The John Purdue Club is responsible for raising the funds necessary to cover the tuition, room and board, books and academic support costs of Purdue’s more than 500 student-athletes. Your gift is an investment in our student-athletes and the future of Purdue Athletics. Anyone interested in the future of Boilermaker Athletics may join the John Purdue Club. Many of our donors attended Purdue, but you don’t need to be a Purdue graduate or letterwinner to show your support. Approximately 25 percent of John Purdue Club members are not Purdue alumni.
Gifts to the John Purdue Club support scholarships and academic support for Purdue’s student-athletes and improvement to our athletic facilities. Every gift, no matter the amount, brings us closer to meeting the total scholarship costs for dedicated Boilermaker student-athletes which have escalated to more than $13.5 million per year.
The impact of your gift reaches beyond the playing field. For Purdue’s student-athletes, an education at this prestigious university – made possible only through John Purdue Club contributions – provides the opportunity to prosper beyond athletics.
John Purdue Club membership starts at $25 for New Professionals! Current Purdue seniors and Boilermakers fans who have graduated within the last five years can now join our New Professionals group and invest in the John Purdue Club. This program is aimed at allowing recent graduates the opportunity to stay connected to Purdue Athletics through various events, season tickets, and networking opportunities. New Professionals have the opportunity to provide scholarships to over 500 Purdue student-athletes who rely on generous donations to represent our school in competition.
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.
