“That was it,” Gentry says. “We had zip.”
Today “zip” has been transformed into a lucrative career on the Chicago Board of Trade and a deep-felt gratitude for his Purdue education. Meanwhile, the once struggling freshman is poised to take over as the new chair of The President’s Council Leadership Board in October.
Gentry says he was “quite surprised” to be chosen to lead the Board. “It’s a privilege and honor, and I’ll do the best I can.”
Gerald and Joan have endowed five agriculture scholarships for undergraduates at Purdue. They also support Convocations, the Purdue Musical Organizations and Purdue athletics.
As chair, Gerald will head the organization whose members account for the vast majority of all private giving to Purdue. The Council serves the dual role of raising money for the university and providing a social connection for Purdue’s alumni and friends.
“You make lasting friendships that you otherwise wouldn’t have had if you weren’t in an organization like this,” Gentry says. “We have met friends from all over the country. We e-mail back and forth and have telephone conversations all the time. It’s a lot of fun.”
However, the most fulfilling aspect of Gentry’s new role at the President’s Council is getting the opportunity to tell Purdue’s story to prospective donors and helping to bring financial support to the university. Donating to Purdue is vital, he says. State support for higher education is decreasing at the same time that the stressed economy is making Purdue’s innovations and highly trained graduates more important than ever before.
The first person in his family to attend college, Gentry earned a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Pennsylvania State University. He received the Agronomy Achievement Award in 2001 for his contributions to Purdue and the community.
Gerald and Joan were high school sweethearts who have been married for 47 years. Their children have followed in their father’s Purdue footsteps. Son, William, and daughter, Angela, both earned degrees from Purdue. Their son-in-law and daughter-in-law also received degrees from Purdue. The couple have five grandchildren.
“I had heard about the rivalry between Purdue and Indiana, but it really didn’t mean that much to me until we ran out on the floor and the fans just went crazy,” says Parker, who played guard for Purdue from 1975 through 1978 and earned most valuable player honors in 1976. The cheers shook him to his core. “I remember going through the lay-up line thinking this is what it is all about.”
More than 30 years later, Parker and his wife, June, have signed on as co-chairs of the $99.5 million campaign to renovate Mackey. They want to give other young athletes the same opportunities he enjoyed. Parker emphasizes, though, that there is much more than just cheering fans to the planned new Mackey complex and the experience of being an athlete at Purdue.
“College athletics gives you an opportunity to learn how to compete at the highest level,” Parker says. “It requires a lot of discipline and dedication and teamwork — all the things that are vital components to becoming a successful person. You develop poise when you’re playing in front of thousands of people on a regular basis. You have to maintain your concentration and focus to get your job done.”
Parker is especially pleased that the renovations will include academic facilities that will help student-athletes study and receive tutoring in the new Mackey complex.
Purdue’s academic excellence played a key role in Parker’s life by giving him the tools he needed to earn a law degree from Valparaiso University in 1982. Two years later, Parker combined his love of sports with his legal background to found Maximum Sports Management. Today, Sports Illustrated and ESPN call Parker one of the top agents in professional sports. In 2005, he was listed as one of the 50 Most Powerful Blacks in Sports by Black Enterprise.
In 1995, Parker made history when he negotiated a seven-year, $35 million contract with a $13 million signing bonus for Deion Sanders. At the time, the deal made Sanders the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. In 2004, Parker negotiated a six-year deal worth $60 million for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to make Fitzgerald the highest paid rookie ever to play in the NFL.
Eugene and June have been married for 28 years and have five children. Two of their sons attend Purdue. A homemaker for most of her life, June Parker recently founded Divas Make It Happen, an organization that mentors young urban girls. The Parkers live in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are active members of the Summit City Christian Center. Parker also served on the Fort Wayne Airport Authority.
Parker says they are thrilled to be involved in the Mackey campaign. “It gives us an opportunity to give back.”
The other co-chairs of the Mackey campaign are New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees (BA ’00, industrial management) and Brittany Brees (BA ’00 organizational leadership and supervision) and Ernst & Young global vice chair for strategic communications and regulatory affairs and former Purdue forward Beth Brooke (BA ’81, management).
To me the President's Council is the tent pole around which so many of my Purdue friends gather. The University is a community of over 60,000 students, faculty, and staff on campus, and it's easy for an alumnus returning to campus to get lost. The President's Council provides an opportunity to be part of a family of people who care about Purdue. The fact that they are members says that they share an objective to give back to the University that has provided so much to us. As participants in President's Council events, we've made countless new and lasting friendships that we treasure...people who love Purdue just as much as we do.
