Jeff Papa, Ph.D. is the chief of staff and general counsel for the Indiana Senate and also served as the first mayor of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Dr. Papa previously was an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg, practicing immigration law, and served two terms as chair of the Indiana chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, as well as two terms on the national board of governors of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Mensa Research Journal.

In the community, Dr. Papa was formerly President of the Zionsville Town Council and has also served as President of the Zionsville Lions Club and President of the Zionsville Board of Police Commissioners. He is president of the Youth Enhancement and Training Initiative, Inc. (which operates an orphanage in Nepal) and a distinguished Fellow of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation. In 2016, he was recognized with the Honor Alumni Award from the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association and named the recipient of the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce’s Town Crier award. Dr. Papa is a co-founder and adviser for zWorks, Zionsville’s innovative co-working venture, is a member of the Indiana Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, is a board member of the Lincoln Presidential Foundation, a board member of the Fuller Center for Housing International, a board member of the Bowen Center for Public Affairs, and has served as a member of the Zionsville Plan Commission, VP of the Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals, and as Secretary/Treasurer of the Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation.

Dr. Papa earned his B.S. (Economics/Russian Tech. Trans.) from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, an M.A. from Ball State University (Applied Business Economics), as well as an M.A. (Educational Leadership) from Marian University. He earned his J.D. from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, as well as an LL.M. law degree concentrated in Intellectual Property Law.

Dr. Papa earned his Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Administration from Indiana State University, as well as a graduate certificate in Higher Ed and Student Affairs from IU-Bloomington. He served as president of the Rose-Hulman Alumni Board, as an adjunct professor at both the McKinney School of Law and IU Bloomington SPEA, has served on external department advisory boards at Ball State University and Rose-Hulman, is a former member of the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees, a former member the Zionsville Community Schools Board of Trustees, and has been published in multiple subject areas. In 2025, the Indiana Lawyer publication honored Dr. Papa with the Distinguished Barrister award.