Daniel Ray "Dan" Coats (born May 16, 1943) is the senior United States Senator from Indiana and a member of the Republican Party. He was in the United States Senate from 1989 to 1999, retired, and then returned in 2011.Born in Jackson, Michigan, Coats graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1968. Before serving in the U.S.