L. Edward Bednar Jr.
When it comes to Purdue University North Central, “passion” and “commitment” are more than mere words for L. Edward Bednar Jr. In a 39-year-career at the Westville, Ind., campus, Bednar taught on the faculty, acted as a counselor, served as the campus’ chief academic officer and coached the basketball team.
“You name it, I did it,” Bednar says. He arrived on campus to teach mathematics in 1965, two years before the first PNC building was even constructed.
In 2003 when Bednar faced the sad duty of memorializing his wife Pat who had died, he endowed the Patricia C. Bednar Women’s Softball Scholarship. The scholarship supports players in what became PNC’s first women’s sport. It also memorializes an individual who was an excellent athlete at a time when women’s contributions to sport were rarely recognized.
As a young woman, Pat Bednar was an accomplished athlete. Among other activities, she played on a traveling women’s basketball team as a junior in high school. She coached softball at the parks and recreation league in Trial Creek, Ind. Pat also played the game, taking up the glove at an age when many athletes retire from the ball diamond. She played from age 40 to 60. Bednar says the scholarship continues Pat’s legacy of commitment to the sport.
“Each year a young lady receives about $1,200 from that scholarship,” Bednar says. “That will go on in perpetuity. I know Pat would be pleased.”
Donating to Purdue is more important than ever, he says. “Tuition and state aid can only pay for a fraction of what is required to support a major university or a regional campus.”
Support for regional campuses is particularly important. “Many, many folks cannot take time off from work or from raising a family to spend time in West Lafayette, so the regional campuses bring the educational opportunities of a great university to the population centers around the state.”
Bednar retired from PNC in 2004 as the vice chancellor for academic affairs. He is a nationally known expert on higher education in prisons. Among his accomplishments was the establishment of a college degree program at the Westville Correctional Center
He earned a doctorate in education from Western Michigan University, a BS from Western Illinois University, an MS from Northern Illinois University and an associates degree from Thornton Community College in Illinois. Bednar has three daughters, one son and three grandchildren. Two of his children are Purdue University alumni. He has remarried, and he and his wife, Lois Kelley, live in Lancaster, PA, where he enjoys another son and daughter and two grandchildren through marriage.
Barbara Bell-Blake
Barbara Bell-Blake of La Porte, Ind., has several passions in life. These include nursing, education, her family, and last but certainly not least, Purdue University. Over the past few years, Bell-Blake has had the great joy of bringing all of these passions together.
Through a generous donation, Bell-Blake recently established a new scholarship for Purdue mechanical engineering students in honor of her brother’s son, Michael T. Bell, who suffers from Huntington's disease. Before he stopped working because of the illness, Bell worked at GE and other corporations as a mechanical engineer. Previously, Bell-Blake donated to Purdue to establish a scholarship in nursing.
Although Bell-Blake did not graduate from Purdue, she developed a love for the university by taking continuing education classes from the university when she worked as a nurse. Bell-Blake says she has also grown to admire Purdue by watching the university’s growth and accomplishments. Bell-Blake’s other Purdue connection is her sister, Jeanne Christian, who earned her teaching certificate from the university.
Bell-Blake established the scholarships to encourage students and to provide them with a helping hand. After all, these are the people “who are entrusted with our future,” she says. Bell-Blake hopes her gifts, especially her donation in honor of her nephew, will “inspire others to give back.”
Bell-Blake was born and raised in La Porte. After graduating from high school, she moved to Chicago to go to school. In 1949, she graduated from the Michael Reese School of Nursing. Among her many accomplishments was serving on one of the first teams in Chicago to perform open-heart surgery. Bell-Blake also supervised hospital operating departments and emergency rooms, working as a nurse in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. She finished her career by helping Saint Anthony Memorial Hospital in Michigan City, Ind., launch its first computer systems dealing with patient care.
Bell also lives in La Porte. He earned his engineering degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terra Haute, Ind., in 1990.
Janet Y. Spears
DONOR: Janet Y. Spears, MS ’88. An electrical and computer engineering graduate, Spears only spent a single academic year at Purdue, but the experience helped propel her to a lifetime of success, including a 21-year career at AT&T. She retired as sales center vice president in 2007. After taking a year off to travel, golf, and rediscover San Francisco, Spears followed her heart by joining California’s East Bay Community Foundation as their Managing Director of Development and External Relations.
