Robert D. Orr

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Order:	45th Governor of Indiana
Term of Office:	January, 1981 – January, 1989
Predecessor:	Otis R. Bowen
Successor:	Evan Bayh
Date of Birth:	November 17, 1917
Date of Death:	March 10, 2004
Place of Birth:	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Political Party:	Republican
Lieutenant Governor:	John M. Mutz (1981– 1989)

Robert Dunkerson Orr (November 17, 1917 - March 10, 2004) was an American political leader and Governor of Indiana from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the United States Republican Party.

1 Life Before Politics
2 Entrance into Politics
3 After Politics
4 External links

[edit] Life Before Politics

Orr was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan but was raised in Evansville, Indiana. Orr graduated from Yale University in 1940, and was admitted to Harvard Business School. Because of the outbreak of World War II he quit, and in 1942 joined the U.S. Army eventually rising to the rank of Major. For his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.

After the War, Orr entered into the family business, Orr Iron Company, and became active in Republican Politics of Vanderburgh County.

[edit] Entrance into Politics

Orr entered state level politics when he was elected to the Indiana State Senate in 1968, representing Evansville. He served there until 1973. He was lieutenant governor of Indiana from 1973 to 1981. As governor he oversaw the reform of the state's education system. After his terms as governor, he was named as the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, a post he held until 1992.

[edit] After Politics

After he left his ambassadorship, Orr established a consulting firm called the Alliance for Global Commerce, which focused on international trade and export issues.

In 2000, he divorced his wife Joanne "Josie" Wallace. In 2001 married Mary K. Davis at the age of 83. He died on March 10, 2004, aged 86, at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis from complications following kidney surgery. He is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.