Murray M. Blackwelder Senior Vice President for Advancement

Message to alumni and friends — March 2008

Spring is just around the corner and Purdue’s campus is full of activity. We announced a number of wonderful gifts in the past month, gifts which reflect the tremendous generosity and vision of the university’s alumni and friends. On February 10th we announced a $2.5 million deferred gift from Peter and Sally Kay which will benefit the Purdue Cancer Center and the Science Bound program. This gift is especially meaningful because Peter and Sally served on the director’s advisory board of the Cancer Center from 2003-2005 and are currently the co-chairs of our President’s Council.

During National Engineer’s Week in February we also announced two significant gifts to the College of Engineering. A $2 million gift from long-time Purdue Engineering supporter Stephen D. Bechtel of the San Francisco-based Bechtel Group, Inc. will support the Ideas to Innovation Learning Lab in Armstrong Hall. This lab will be used by students in the college’s First-Year Engineering program and by K-12 summer groups and will facilitate hands-on learning through state-of-the-art equipment and fabrication equipment. Meanwhile, a $2 million anonymous gift will create a new endowed faculty position focused on instrumentation research. During the announcement, Engineering Dean Leah Jamieson hailed the new professorship as one which will strengthen Purdue’s ability to meet the demand for creating, constructing and measuring systems vital to the expanding economy of tomorrow.

Also last month, the College of Engineering shared a $2.2 million unrestricted gift with the College of Technology. Made by Rick and Cheryl Kosdrosky, engineers with Lockheed Martin, this gift strengthens the mutually-beneficial relationship Purdue already shares with Lockheed Martin and its efforts to create opportunities for students. The Kosdrosky’s gift continues their record of engagement and generosity with Purdue students and faculty while giving the colleges access to unrestricted funds to meet their most pressing needs and rising opportunities.

Dr. Córdova has already visited with Purdue alumni and friends in Arizona and California this year and continues to travel to sites across the country. On March 6th, she will give a major speech to the Economic Club of Indiana. She is also scheduled to visit the following locations soon:

• March 31: Washington, DC
• April 1: New York, New York
• November: India/China

Looking ahead to next month here on campus, the university will celebrate Dr. Córdova’s inauguration on Friday, April 11th, one of a series of events that will celebrate Purdue’s place as a hub of global learning and research and which will coincide with Technology Week and Gala Weekend/Springfest. As always, your participation and Boilermaker spirit are what truly make these events shine, so we hope to see you back on campus soon. Thank you for contributing so generously to Purdue’s success.

Hail Purdue!

Murray M. Blackwelder
Senior Vice President for Advancement

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