GIFT: She pledged $14,000 over four years for the Minority Engineering Program’s summer workshops for 6th, 7th and 8th graders.
PURPOSE: The workshops are often the first exposure these students have to engineering and college life. These sessions include hands-on engineering projects, tours of campus and engineering facilities and work with mentors.
MY PASSION FOR GIVING: “It’s how my parents raised me. If you have been successful, then it is your responsibility to help those who may not have the same opportunities. It also makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I’m participating in the best way possible.”
Scott and Nikki Niswonger
When 18-year-old Scott Niswonger left his home in a farm town of 11,000 and arrived at Purdue University in 1964, he thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
“It was incredible,” says Scott (AT ’68, HDT ‘04). “I was the luckiest boy pilot from Van Wert, Ohio, to just be accepted at Purdue. That kind of education didn’t exist anywhere else in the world.”
Flash forward to 2009. After a successful career as a pilot, transportation executive, CEO and founder of two air and ground freight businesses, Scott is giving back to his alma mater. With his wife, Nikki, Scott has been a long-time donor to the university. Most recently, the couple provided the leadership funding for the new Niswonger Aviation Technology Building.
Purdue will dedicate the building on September 25. The 18,200-square-foot structure provides a large, updated training facility for future pilots, airline managers, aeronautical technologists and others pursuing careers in the aviation industry.
When he was a student at Purdue, Scott says he was so excited that he didn’t yearn to be anywhere else in the world. No exotic locale was half as enticing as Purdue’s Airport in West Lafayette, IN.
“Is this real?” Niswonger says he used to think. “Because this is it. This is exactly what I want to do.”
At the heart of his excitement was the opportunity to participate in a full-fledged airline. Run by the university, the company was called Purdue Aeronautics Corp., which later became Purdue Airlines before losing its primary investor and closing its doors in the 1970s, Scott says.
“You worked at this operating airline that was headquartered at the Purdue airport,” he says. “You worked weather, dispatch and flew. You worked as co-pilot and flight engineer. You worked all over this little airline. Can you imagine a 20-year-old kid being the co-pilot of a (twin engine, 24-passenger) DC-3?”
Scott was bitten by the aviation bug early. His home was on the flight path of Baer Field, the World War II-era Army Air Forces facility that later became Fort Wayne, Ind, International Airport. Growing up, he loved to watch the planes descending over his house for the final leg of their flights.
At first he was satisfied to build model airplanes, but when Scott was 12, his aunt gave him $25 to take an airplane ride. Since rides only cost about $4 each, he managed to get five rides out of the gift and became a familiar sight at the airport. When he ran out of his aunt’s money, he kept going back.
“My mom always knew where I was,” he says. “I was always at the airport, polishing airplanes, washing airplanes, doing anything for another airplane ride.”
On the earliest day he could legally do it – his 16th birthday – Scott soloed on two airplanes. On his 17th birthday, he earned his private pilot’s license. On his 18th birthday, he got his commercial pilot’s license.
Always a hard worker, Scott got his first summer job as a teenager bailing hay. To make enough money to pay out-of-state tuition at Purdue, Scott spent the summer before college working eight hours a day at a construction site across the street from a factory. At 4 p.m. every day, he would finish his construction job, dash into a nearby diner for a hamburger and then clock in at the factory and work until midnight.
After graduating from Purdue, Scott took a job as a corporate pilot for Magnavox. He founded the cargo airline, General Aviation, Inc. before serving as vice president of U.S. Operations for Flying Tigers Line. He later co-founded Landair Transport and Forward Air Corp. He is a graduate of the United Airlines Training Academy in Denver, Colo., and earned a degree in business administration from Tusculum College in 1987. He is a certified airline transport pilot and has flown everything from J-3 Cubs to the Boeing 747 aircraft.
Although he and Nikki met in high school and went to the junior-senior prom together, they fell out of touch after graduating. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Wilmington College in Ohio and had a career in banking in Cincinnati before she and Scott connected again. Today they have four children and five grandchildren.
The Niswongers have transformed their financial success into help for others. They founded the Niswonger Foundation to help students attend college and to bring new economic opportunities to East Tennessee where they live. They also took the lead in building the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, Tenn., and led the way in building the Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City, Tenn., which opened in February. The facility is one of six St. Jude’s affiliate hospitals. At Purdue, the Niswongers are long-term donors and have reached the Pinnacle Level of giving within The President’s Council. Previous projects include the Holleman-Niswonger Simulator Building.
