September 15, 2009

Five to be honored at Krannert dinner

Tickets are on sale for the dinner, which raises money for scholarships. The series has raised more than $125,000 in scholarship money for undergraduate and graduate students in the Krannert School of Management.

Elaine Chao, labor secretary in President George W. Bush's administration, will be the keynote speaker at the event, the ninth in the series.

The awards that will be presented and the winners are:

* Krannert Business Leadership Award to Randall Lewis, president and chief executive officer of s2f worldwide, a logistics company based in Indianapolis. Lewis has bachelor's and master's degrees in management from Purdue.

* Krannert Distinguished Service Award to Tim McGinley, founder and principal of House Investments, an Indianapolis real estate investment company. McGinley, who has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Purdue, is the former chairman of the Purdue Board of Trustees.

* Krannert Distinguished Alumni Award to Jack Hockema, president, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Aluminum in Foothill Ranch, Calif. Hockema has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a master's in management from Purdue.

* The John S. Day Distinguished Alumni Academic Service Award to Karel Cool, a professor of strategic management and the BP Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness at INSEAD, an international graduate business school, in Fontainebleau, France. Cool has a master's in industrial administration and a doctorate from Purdue.

* The Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Award to Ron Ellis, president and chief executive officer of Endocyte in West Lafayette. Ellis is a co-founder of Endocyte, located in Purdue Research Park.

Chao, labor secretary during the eight years of the Bush administration, was the first Asian-Pacific American woman to serve in a president's cabinet.

She focused her tenure on increasing the competitiveness of the work force in the 21st century workplace. Chao, who immigrated to the United States at age 8, has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College. She is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. in Purdue Memorial Union. For information and to reserve tickets, contact Tim Newton, Krannert director of external relations, at 765-496-7271 or e-mail tnewton@purdue.edu

Sponsors for the leadership series are Boston Scientific, Saint-Gobain Containers, Air Products, Accenture, WellPoint, Lafayette Printing, Grow Indiana Media Ventures, Purdue Alumni, Susan and Bob Gadomski, and Karl and Kathy Krapek.

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu

Source: Tim Newton, 765-496-7271, tnewton@purdue.edu

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

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