Appointments, honors and activities

• Appointments and promotions:

- Kristina Bross has been named associate dean for undergraduate research and creative endeavors in the Honors College. Bross is associate professor of English at Purdue, specializing in early American studies. The author of "Dry Bones and Indian Sermons: Praying Indians in Colonial America," she has taught honors courses for the university honors program and through the Honors College. Bross has served on the Honors College Faculty Governance Committee since its inception. She is the immediate past president of the Society of Early Americanists and was a Fulbright fellow in 2007 at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Bross has received the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award and is enrolled in the Book of Great Teachers.

- Mesut Akdere, associate professor of organizational leadership, has been appointed to the board of examiners of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

• Campus activities:

- The Krannert Graduate Student Association partnered with the Purdue School of Nursing in sponsoring a charity gala on April 1. The semiformal event raised $2,400. Proceeds will benefit the Family Health Clinic in Monon. The gala was at the Lafayette Brewing Co. Organizers plan to sponsor the fundraiser annually.

- Mohammad Rahman, associate professor of management at Krannert School of Management, organized the inaugural Krannert-Walmart Data Dive April 2-3 at Purdue. Teams from Northwestern University and the Georgia Institute of Technology both won $5,000 in prize money. A total of 17 teams from 11 universities participated. Graduate and undergraduate students used Walmart trend data and were tasked with developing solutions in two areas—customer segmentation and providing products for efficient shelf space usage. It was the first major activity conducted by the Business Information and Analytics Center.

• Faculty and staff honors:

- Bob Mindrum, director of the Purdue Memorial Union, was presented with honorary lifetime membership in the Association of College Unions International in March during its annual conference. Mindrum has served in a variety of volunteer leadership capacities for ACUI, including president of the association in 2006. In 2013, he received the Butts-Whiting Award, ACUI's highest honor. Mindrum has been director of PMU since 1995.

• Notables:

- John Wensveen, a professor and head of School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, will be one of nine speakers on April 14 in Indianapolis at the second annual Aviation & Aerospace in Indiana breakfast.