These days, Scott and Nikki are flying high with the joy they get from their philanthropic projects. Scott is particularly thankful to be able to give back to Purdue. As the economy sputters, he says, it is more important than ever for alumni to support the university.
In his speaking engagements, Scott talks about a way of life that he calls “Learn, Earn and Return.” It’s a code he lives by.
“If people who have been successful don’t come back and help build a foundation for those who will come after them, then the university isn’t going to continue to succeed,” he says.
For Scott, giving back to Purdue is also a personal thank you for those exciting days when the university first made it possible for him to take the controls of a DC-3.
“So many people went out of their way for me, to help this tall, skinny, blonde kid from a cornfield in Ohio,” he says. “I can’t begin to tell you how much they gave to me, and I never will forget it.”
Dr. Fred Metzger
Donor: Dr. Fred Metzger is a native of State College, Pennsylvania, where he lives and works as a board-certified veterinary practitioner. He graduated in 1981 from Penn State University with a degree in animal bioscience, and “most importantly,” he adds, earned a degree in 1986 from the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine. In State College, he owns Metzger Animal Hospital, a small animal specialty practice with four veterinarians (three of them Purdue graduates) on staff.
Gift: A $25,000 gift in honor of Drs. Dennis DeNicola and Alan Rebar for their commitment to veterinary medicine, veterinary clinical pathology, and Purdue University. “My gift is simply a starter gift that I hope encourages others to contribute whatever they can to help honor these veterinary clinical pathology pioneers.”
Purpose: Scholarships “to help veterinary students fulfill their dreams.”
My passion for giving: “During my sophomore year at Purdue, I was introduced to veterinary clinical pathology, and I was hooked immediately by the complexity of laboratory testing and how it helped veterinarians diagnose disease just like a detective solves a crime. Drs. DeNicola and Rebar taught the class with expertise and passion, and it became infectious to me. I wanted to be like those detectives!”
John and Emma Tse
Donors: John and Emma Tse, natives of China, have been part of the Purdue community for five decades. John, a Krannert distinguished professor emeritus, retired in 1988. He helped establish an 11-month graduate management program and helped obtain the financial support to establish the Krannert School of Management. Emma, who loves gourmet cooking and is a registered dietitian, managed the West Lafayette Hilton Inn (now called University Inn), which her husband created and developed, from 1974-1979. She was the first female manager in the Hilton chain.
Gift: With a gift of $700,000, the couple created the John and Emma Tse Fund for Global Scholars for study abroad scholarships. Recipients will be known as Tse Scholars.
Purpose: The gift, targeted at the College of Consumer and Family Sciences, will help achieve one of the main goals of the University’s strategic plan — meeting global challenges. “John and Emma have always been passionate and supportive of Purdue’s internationalization,” says Liping Cai, associate dean for CFS Diversity and International Programs. “They have mentored many students and will be helping CFS students most in need — those who would not be able to afford traveling and studying outside of the United States without a scholarship.”
Their Passion for Giving: “Those who participate in global learning have a better understanding of the world,” says John. “And that makes for a more peaceful world.”
Spencer Fairfax
Donor: Spencer Fairfax. Spencer enrolled at Purdue in the fall of 2001 as an Environmental Geosciences major. He was a member of the Purdue Varsity Glee Club as an undergraduate.He graduated in August, 2005 and enrolled as a Master Degree student in a program he designed himself though the Earthand Atmospheric Sciences Department. He received his Master’s Degree in May, 2007 and was hired by an Indianapolis firm, Black & Veatch Corporation, an international engineering design and construction company with more than 100 offices and 10,000 employees worldwide.
Gift: His recent gift to Purdue was a membership in the President's Council Gold Program. He pledged $3,200 over the next 7 years to bedivided between the new Purdue Musical Organizations andtheSchool of Science/Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department.
Purpose: To help complete Bailey Hall for Purdue Musical Organizations and to support programs in Science/Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
Why I gave: “My decision to give back to Purdue was an easy one. My experiencein PMO andVarsity Glee Club put me in touch with donors from day one. I attended Purdue throughout the Campaign under President Jischke that raised $1.7 billion. I alsoattended many events as a member of the Purdue Foundation Student Board to honorcampaign donors. Iknew wellbefore graduation that I was going to donate as soon as I was capable becauseI realized that donors are the lifeblood of the University.I wanted to give back to the programs that taught me so much and molded me into the person I am today.
