Krannert dinner to feature awards, keynote from Gergen

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Krannert School of Management will honor six Purdue University alumni and faculty during its 13th annual Leadership Speakers Series dinner Sept. 26.

David Gergen, senior political analyst for CNN and adviser to four U.S. presidents, will give the keynote address. Purdue President Mitch Daniels and Krannert Dean Chris Earley also will make remarks.

The awards and recipients are:

* Krannert Business Leadership Award to Linda Clement-Holmes, senior vice president of global business services, research and development, product supply and employee solutions, Procter & Gamble. She earned a bachelor's degree in industrial management from Krannert in 1982 and was included on the Computerworld 2013 "Premier 100 IT Leaders" list.

* Distinguished Alumni Award to Lijun Du, president of Nanshan America. He earned a master's degree in industrial administration from Krannert in 2004.

* Distinguished Alumni Award to John Krenicki, senior partner with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. He received a master's degree in management in 1991.

* Distinguished Service Award to Bill Lewellen, Herman C. Krannert Distinguished Professor of Management, Purdue University. He will retire at the end of this academic year, his 50th on the Purdue faculty.

* John S. Day Distinguished Alumni Academic Service Award to Dan Black, professor and director of the University of Chicago Harris doctoral program. He earned both a master's degree in 1981 and a doctorate in economics in 1983 from Purdue.

* Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Award to Harold Mills, chief executive officer of ZeroChaos. He received a bachelor's degree in management from Purdue in 1993.

In addition to his role with CNN, Gergen is a professor of public service at the Harvard Kennedy School and the director of its Center for Public Leadership. In 2000, he published the best-selling book "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton."

He joined the Nixon White House in 1971 as a staff assistant on the speech writing team, a group that included Pat Buchanan, Ben Stein and Bill Safire. Gergen went on to work in the Ford administration and as an adviser to the 1980 George H.W. Bush presidential campaign.

He served as director of communications for Ronald Reagan and as adviser to Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher on domestic and foreign affairs.

Tickets for the dinner, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union ballrooms, are available to the general public for $100 per person, $75 of which qualifies as a charitable deduction. Net proceeds from the event go to Krannert undergraduate and graduate scholarships. Specially priced tickets are available for Purdue students, faculty and staff.

To reserve tickets, contact Lou Underwood, Krannert assistant director of alumni relations and special events, at 765-494-0901, lmunder@purdue.edu. More information about the Leadership Series and this year's event is available at http://www.krannert.purdue.edu/events/LSS/ 

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu

Source: Tim Newton, Krannert director of external relations, 765-496-7271, tnewton@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Media interested in covering the event should contact Tim Newton, Krannert director of external relations, at 765-496-7271, tnewton@purdue.edu. Videotaping and audio recording of the event will not be permitted.