The Purdue for Life Foundation helps people who love Purdue stay connected, get involved, and give back.
Purdue for Life—created in 2020 by uniting the Purdue Alumni Association and the University Development Office—drives and coordinates all alumni-related activities across the Purdue family’s post-graduation lives and works with alumni, friends, and fans to garner support for the institution.
The work of our foundation is guided by our strategic plan.
You can get involved in a variety of ways—including through a region-based club, an affinity network, volunteering and mentoring opportunities, alumni living, travel, and lifelong learning. You can also join the Purdue Alumni Association, President’s Council, the John Purdue Club, the brand-new Purdue Parents & Families Club, and Purdue Alumni Student Experience.
Want an inside look at Purdue for Life? Tune in as Matt Folk, president and CEO of the foundation, shares his views on Boilermaker spirit and community during a recent installment of the university’s award-winning This Is Purdue podcast.
DAUCH ALUMNI CENTER
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Created in 2020 by uniting the Purdue Alumni Association and the University Development Office, Purdue for Life drives and coordinates all alumni-related activities across the Purdue family’s post-graduation lives and works with alumni, friends, and fans to garner support for the institution. We bring together organizations you know well—including the Purdue Alumni Association, President’s Council, and the John Purdue Club—and offer many more engagement opportunities.
The organization is an independent LLC that resides within the Purdue Research Foundation. To learn how the Purdue for Life Foundation is funded, click here.
The name “Purdue for Life” reflects our mission to deliver the benefits of Purdue University—including education, enrichment activities, travel, and on-campus residential opportunities—to alumni and friends throughout their lifetime, while also working to garner support for the university. Following an integrated model, the Purdue for Life Foundation is designed to improve engagement and communication by aligning fundraising and stewardship activities across campus and with alumni and friends.
No, President’s Council continues as an organization for those who give $1,000 or more annually to Purdue University. President’s Council is part of the Purdue for Life Foundation.
No, the John Purdue Club continues as an organization for those who give $200 or more annually to Purdue Athletics. The John Purdue Club is part of the Purdue for Life Foundation.
Yes! Membership in the Purdue Alumni Association will be provided at two levels—Annual and Life—and administered through the Purdue for Life Foundation. Learn more!
If you’re a graduate, friend, student, family member of a student, or simply a fan of Purdue University, congratulations—you’re already part of the Purdue for Life Foundation! There is no membership in, or fee to join, Purdue for Life.
That said, philanthropic giving toward Purdue Athletics can place you in the John Purdue Club, and annual giving of $1,000 or more to Purdue qualifies you for membership in President’s Council. Donors who have given three years consecutively to the university, at any level, are part of the Griffin Society, and those who have left a gift to Purdue in their estate planning are members of the R.B. Stewart Society.
Yes, your generous contributions flow exactly as they always have.
Matt Folk, a 1991 Purdue electrical engineering graduate, is Purdue’s vice president for university advancement and alumni engagement and the president and CEO of the Purdue for Life Foundation. Folk recently retired as president and CEO of a firm specializing in the sales and marketing of semiconductor and electromechanical components. Additionally, Folk has been president of the Boiler Business Exchange in Indianapolis for many years, has been very active in all aspects of alumni engagement across campus, and was the Purdue for Life committee chairman.
Jillian Henry is vice president for engagement for the Purdue for Life Foundation. In that role, she leads alumni engagement for Purdue.
Greg Kapp is vice president for development for the Purdue for Life Foundation. In that role, he leads fundraising and stewardship for Purdue.
View all Purdue for Life senior leadership.
Purdue for Life President and CEO Matt Folk reports to a five-member board of managers that includes President Mung Chiang, three members of the Purdue University Board of Trustees, and one member of the Purdue Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Patsy earned a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition in business from Purdue in 1969, in addition to an MBA in food marketing from Michigan State University in 1970. She retired from Kraft Foods in 2006 after 36 years in corporate food marketing and marketing communications management.
A community volunteer, Patsy serves on the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana Advisory Board and the Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, in addition to the President’s Council Advisory Board. She is a former member of the Health and Human Sciences Alumni Board. Patsy held several offices from 2006 through 2013, including president and treasurer. She serves her community’s Discover Indianapolis Club in Fishers, holding several leadership roles for over 10 years.
Patsy has received several honors, including the Purdue University Nutrition Science Department Hall of Fame recipient in 2009 and the Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. She also received the college’s Gold and Black Award in 2016, an honor reserved for donors who have moved the college forward by committing exceptional financial resources.
In addition to endowing two scholarships, the Patsy J. Mellott Scholarship and Patsy J. Mellott HHS Scholarship, she established the Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award in the College of Health and Human Sciences in 2013. In 2015, she endowed the Patsy J. Mellott Women’s Tennis Coach Performance Award. She is a lead donor in the Christine M. Ladisch Faculty Leadership Award and the Purdue Women’s Network Virginia C. Meredith Scholarship for the College of Health and Human Sciences.