Bill and Julie Wilson
Bill and Julie Wilson of Las Vegas, Nev., always make time to take care of their family, and it’s certainly a big one. In total, this family numbers more than 101,000. That’s because the Wilsons count all of Purdue University, all the campuses, the students, faculty and staff as part of their family.
Between service on the Consumer and Family Sciences Alumni Board (Julie, ’93 CFS) and the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Liberal Arts (Bill, ’92 LA), volunteering as alumni recruiters for the Admissions Office, hosting fundraising dinners, being active in Purdue Club of Las Vegas and catching a few football games every year, the couple figure they participate in Purdue-related activities almost every month. The Wilsons are also donors and members of The President’s Council.
“Even though we live nearly 2,000 miles from Purdue, we try to support the university as much as humanly possible,” Bill says. “We love Purdue.”
This passion for their alma mater consists of one part pride in Purdue’s terrific academic reputation and one part Boilermaker exuberance.
“Purdue just feels like family.” Julie says.
Bill adds: “I’m a Boilermaker for life.”
Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that the couple met at Purdue. They met when Bill borrowed Julie’s notes for a geoscience class after he missed several meetings because of the chicken pox.
Purdue also gave the couple a fantastic start on their careers. Julie has turned her Purdue degree into a career in retail customer service, including stints as a manager at Wendy’s International, Boston Market and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Today she is a manager for Costco.
Bill added an MBA in Chicago to his Purdue bachelor’s degree and went into finance, working in banking. Today he is an assistant vice president at the Nevada State Development Corp. Bill helps companies get commercial real estate loans from the Small Business Administration.
Despite their active careers, though, the Wilsons never forget the importance of their family roots.
“In a tiny way, we feel that we make a difference for Purdue,” Bill says. “This is a university that’s been around since the 1860s, that put the first man on the moon and did so many other things that have gone down in history. To feel that we can make even a tiny difference for a place like that is pretty cool.”
Allen "Al" Novick
Donor: Allen “Al” Novick, BS ’65, MS ’67, and PhD ’72, aeronautical engineering. In 1972, Al joined Detroit Diesel Allison Division of General Motors, which was purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1995. His career in the aircraft engine industry progressed through many challenging assignments and promotions, including gas turbine research and technology, preliminary design, advanced engines, engine development, business development, commercial business, and supply chain management. He currently is vice president for marketing intelligence. Al was presented the Purdue Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award in 2006. Of the many awards and recognitions received during his career, this is “the one I hold in highest esteem.”
Gift: His principal gifts are to the College of Engineering and School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A longtime loyal Boilermaker sports fan, he has supported the John Purdue Club, including an endowment to provide scholarships to student members of intercollegiate athletic teams and support for the new Mackey Arena project.
Purpose: “My gifts to Purdue are a means for me to give back to the University that was so instrumental in helping me to be successful. I am forever grateful for the education and experiences I had at Purdue. I wish to reciprocate by assisting present and future students in having the opportunity to receive an education at Purdue, achieving their goals and successes, and developing a similar appreciation for the University.”
Why I gave: “Success in any worthwhile endeavor begins with learning and subsequently includes discipline, dedication, and of course, hard work. Purdue provided for me a fantastic foundation to learn from a dedicated group of professors who truly had my future at heart. The University, and especially the faculty, provided a dynamic education, which set the stage to my being able to succeed in the aircraft propulsion industry’s highly technical challenges and competitive environment. I am extremely grateful to Purdue, and through my gifts, I hope to help others benefit from the Purdue education and experience I had.”
Margareth (Peggy) Motes McBride
Donor: Margareth (Peggy) Motes McBride, a former elementary and high school teacher and director of the Muncie (Indiana) Community Schools Planetarium. She was named USA Today All-USA Teacher First Team in 2001 and was recognized with a Purdue College of Education Distinguished Alumni award in 2002. In 2003, she spent the summer in Huntsville, Alabama, as a member of a small team of educators who, along with NASA personnel, selected the K-12 Educator Astronauts finalists. Three teachers were selected as NASA Educator Astronauts following in the footsteps ofChrista McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan.
