Board of Trustees chair announces search committee for next president of Purdue University
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University Board of Trustees Chairman Keith Krach announced Thursday (July 7) his appointment of the presidential search committee that will be responsible for identifying candidates to succeed President France A. Córdova at the end of her term in July 2012.
Krach announced that trustee Michael Berghoff will chair the 12-member search committee that includes representatives from faculty, staff, students, alumni and the Board of Trustees. Berghoff graduated Purdue in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in industrial management and was appointed to the board in 2009. He is founder and president of Lenex Steel Corp. in Indianapolis.
Krach explained, "The committee's charge is to conduct a national search for the very best candidates to lead Purdue University as its 12th president. The committee is further charged with the responsibility of evaluating all applications and nominations and submitting to the Board of Trustees an unranked list of candidates that the committee believes to be worthy of the board's consideration. The trustees may also add additional candidates to the list.
"The presidency at Purdue University has a legacy of excellence, and I believe this search will attract some very distinguished candidates."
Purdue ranked 18th among public national universities in the most recent U.S.News & World Report rankings, the only Big Ten university to move up in the last two years. The new student academic profile, undergraduate retention levels and sponsored research funding are at record levels for the university.
Krach said the search committee also will meet with administrators, faculty, students, alumni, legislators, national and state education leaders, and other stakeholders to learn what they would like to see in a new leader and their aspirations for Purdue.
The search committee includes three other trustees:
Tom Spurgeon of Peoria, Ill., entrepreneur and former president and CEO of Lincoln Office in Peoria.
JoAnn Brouillette of West Lafayette, managing partner and president of Demeter LP, a family-owned grain and commercial warehouse business headquartered in Fowler, Ind.
Gary Lehman of West Lafayette, president and CEO of Fairfield Manufacturing Co. in Lafayette.
Purdue faculty, staff and student representatives on the committee are:
Morgan Burke, director of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Kirk Cerny, president and CEO of the Purdue Alumni Association.
James Dworkin, chancellor and professor of management at Purdue North Central.
Joan Fulton, associate department head and professor of agricultural economics and immediate past chair of the University Senate.
Brad Krites, immediate past president of Purdue Student Government and a senior in the Krannert School of Management.
Chris Ladisch, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences and professor of Consumer Sciences and Retailing.
Mark Lundstrom, Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mary Wirth, W. Brooks Fortune Professor of Chemistry.
Tom Friel, Purdue alumnus and retired chairman and CEO of the executive search firm Heidrick & Stuggles, also will serve as special adviser to the committee.
The trustees also have hired R. William Funk & Associates, an executive search firm, to assist in identifying and recruiting appropriate candidates.
Writer: Chris Sigurdson, 765-496-2644, sig@purdue.edu
Source: Keith Krach, keith@3points.org