Trustees renew IPFW management agreement, ratify provost and named professorship, vote to continue specialty plate program, approve resolutions

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (May 16) voted to renew the management agreement with Indiana University for the management of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, ratified Debasish "Deba" Dutta as provost and approved a named professorship.

Trustees also approved resolutions of appreciation for Tim Sands, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost; Al Diaz, executive vice president for business and finance, treasurer; and five donors who have given $1 million or more to Purdue.

The board also voted to continue to participate in the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles Specialty License Plate program and approved a posthumous degree.

Trustees voted to extend for one year the management and academic mission agreement with Indiana University trustees for IPFW. In 2013 trustees from both universities extended the agreement, made in 2008, for one year.

Wayne E. Wright  Download Photo

Wayne E. Wright was approved by trustees as the Barbara I. Cook Chair of Literacy and Language. Wright, whose appointment is effective Aug. 18, is now an associate professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Wright was a visiting lecturer Fulbright Scholar at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2009. From 2004-2008 he was an assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to that he was a faculty associate at Arizona State University East from 2003-2004 and an adjunct professor from 2001-2003 at Mesa Community College, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University.

His research focuses on language and educational policies, programs and practices for language minority students. He has many years of experience teaching in bilingual and English as a Second Language classrooms with students from kindergarteners to adults.

Wright is editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement and is book review editor for the International Multilingual Research Journal. He is author of "Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Theory, Research, Policy and Practice."

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from California State University Long Beach and his doctorate from Arizona State University.

Barbara Cook served as dean of students at Purdue from 1980-1987. She came to Purdue in 1956 as a counselor in the Office of the Dean of Women. She was director of the Placement Service for Women, assistant and associate dean of women, and associate dean of students before becoming dean. She also held a lectureship in the School of Education and was a professor of education from 1987 until her retirement in 1989.

Dale R. and Suzi Gallagher established the Barbara I. Cook Chair of Literacy and Language Endowment in 2007. Dale received a bachelor's degree from the School of Industrial Engineering in 1969, and Suzi received a bachelor's degree from the College of Liberal Arts in 1970. Dale Gallagher is the retired vice president of operations for Frito-Lay in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Suzi Gallagher is a retired academic language therapist and is interested in helping those with learning disabilities.

Debasish Dutta  Download Photo

Trustees also ratified the previously announced appointment of Debasish "Deba" Dutta as the university's next provost, effective July 1.

Dutta is currently associate provost and dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a scholar-in-residence at the National Academy of Engineering. He succeeds Sands, who will leave Purdue to become president of Virginia Tech.

In addition to his duties as associate provost and dean at Illinois, Dutta holds a named professorship in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering and is a professor of industrial and enterprise systems engineering.

From 2004-2007, Dutta worked at the National Science Foundation on educational initiatives and workforce development in science and technology. Dutta received his doctorate from Purdue in 1989 and was on the faculty at the University of Michigan from 1989-2008.

Trustees also approved resolutions for Sands and Diaz.

Tim Sands  Download Photo

Sands, who will become president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) on June 1, has served as provost since April 2010. He was acting president from June 2012 to January 2013. He joined the Purdue faculty in 2002 as the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering in the schools of Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to becoming provost, he served as the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue's Discovery Park.

Al diaz  Download Photo

Diaz, who will become treasurer and chief financial officer at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, on June 1, has been Purdue's chief financial officer since July 2009. Over the past four years, Diaz has overseen Purdue's nearly $2.4 billion annual operating budget, helping guide the university as it addressed economic challenges while still meeting its strategic goals. Before coming to Purdue, Diaz was vice chancellor for administration at the University of California, Riverside.

The board voted to continue to participate in the state's Specialty License Plate program. All funds collected by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles are transferred to Purdue and are used only for providing scholarships to Indiana resident undergraduate students across the Purdue system. In 2013 sales of Purdue license plates generated more than $1.1 million for the university's scholarship program.

Trustees approved a posthumous bachelor of arts degree for Hannah M. Densel, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts.

The board also approved resolutions of appreciation for donors Beck's Hybrids, Donald J. Kennerly, Scot Industries and one anonymous donor. Beck's Hybrids committed $1.7 million in support of remodeling part of the Krannert Building and to improve facilities for College of Agriculture faculty, staff and students. Kennerly gave a $1.49 million unrestricted legacy gift. Steve Wilmeth, on behalf of Scot Industries Inc., pledged a gift of $2.7 million to Purdue Libraries in honor of his father Tom Wilmeth, a 1935 graduate of Purdue. This donation, combined with previous gifts, will provide Purdue the opportunity to name the Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Library of Engineering and Science in the Active Learning Center. An anonymous donation of $1.5 million will support study abroad scholarships in International Programs. 

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu 

Sources: Tim Sands, 765-494-9709, tsands@purdue.edu

Debasish "Deba" Dutta, 217-333-6715, ddutta@illinois.edu

Wayne E. Wright, wayne.wright@utsa.edu

Al Diaz, 765-494-9705, aldiaz@purdue.edu