Gift: To the College of Education, a collection of five mural-sized images taken by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. The collection includes “Whirlpool Galaxy M51,” a classical spiral galaxy, “Cigar Galaxy, M82,” sharpest wide-angle view ever obtained of this galaxy, and “Great Orion Nebula M42,” with more than 3,000 visible stars, “Helix Nebula NGC 7293,” and “Eagle Nebula M16.” The murals are displayed in Beering Hall.
Purpose: To excite the imaginations and interest of students of all ages.
Why I gave: “In keeping with the spirit with which I received the images, I wanted them displayed together as a collection inspiring others. Since I graduated from Purdue University, it was the first place I thought of contacting. From the new initiatives of the College of Education with the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowships to the youngsters who are here for weekend events as well as the thousands of college students who walk through the hallways to classes in Beering Hall, someone might just be inspired by the looking at the images.”
Edward J. Prusiecki
Donor: Edward J. Prusiecki, BS ‘39, agriculture, animal science general. Ed attended Purdue during the height of The Great Depression. His father was committed to assuring that he received a college education. The family owned a dairy in East Chicago, and Ed came to Purdue to learn more about the business. He says Purdue “taught me that I needed to think fast in order to succeed.” And that is what Ed did, owning and operating several businesses in northwest Indiana, including the Art Theatre in Hobart.
Gifts: Most recently, a unique collection of Mounted Birds and Animals, some being re-creations of extinct species, and a piano, both at Purdue North Central. He also has given to the John Purdue Club, Purdue Athletics, Purdue Visual and Performing Arts, the College of Agriculture, and Purdue Libraries. A room in the Dauch Alumni Center in West Lafayette is named for him in recognition of his continued generosity to the University.
Purpose: The Mounted Birds and Animals collection is for display and for the education of students taking courses in the College of Science. The piano is for music students.
Why I gave: “I believe it is important to preserve history and give students an opportunity today to learn from our past. Donating the mounted birds to Purdue North Central helps me know that the collection will be taken care of and put to good use to help students learn and think.”
Susan and Christopher Burke
Donors: Susan Burke, BS ’78, liberal arts, and Christopher Burke, BA ‘77, MA ‘79, Ph.D. ’83 — all in Civil Engineering. Christopher is president of Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd., a full-service consulting engineering firm specializing in civil, municipal, traffic, construction, water resources, environmental, structural and mechanical engineering with offices in Rosemont, St. Charles, New Lenox, and Peoria, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Crown Point, South Bend, Columbus, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Started in 1986, the firm has grown to approximately 250 employees.
Gifts: The Christopher and Susan Burke Hydraulic Laboratory, dedicated in 1999, to train future generations of Purdue civil engineers; the Christopher B. Burke Professorship in Civil Engineering; student and faculty awards, including the Rosemary K. Burke and Edmund M. Burke awards in tribute to his parents; support for Purdue Chapter of Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society.
Purpose: To attract and support outstanding educators to Purdue; to promote research and learning; to support students; and to foster excellence in the School of Civil Engineering.
Why I gave: “The educational experience I had at Purdue was fantastic,” says Christopher Burke. “I feel very close to the faculty and the department and have stayed in touch so I know how beneficial these gifts are in attracting faculty and providing learning opportunities and enhancing the previously out-grown space. The scholarships and awards to faculty are to reward excellence.”
James and Sharie Broadhead
Donors: James and Sharie Broadhead. Sharie graduated from Purdue Consumer and Family Sciences in 1965 with a food science degree. She received a master’s in science education in nutrition from Columbia University in 1968. She worked in the research laboratories of Stauffer Chemical Company before leaving to raise their four children. Jim graduated from Cornell University and Columbia Law School. In 2002, he retired as CEO of FPL Group and its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Co.
Gift: The Sharon Rulon Broadhead Scholarship in Consumer and Family Sciences. The scholarship was created on the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary.
Purpose: To provide student support. The first recipient of the scholarship was named last fall.
Why we gave: “We believe privileged people have an obligation to help others and to do so in an intelligent and effective manner,” Jim says. “One of the most effective ways of helping, and at the same time building a stronger America, is by supporting education.” Sharie says: “I received scholarships that helped me through Purdue. We felt it appropriate to give something back to the institution that I love and that provided assistance to me.”
Joyce Berry Miles and Bob Miles
A passion for family and Purdue has powered Joyce Beery Miles and Bob Miles through years of service to the University.
Long-time donors and active members of the President’s Council Leadership Board, the couple began their journey together at a Halloween skating party on campus in 1962. They married three years later.
