Office of Legal Counsel – Trent’s Departure, Promotions and Updated Responsibilities
To: Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors, and Heads of Schools, Divisions, Departments and Offices
From: Steven Schultz, General Counsel
Date: September 23, 2022
Re: Office of Legal Counsel – Trent’s Departure, Promotions and Updated Responsibilities
Dear Colleagues,
As you may already be aware, Trent Klingerman will soon be leaving Purdue for the University of Vermont as he takes up his new position as its Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel. His last day at Purdue is Friday, Oct. 7, coinciding with the next stated meeting of our Board of Trustees.
Like all of us on campus, I know our trustees look forward to extending personal thanks to Trent on behalf of the entire Purdue system for his tireless effort, unwavering devotion, and expert and pragmatic guidance dispensed so effectively throughout his years of service to the University –first as outside counsel, then in HR leadership roles and, ultimately, as the first in-house Deputy GC in Purdue history. As his colleagues, our sadness in bidding farewell to Trent is exceeded only by our happiness and pride in seeing him receive this well-deserved opportunity. Of course, University of Vermont President Suresh Garimella already knows this, but Vermont is certainly going to be blessed by having this particular Boilermaker in Burlington.
In preparation for Trent’s transition, I am pleased to announce the following promotions and plans for new roles and responsibilities in the Office of Legal Counsel.
Adrian Allen, who was recently promoted to the role of Chief Transaction Counsel, will succeed Trent as Deputy General Counsel – an appointment that is slated for Board ratification at the October stated meeting. Adrian joined Purdue in 2014 from Stuart & Branigin and has steadily expanded his practice since then – from supporting physical facilities’ projects and real estate transactions to serving as primary counsel on University financings, environmental compliance and our most complex transactions, including the State Street Redevelopment Project, the Union Club Hotel and PMU renovations, and our P3 housing projects. In addition to his portfolio as Chief Transaction Counsel, Adrian will share responsibility, as Deputy GC, for advising University senior leadership and the Board of Trustees on legal and policy matters. He will also assume oversight responsibilities for our public records function, which is so ably handled by our Legal Services Coordinator, Kaity Heide.
Monica Bloom, who served Purdue in a number of capacities before joining our office in October 2017, has been promoted to Senior Associate Counsel. In this capacity, Monica will serve as lead attorney for Human Resources and Faculty Affairs while continuing to provide the primary support for her existing clients in Student Life, Academic Affairs and Intercollegiate Athletics. Areas remaining in Monica’s portfolio include, among others: the Office of Enrollment Management, the Division of Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar; PUSH and CAPS; the Disability Resource Center; ODOS and OSRR; and the Behavioral Intervention Team. Hannah Carroll-Altman, discussed further below, will step into a supporting role for Monica in a number of these areas.
Jonas Burgett, who joined the Office of Legal Counsel in February 2019 after a successful business and legal career in the private sector, has also been promoted to Senior Associate Counsel. Jonas will retain his current portfolio of corporate and transactional work for Purdue Global, Purdue Online and Purdue Research Foundation, including the latter’s Office of Investments. In addition, he will assume several responsibilities formerly handled by Trent as chief privacy officer, particularly those related to data privacy compliance and training and data-sharing agreements. Jonas will also be called upon from time to time to advise the Purdue Applied Research Institute and the Office of Industry Partnerships on key transactions with strategic partners, particularly those that have an online learning component.
Hannah Carroll-Altman, who joined our office in July 2020, has been promoted to full Associate Counsel. Hannah will retain her current role as an advisor to PUPD and as primary counsel for our Clery Act reporting function, while taking on the responsibility for serving as OLC’s primary point of contact on public safety matters, law enforcement and the University’s insider threat program. In this connection, Hannah will have responsibility for supporting the IT security function and advising on data-breach incidents and responses. She will also take on an expanded role in advising and providing support to the Office of Institutional Equity.
Our team has reached out to and will continue to be in touch with stakeholders on each campus who understandably have questions about how their legal questions and issues will be addressed under our new staffing plan. As just one example, since we will not be backfilling Trent’s chief privacy officer position per se – but instead covering it through a “team approach” – we look forward to connecting with our data stewards to discuss our planned approach in more detail.
In the meantime, I welcome the opportunity to field your questions, so please do not hesitate to contact me either directly (schult51@purdue.edu) or through our office email (legalcounsel@purdue.edu) to arrange a meeting with me and/or other members of our team.
Best wishes for a great Homecoming weekend. Boiler up!