and television), and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. He currently serves as a consulting editor of Change and has played a leadership role in several national higher educational associations.