“We recently celebrated our 44th anniversary,” Joyce said in a recent telephone interview. “Bob just looked at me as if to say that if it hadn’t been for Purdue, I would have never met you.”
Joyce, ’65 consumer and family sciences, and Bob, ’63 civil engineering, now live in the mountains of western North Carolina, but they remain committed to the University that gave them their start, and many happy memories.
The couple’s deepest commitment has been to the work of the College of Consumer and Family Sciences. They co-chaired the CFS development team for a $13 million planned-giving campaign for the College.
Joyce has served on the College’s alumni board and been a participant and presenter at the College’s annual Felker Leadership Conference. In 1993, Joyce received the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award. She has also been an active participant on the Steering Committee for the Women for Purdue philanthropic initiative. Even though Bob’s degree is in engineering, he is just as enthusiastic about CFS at Purdue.
“I felt all along that what Consumer and Family Sciences teaches – child development, finances and home management, nutrition – is so important,” Bob says, “more so now than ever before because these subjects get less attention today in many high schools and colleges. I believe in what the College is doing.”
The couple’s donations for Purdue include a $1 million estate gift that will one day support the Center for Families, a $25,000 endowment that established a scholarship for students in CFS, and a $25,000 gift for the new Purdue Musical Organizations building. Bob made the PMO gift in honor of Joyce, who sang with the Purduettes when she was a student.
After they graduated from Purdue, the couple moved to Jacksonville, Fla., where Joyce served for 31 years as a teacher and supervisor in the Duval County schools. She was later the president of her own consulting and training firm.
Bob is a retired civil engineer, who has owned his own construction business and had a long career in the corporate world. He has been active in Kiwanis International and Key Club International for 38 years.
In Florida, his volunteer efforts included chairing the board of a child care center and developing a program to increase the immunization rate of children. In North Carolina, he chaired the advisory council for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haywood County and served on the Haywood County Child Abuse and Neglect Task Force.
These days the energetic couple is supposed to be retired, but they are busier than ever. In the last three years, Joyce has made two DVDs and toured in a one-woman show where she celebrates the centennial anniversary of the birth of home economics. Joyce portrays the field’s founder, Ellen Swallow Richards. On tour, Bob often serves as Joyce’s chauffer.
“We laugh that Bob has been driving ‘Miss Ellen,’” Joyce says. “We’ve traveled 49,000 miles. That’s twice around the world. We have crisscrossed the country. We were in Switzerland last year. We love it.”
Wayne and Mary Hockmeyer
Altruist: noun, “a person unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others.”
Random House Dictionary, 2009
If you were searching for a couple to embody the word “altruist,” you would need look no further than Wayne Hockmeyer (’66 entomology; ’02 honorary doctorate, science) and Mary Hockmeyer.
Between service in the military and as a school teacher, a business based on helping others, a hands-on commitment to the environment, support of guide dogs for the blind, and their dedication to Purdue University, these President’s Council Pinnacle Level members have made the needs of others a priority.
That kind of devotion was the driving force behind their $5.3 million gift to Purdue for the Wayne T. and Mary T. Hockmeyer Hall of Structural Biology.
Their primary goal, Mary says, is to provide students and professors with the resources they need to do work that may benefit people in the future. Wayne adds that Purdue played a vital role in his life.
“Frankly, I don’t think I would ever have done what I did without that experience at Purdue,” he says. “It made me from the point of view of creating my interest in biology and in science, and ultimately in making me the kind of person I am today.”
After graduating from Purdue and working at Dow Chemical Co., Wayne was commissioned as an officer in the Army, beginning a 20-year career. Following airborne and special forces training, Wayne served in Vietnam in 1968 with the 5th Special Forces Group. With the help of the Army, he earned a doctorate from the University of Florida in 1972.
During his military career, Wayne authored many research papers with an emphasis on malaria vaccines. During his last six years in the service, he chaired the Department of Immunology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Wayne retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel. During his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service medal and the Army Commendation medal. The Legion of Merit and Meritorious Service medals were each awarded twice.
In 1988 Hockmeyer founded the biotech company MedImmune Inc. He served as president, CEO and chairman of the board. The company had about 3,000 employees worldwide when it was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2007.
Mary taught school in California; Florida; Nairobi, Kenya; and Maryland where she worked with highly gifted children. She earned a doctorate in Human Development from the University of Maryland in 1990.
The couple’s son, John, earned a bachelor’s degree in Twentieth Century English Literature from Vanderbilt University, a master’s in English from George Washington University, and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Today he works for MedImmune.
