Nancy Bulger's responsibilities as assistant provost include the strategic planning and assessment of academic areas at Purdue, liaison to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, and oversight of special initiatives for the provost.

Bulger received her BA from Clarion State University and her MS and PhD in education from Purdue University. She has been at Purdue since 1971 and served as administrative director for a number of federally grant-funded centers, including the NASA University Research, Education, and Technology Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing; NSF Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Manufacturing; and the 21st Century Center for Nanoscale Electronic/Biological Devices. As the administrative director of these and other centers, Bulger managed cross-disciplinary programs in research, education, and technology-transfer involving over 60 companies, 85 professors, 1,200 students, and research grants totaling over $75 million.

Bulger has been the recipient of numerous academic honors, including Mortar Board Leadership for Women, Who's Who in American Women, Alpha Mu Gamma Honorary, Kappa Delta Pi Honorary, Phi Kappa Phi Honorary, National Science Foundation Fellowship, NDEA Fellowship, and the David Ross Fellowship. In 2007, she received the Helen B. Schleman Gold Medallion Award for efforts on behalf of women students.