October 22, 2004

Purdue attracting top faculty thanks to Lilly Endowment, donors

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue President Martin C. Jischke announced today (Friday, Oct. 22) that the university is adding 12 new endowed professorships to attract leading faculty with the help of a Lilly Endowment grant.

Since the $1.3 billion Campaign for Purdue began in 2000, the university has raised $83.5 million in private support to create 77 professorships to help attract and retain leading faculty. The latest announcement was made during the annual dinner of the President's Council in the Purdue Memorial Union. Jischke also announced a major gift to support the university's new biomedical engineering department, part of its plan to boost the Indiana economy.

Jischke said endowed professorships are strategic because they help the university attract and retain the best faculty, who in turn attract other top faculty and students, as well as research grants.

"Professor Les Geddes is a leading example," he said. "He is Purdue's Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering. He was already at the top of his field when he was recruited to Purdue in 1974. Once here, he became a magnet for the best and the brightest, and together they turned discoveries into medical miracles.

"These miracles now are part of the foundation for the Indiana economy. The state of Indiana has carved out a world-class niche in biomedical engineering. Purdue is now building its first biomedical engineering building, and our new Department of Biomedical Engineering is ready to become a school.

"All of this because of one man. That's what a professorship means to Purdue, our students and to the state of Indiana."

The 12 endowed professorships announced tonight will be funded by a combination of gifts from donors and grants from the Lilly Endowment.

The Lilly Endowment announced earlier this year that it had set aside $17.5 million for Purdue as part of a program called the Initiative to Recruit and Retain Intellectual Capital for Indiana Higher Education Institutions. Purdue is using those funds to create the Faculty Endowment Challenge to leverage the grant money through matching gifts from donors so that as many as 22 endowed faculty positions can be created on its campuses around the state.

Endowed professorships and chairs enable the university to provide extra incentives to attract and retain world-class teachers and researchers by using the yearly earnings on substantial gifts to the university while the principal remains intact. Professorial endowment gifts typically range from $1 million to $3 million and provide yearly earnings to supplement faculty salaries, purchase laboratory equipment and support research. Currently, the university has 98 named and distinguished professors and is actively recruiting to fill the new positions.

"This is truly an academic celebration," said Provost Sally Mason. "The promise of the Lilly Endowment challenge combined with the commitment from our wonderful donors, equals our ability to act on our dream of attracting and retaining world-class faculty. This is a crucial step in our efforts to become a preeminent university.

"And it's already paying off. Coupled with Discovery Park, where Purdue has positioned itself at the forefront of the fields of tomorrow, these professorships are attracting and retaining some of the world leaders to Purdue."

The 12 new chairs to be established are:

William F. and Pat Miller
Download photo

• Three chairs in nanoscience, bioscience and cyberscience, funded by William F. and Pat Miller, Purdue alumni and residents of Stanford, Calif. The Miller professorships all will be associated with the School of Science and each will be named a Miller Family Chair. William Miller is a former provost at Stanford University and earned his undergraduate degree in physics in 1949, a master's degree in 1951 and doctorate in 1956, all from Purdue. The university also awarded him with an honorary doctorate of science in 1972. Pat Miller earned her undergraduate degree in 1953 with a major in American and English literature. The Millers travel extensively to promote wildlife preservation and the native habitat of the cheetah.

• The Jai N. Gupta Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, funded by alumnus Jai Gupta. This position will initially be designated for the director of research at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Discovery Park. Gupta is president of L-3 Communications Corp.'s Government Services Group in Chantilly, Va. Government Services combines technology with professional services that include wide-area security systems, information technology, program management services and support to the U.S. intelligence community. Gupta earned a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue in 1974, is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and is a past chairman of the International Society of Productivity Enhancement.

• The Hanna Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, funded by Eileen Hanna Bedell. The professor chosen for this position will be an established researcher and teacher in the field of entrepreneurship and will assume a leadership role at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Discovery Park. Bedell, formerly a partner at Accenture, is chairman and CEO of the Bedell Group and owner of Blú A New American Bistro and the Hudson Valley Health and Tennis Club, both in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. Bedell received three degrees from Purdue – a bachelor's in chemistry, a bachelor's in industrial management and a master's in industrial administration from the Krannert School of Management. She is a member of the Krannert School Dean's Advisory Council. Also assisting in funding the chair is her brother, Kevin Hanna, of Carmel, Ind., who received his bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Purdue in 1978 and is director for Eli Lilly and Co.'s business-to-business unit.

