Our affinity networks connect like-minded Boilermakers in recognized communities that actively engage around a central, unifying purpose, mission, background, or activity beyond class affiliation, school, or regional proximity. Shared interests within the Purdue family are at the heart of these networks.
Our growing list of affinity networks includes:
Please contact us at mlwhipple@purdueforlife.org, and we will help you find your Purdue people!
All of our affinity networks encourage membership with the Purdue Alumni Association.
ANNUAL
LIFE
The Purdue for Life Foundation offers other memberships, which you can learn more about
on our membership page.
Purdue Alumni Association members can join any of these alumni networks.
Interested in exploring an existing network or creating one for your area of interest? Please contact us via email.
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.