These days the Hockmeyers live a semi-retired life, splitting their time between a home in Vero Beach, Fla., and a farm in Maryland on the Choptank River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay.
Wayne serves on a number of corporate boards in the healthcare industry. The couple are dedicated to restoring wildlife habitat on their farm. Among other tasks, they have been installing buffer strips to block nitrogen and phosphorous runoff from spilling into Chesapeake Bay. They are also working to restore local wetlands.
“You’d be shocked at how fast nature recovers when you give it a chance,” Wayne says.
Mary’s passion is for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a Yorktown Heights, N.Y., nonprofit that provides guide and service dogs. The school has a worldwide reputation for breeding exceptional dogs and providing customized training for the hundreds of the blind men and women it serves. In a new initiative called Guiding Eyes, the organization has become the first guide dog school to train its dogs to provide safety and therapeutic companionship for children with autism. All of Guiding Eyes’ programs are provided at no cost to its clients, and the school receives no government funding. (www.guidingeyes.org)
Supporting education in general and Purdue in particular remain a priority, Wayne says.
“Both Mary and I believe that education is extraordinarily important. It certainly was for our lives. Making a donation is a way to give back for future generations.”
When Gerald Gentry (’68 agronomy) and his wife, Joan, left their farm outside of New Castle, Ind., and came to Purdue University with a 1- and 2-year-old in tow, they couldn’t afford a telephone. He worked 20 hours a week during school and full time all summer. They lived in Married Student Courts, borrowed enough money to pay the rent and earned enough to buy groceries. 
Candyce and David Krumwiede are 1978 Purdue alums — she in the College of Education, he in the School of Management. By being engaged in University events and campus committees, the Krumwiedes exemplify the Boilermaker spirit in everything they touch. We sat down with them to find out why Purdue is so important to them and their family. Their responses characterize the loyal and dedicated spirit of the President’s Council. 
Coming home is all about the students.
Several years ago while watching a Boilermaker football game with her family, Angie Klink noticed that her son Ross's attention seemed to be focused elsewhere.
When Jerry and Rosie Semler met as Purdue students more than 45 years ago and later married, the couple also began a lifelong relationship with Purdue University.
For Michele L. Thomas (BS '93, management), giving back is a family tradition. While growing up in Columbus, Indiana, Thomas witnessed regular acts of charity by her parents, whose generosity set a standard that she continues to follow.
Giving back to Purdue University, a place where he "lived his glory days," means a lot to Andrew Kelley, BS '95, industrial engineering. Being a member of the President's Council has made his ability to give back to Purdue even more gratifying.
When Dale and Suzi (Betty Sue) Gallagher returned to the United States after living abroad for almost 10 years, one of their first objectives was to reconnect with their alma mater. As two of the President's Council's first members, Dale (BS '69, industrial engineering) and Suzi (BS '70, liberal arts) had always been tremendous supporters of Purdue University. 
While we have financially supported various Purdue schools and activities, our two principal gifts have been to the School of Mechanical Engineering: one to the ongoing M.E. Preeminence Campaign, whose success is imperative for the school's future; and another to endow a graduate fellowship in mechanical engineering.
We give an annual gift to Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO) for helping the exceptional and enthusiastic students that comprise PMO to enjoy many unique travel and performance opportunities. As a member of the Varsity Glee Club in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was privileged to have had the opportunity to travel with the President's Council and to perform for Purdue alumni and friends near and far. As a freshman at one of these functions, I remember wondering at the time what it was about Purdue that inspired these loyal friends and alumni to make a lifelong commitment to Purdue and to give so generously of their time and resources. Looking back, I realize my own PMO experiences are primarily what have inspired me to make a lifelong commitment to Purdue. In fact, my Varsity Glee Club experiences did not end when I graduated; one of Christina's and my first dates while students together at Valparaiso School of Law was a Purdue Varsity Glee Club concert. Many glee clubbers sang at our wedding, as well.
Some of our more significant contributions have been made to the Krannert School of Management and to the School of Consumer and Family Sciences, which are the schools that helped make us successful in our business careers. It is our hope that they will continue to develop tomorrow's strong leaders. We also have sponsored a Beering scholarship and contributed to numerous other scholarship funds. We know from visiting with the recipients it has made a difference in their lives. In some cases, without scholarships they would not be attending college. Their stories have made a difference in our lives, as well.