Alfred Mann

Beyond the fall campaign celebrations outlined in the Winter 2006 Leadership magazine, there were significant fundraising highlights this past year.

A $100 million gift from the Alfred E. Mann Foundation will establish the Mann Institute for Biomedical Development at Purdue. 

A $25 million gift from the Lilly Endowment Inc. will increase the impact and visibility of our School of Pharmacy.

Regional fundraising efforts finished a successful run, with all three of Purdue’s regional campuses at Calumet, North Central, and Fort Wayne exceeding their campaign goals. In addition, the Indianapolis area raised more than $275 million for the campaign, and the Chicago region exceeded its $100 million goal by more than 5 percent. The Lafayette area campaign finished very strong, raising $62 million. When combined with the campus campaign, which raised $60 million from faculty, staff, and retirees, the local community raised $122 million for The Campaign for Purdue!  It is very inspiring that the people who work and interact with the campus on a daily basis recognize the value Purdue brings to their lives and that they were open in supporting the campaign so generously.

The Purdue Opportunity Awards Program is welcoming its fourth class to Purdue this fall, with private funding having grown to more than $8.4 million. The program was launched four years ago as a $5.5 million need-based student scholarship initiative to be awarded annually to a student from each Indiana county. (See Leadership magazine, Winter 2006.)

The Science Bound program will welcome its first class to Purdue this fall, with private giving approaching $2.5 million for this innovative and compassionate program.  Twenty-five Indianapolis Public School (IPS) students have been admitted to Purdue and will begin their first year on August 20. Since 2002, the students have participated in after-school academic enrichment activities and field trips, including anthropological digs, visits to the Indianapolis Symphony, career fairs, and summer camps sponsored by Purdue academic departments. They also completed internships last summer with Purdue professors or Indianapolis businesses, many of which also provided scholarship funding. Wesley Campbell, Science Bound director, said the program illustrates what can be done when a major university, school corporation, and the business community join forces.

The Campaign for Purdue, through its generous funding of these and other worthwhile programs, is helping Purdue fulfill its land grant mission by welcoming students, faculty, and staff from richly diverse backgrounds and providing learning, discovery, and engagement opportunities that will change their lives and the lives of those with whom they interact.