• The Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair in Leadership Excellence, funded by Susan Bulkeley Butler, will benefit the Discovery Learning Center, which will be located in Discovery Park. The Center for Leadership Excellence will be one of the programs housed in the Discovery Learning Center, which is designed to inspire engagement and experimentation with new technologies and approaches to learning and teaching by bringing together teachers, leaders and researchers to explore new technologies and teaching strategies. The individual who initially holds the Butler chair is anticipated to also become the director of the Discovery Learning Center. Butler, who retired from Accenture as a managing partner in 2002, lives in Tucson, Ariz. She is a 1965 alumna of the Krannert School of Management and outgoing chair of the Purdue President's Council.

• An endowed chair in finance, funded by an anonymous donor for the Krannert School of Management. The professor chosen to hold this chair will be a teacher and recognized scholar in the fields of finance or venture capital.

• The Kenninger Professorship of Renewable Energy and Power Systems, jointly funded by Ruth L. Kenninger and the Jaquish & Kenninger Foundation (a private charitable foundation headquartered in Lake Tahoe, Nevada). The Kenninger Professorship is established in honor of Ruth Kenninger's husband, Carl A. Kenninger, a 1949 graduate of the School of Mechanical Engineering who spent his career in automotive-related engineering businesses, culminating as vice president of Borg Warner International. Ruth Kenninger, who attended Purdue at the same time as Carl and studied home economics, now lives in Sanibel, Fla. The co-founders of the Jaquish & Kenninger Foundation are Steven C. Kenninger, son of Carl, and daughter-in-law Dr. Gail A. Jaquish. Steven Kenninger received his bachelor's degree from Purdue in mechanical engineering in 1974 and his law degree from Stanford University in 1977. He is president of the investment firm QMO LLC. Dr. Jaquish is a graduate of Stanford University and Cornell University, and is president of Jurix Inc., a litigation consulting company.

• The Robert C. Anderson Chair in Pharmacology, funded by Charlotte Anderson and her late husband Dr. Robert C. Anderson, who earned his bachelor's degree from the School of Pharmacy in 1931 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Purdue in 1957. He spent his career at Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis working as director of pharmacy and director of toxicology.

• The Donald A. and Nancy G. Roach Professor of Advanced Manufacturing, funded by Donald and Nancy Roach, of Barrington, R.I. He is a 1952 graduate of the School of Mechanical Engineering, and Purdue awarded him an honorary doctorate in engineering in 1995. Roach served as chair of the President's Council from 1999 to 2001. He also served as co-chairman for the Purdue Class of '52 project campaign to raise funds for scholarships and Purdue's sculpture "Transformation."

• The Fred L. Patterson Chair in Agronomy, funded by the Indiana Crop Improvement Association for a professorship in translational plant genomics. Patterson, of Lafayette, retired in 1986 after a 36-year career as an internationally recognized plant breeder in the small grain improvement program in Purdue's Department of Agronomy. During his career, he participated in the development and release of 27 wheat varieties, five barley varieties and 20 oat varieties. In the 1970s, the wheat varieties from this program occupied as much as 80 percent of the soft wheat acreage in the eastern United States and later they became the genetic base for new generations of improved varieties. Among his many awards are honorary doctorates from Purdue and one of his alma maters, University of Nebraska.

• A chair for the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, funded by a three-year pledge from St. Vincent Health of Indianapolis, sponsored by St. Louis-based Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic and nonprofit health system. The Regenstrief Center, part of Purdue's e-Enterprise Center in Discovery Park, will coordinate and provide support for projects to improve health-care delivery.

Writer: Jeanne V. Norberg (765) 494-2084; jnorberg@purdue.edu

Sources: Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708

Sally Mason, (765) 494-9709

Murray Blackwelder, senior vice president for advancement, (765) 496-2144, mblackwelder@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

To the News Service home page