December 1, 2024

Dear Boilermakers,

Just like that, it seems, the winter holiday season is on the horizon. In less than two weeks, we will conclude the fall semester and celebrate our newest Purdue graduates at three Winter 2024 Commencement ceremonies.

With this message, I am delighted to formally welcome Julie Dussliere, a Purdue alumna, as president and chief executive officer of the Purdue for Life Foundation. In her distinguished career with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee after graduating from Purdue, where she was on our swimming team, Julie has proven to be an excellent leader, collaborator and diplomat, demonstrating executive leadership of large teams and strong intellect and people skills. Julie emerged from a large and competitive applicant pool as the ideal leader to develop, articulate and implement the long-range vision and strategy for all parts of PFLF and to most effectively serve and advance our university.

With excellence at scale, Purdue’s fall semester is notable with achievements of the whole team for our four strategic pillars. Here are just several highlights:

Indianapolis: We launched our first-ever urban expansion of the main campus – reinforcing our commitment as a top public land-grant university creating jobs, workforce and innovation together while unlocking unique urban opportunities for Purdue students and faculty.

Daniels School of Business: Plans are in place for construction of the 164,000 square-foot student-centered building, as we welcomed the first cohort of the trailblazing Master of Business Technology program, offering students an immersive learning experience.

Purdue Computes: Our latest, largest strategic research win under the CHIPS R&D Program focused on semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging while a Purdue-led team was the winner of a new project to advance artificial intelligence hardware.

One Health: We strengthened a long-standing strategic partnership with Eli Lilly and Company to improve health outcomes around the world, while more than 150 Boilermakers from a variety of medical professions participated in our first One Health Alumni Reunion.

On behalf of our students, faculty and staff, we extend our sincere thank you to all Boilermakers everywhere for your support of our university. Ever grateful, ever true!

Happy Holidays and Boiler Up!

Mung Chiang
President, Purdue University