Staff Reports
IUPUC recognized David Elwood, co-founder of Elwood Staffing in Columbus, and Cummins Inc. executive Chris Reading with awards at the university’s annual Circle of Leadership Celebration in Columbus.
Elwood received the 2018 James G. Simms Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who have generously given their time, talent and treasure to advance IUPUC’s mission.
Reading was recognized with the 2018 Distinguished Alumnus Award, honoring an alumnus who has demonstrated outstanding professional contributions and accomplishments, service to the community and service to the university.
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The awards were presented Thursday at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Columbus.
In 1980, Elwood and his son Mark founded Elwood Staffing, where David Elwood continues to serve as chairman of the board. With offices in the U.S. and Canada, the privately owned corporation supports companies through an entire employment life cycle, from talent acquisition through staff development and employee retention.
Elwood began serving on the IUPUC Board of Advisers in 2008, and now serves on the IUPUC Mental Health Counseling Advisory Council. In 2018, David and Ella Elwood supported IUPUC’s first-ever crowdfunding campaign by pledging a $25,000 matching gift for the Mental Health Counseling program. Because of the Elwoods’ support, the counseling program has received additional support from donors toward a future Mental Health Counseling clinic and the Cheryl Warner Mental Health Counseling Scholarship.
Reading, who is an engineering functional excellence manager at Cummins in Indianapolis, has saved millions of dollars for the company through global resourcing projects. He joined Cummins after obtaining an undergraduate mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly known as Virginia Tech, in 2000 and his master of business administration degree from IUPUC in 2005.
He has served in various roles at multiple Cummins’ facilities, including the Fuel Systems Plant in Columbus, the Cummins Industrial Center in Seymour and in Indianapolis.
An active member of the IUPUC Alumni Association, Reading was its president from 2009 to 2011. Reading was also active in larger, university-wide IU Alumni Association events and has encouraged the IUAA magazine and other publications to more prominently feature IUPUC.
For more about IUPUC, visit iupuc.edu.
