Purdue Notebook

August 28, 1998 Appointments and promotions Patricia A. Kemmer Porter, director of development services, has been named assistant vice president for development at Purdue. Porter will continue to oversee development operations, including the implementation of a new management information system; work with the campus development staff to increase Purdue's annual and campaign giving and endowment funds; and manage the daily operations of the university development office. Porter joined the staff in 1991, working with corporate and foundation donors, and later became director of donor relations and then director of development services. A native of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Porter received her bachelor's degree in communication from Purdue in 1988 and a master's degree from Purdue's Krannert Graduate School of Management in May. -- Laura A. Downey has been promoted from associate director of corporate and foundation relations to director of special projects and executive assistant to the vice president for development. Downey started at Purdue in 1992 as a clinical instructor in the Veterinary Medical School. She joined the development staff in 1996. A native of Merrillville, Ind., Downey earned a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Purdue in 1988 and her master's of science in management from the Krannert Graduate School of Management in 1997. Faculty and staff honors -- Winthrop A. Gustafson, recently retired professor and associate head of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Frank O'Bannon in recognition of Gustafson's nearly 40 years of teaching and service at Purdue. Gustafson was nominated for the award by one of his former students, NASA astronaut John Blaha, who is one of two Purdue astronaut alumni who stayed aboard the orbiting Russian space station Mir. Several other of Gustafson's students at Purdue went on to become astronauts, and many are involved in the space industry. Gustafson has received several teaching awards, and he is co-author of the book "One Small Step: The History of Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University." The Sagamore of the Wabash is the highest honor bestowed by the governor. -- Arnold C. Cooper, the Louis A. Weil Jr. Professor of Management in the Krannert Graduate School of Management, has been named a fellow of The Academy of Management. Cooper, who won the 1997 International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research, teaches courses in strategic management and entrepreneurship. Since joining the Purdue faculty in 1963, Cooper has served as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School, Stanford University, The Wharton School, the Manchester Business School in England and at IMEDE Management Development Institute in Switzerland. Compiled by J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page