Purdue to connect with Hamilton County on community visit
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President Martin C. Jischke and other university officials will visit Harmony Foods Corp., the Clarion North Medical Center, Westfield High School and the Hamilton County Extension office, as well as other locations.
Victor L. Lechtenberg, the university's vice provost for engagement, said Purdue welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with business and community leaders.
"These visits provide invaluable insights into communities' accomplishments and challenges," Lechtenberg said. "Purdue wants to serve as an economic development partner to Hamilton County so that its businesses can gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. We also want to do our part to ensure that schools in these communities can look to Purdue to help them continue to provide a top-notch education."
This is the fifth year Jischke and university leaders have conducted daylong visits to Indiana communities. More than 50 previous stops have included communities like Gary, Jasper, South Bend and Lebanon. Future visits are planned for Hendricks County, Elkhart and New Albany.
Several activities are scheduled for the Hamilton County visit:
• 8 a.m. — Attend the Business Breakfast Roundtable at Riverview Hospital, 395 Westfield Road., Noblesville. Jischke will make remarks on economic development. Discussion will follow.
• 9:45 a.m. — Visit Harmony Foods Corp., 11899 Exit Five Parkway, Fishers. Harmony Foods uses state-of-the-art production facilities to manufacture Golden Stream snack foods.
• 11:20 a.m. — Attend the Hamilton County 2006 Outlook Luncheon at the Ritz Charles, 12156 N. Meridian St., Carmel. Jischke will deliver a speech on higher education's role in the state economy. His speech will be followed by discussion about the retailing industry. Thomas J. Schneider, executive vice president of development for the Simon Property Group Inc., also will speak. Simon Property Group is the world's largest publicly traded retail real estate company.
• 1:15 p.m. — Visit Clarian North Medical Center, northwest corner of 116th Street and U.S. 31 North/Meridian Street., Carmel. Clarian North, a 170-bed hospital with an attached medical office building, opened its $284 million Carmel facility in December. Its 700,000-square-foot facility also has pavilions for specialty surgery and for women and children, including pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. Clarian North is an affiliate of Methodist, Indiana University, Riley and Clarian West hospitals. According to the Purdue School of Nursing, approximately 60 percent of its graduates work in the Clarian system.
Purdue's Healthcare Technical Assistance Program (TAP) also is performing a pharmacy analysis for Riley Hospital. Healthcare TAP, which was launched in May 2005, is a partnership with the Indiana Hospital&Health Association and Purdue's Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering. Through this partnership, interdisciplinary teams from the College of Engineering, School of Nursing, College of Liberal Arts and others offer operational improvement assistance to Indiana's 166 hospitals.
• 2:45 p.m. — Attend the High School Leadership Curriculum meeting at Westfield High School, 18250 N. Union St., Westfield. Students and guidance counselors from Westfield and Hamilton Southeastern High School will visit with Jischke and discuss how they are developing their leadership skills.
• 4:15 p.m. — Meet with county and city officials at the Hamilton County Extension office, 2003 E. Pleasant St., Noblesville. The goal of the Extension office is to educate Indiana citizens through the application of research and to develop youth, strengthen agriculture, and support families and communities. The office also connects Purdue experts with business leaders, local officials and others who seek assistance with economic development.
• 5:30 p.m. — Attend a reception at the Hamilton County Exhibition Center, 2003 E. Pleasant St., Noblesville. Jischke and university leaders will visit with Purdue alumni who live in Hamilton County.
Jischke, who came to Purdue in August 2000, is the university's 10th president. He previously served for nine years as president of Iowa State University, another land-grant institution. His experience in higher education also includes 17 years as a professor and dean at the University of Oklahoma and five years at the University of Missouri-Rolla.
Jischke was the founding president of the Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture. He served as chairman and board member of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and as a board member of the American Council on Education, National Merit Scholarship Corp., and the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities.
He currently serves as chairman of the Association of American Universities, which represents the top 62 research universities in North America, and also is the current chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors. Jischke also is on the board of the American Council on Competitiveness and the national board of Campus Compact, an organization of university presidents and college deans that helps students learn about citizenship through community-service opportunities. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce honored Jischke in November with its Volunteer of the Year Award.
After receiving his doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968, Jischke joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma's School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. During his 17 years at Oklahoma, he served in multiple capacities. He became director of the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering in 1977. He served as dean of the College of Engineering from 1981 to 1986, and he was named the university's interim president in 1985.
Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu
Sources: Victor L. Lechtenberg, (765) 494-9095, vll@purdue.edu
David Petritz, (765)494-8489, dpetritz@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: The media are invited to cover the 2006 Outlook Luncheon.
Related Web sites:
Purdue Office of Engagement
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