Purdue heading to D.C. during spring break

UPDATE: Events below have been canceled due to inclement weather in the Washington, D.C., area.

On Tuesday (March 14) President Mitch Daniels, along with other university administrators and researchers, will be in Washington, D.C., to take part in three events.

From 9 a.m. to noon, a Purdue contingent will be featured speakers in “Facing the Zika Crisis and Other Emerging Threats,” which is part of the Global Challenges Roundtable Series. The event will take place at Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F St. NW. It is sponsored by Purdue’s Discovery Park; Purdue Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease; the Howard Baker Forum; and Gallup. The sessions are scheduled to be shown live via Gallup’s Facebook page.

Daniels and Scott Campbell, president of the Howard Baker Forum, will welcome participants, and Suresh Garimella, Purdue’s executive vice president for research and partnerships and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, will introduce panelists.

The first panel, “Zika and Other Emerging Threats: Challenges to the U.S. Health System,” will include Purdue’s Pamela Aaltonen, associate professor and associate head of the School of Nursing. That session will be followed by an overview of congressional perspectives and policy challenges with Rep. Susan Brooks of Indiana’s 5th Congressional District and Tom Daschle, former Senate majority leader.

A session titled “The Interconnected Research and Challenges of Developing Strategies Against Zika Virus and Other Infectious Diseases” will be moderated by Richard Kuhn, director of the Purdue Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease, and professor and head of the Department of Biological Sciences. That will be followed by a final session called “The Path Forward: Vector Control and Collaboration,” which will include Catherine Hill, a Purdue professor of entomology and vector biology.

At the conclusion of the discussions, Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, Discovery Park’s executive director and chief scientist, will provide a closing and summary.

In addition, Daniels will take part in a discussion from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. at the Bipartisan Policy Center with other university presidents on how higher education, states and the federal government can promote affordability and accountability at higher education institutions.

The event, “Promoting Affordability and Accountability in the U.S. Higher Education System,” will be webcast.

Other panelists will be Sheila Bair, president of Washington College and former chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University; and Alisa White, president of Austin Peay State University.

Also on Tuesday, Daniels will take part in announcing the winner of the $1 million 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Award. Daniels, for the second consecutive year, serves as co-chair of the prize jury. His co-chair is George Miller, former U.S. congressman from California.

During the ceremony, students and experts will talk about the vital role community colleges play in strengthening the nation’s economy.

According to the sponsor, the Aspen Institute, the community college prize is awarded every two years and recognizes achievement in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion, high rates of employment and earnings for graduates, and equity in access and success for minority and low-income students.