September 20, 2005

Purdue to celebrate Homecoming with announcements, events

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University will celebrate from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15 with more than 20 special activities that include more than $30 million in gift announcements, events, a groundbreaking, campaign celebrations and building dedications, culminating with Homecoming Oct. 15.

"Homecoming is always an exciting time for our alumni to return to campus and remember their days at Purdue," said Murray Blackwelder, senior vice president for advancement. "With the continuing success of our $1.5 billion Campaign for Purdue, however, Homecoming is not just about fondly remembering the past. This is a time for our extended family to return to campus and recall the past while, at the same time, getting a glimpse at their university's future.

"Even more importantly, it's a time for our alumni and friends to celebrate their involvement in helping us to reshape and redefine the physical and academic landscape of the university. The visionary work that is taking place in Discovery Park provides the most dramatic example of the changes that are taking place."

Discovery Park, located in the southwest sector of campus, is now home to 10 interdisciplinary centers and five facilities are planned – three of which are completed. Two key facilities – the Birck Nanotechnology Center and Bindley Bioscience Center – will be dedicated, and the university also will celebrate the progress being made at the e-Enterprise Center.

Other dedication ceremonies will take place for the university's new indoor golf facility, along with a "high ropes" course designed to develop leadership skills. The School of Industrial Engineering will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an open house and an event to announce gifts and honor alumni. Purdue Crew also will celebrate the progress the student club sport organization has made in raising funds for a new boathouse on the Wabash River. In the Purdue Research Park, the Chao Center for Industrial Pharmacy & Contract Manufacturing will be dedicated. In addition, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for a new tennis center.

"We'll also be announcing some exciting gifts that will benefit areas across campus, including leadership gifts to kick off fund raising for two new facilities in signature areas," Blackwelder said.

Events open to the public include:

8 a.m. – Dedication ceremony for the $2.1 million Tom Spurgeon Golf Training Center. The 11,400-square-foot facility features an indoor putting green, a video swing-analysis system and heated hitting bays. Event location: Tom Spurgeon Golf Training Center, 1300 Cherry Lane.

3 p.m. – Dedication of the Bindley Bioscience Center will take place as part of the President's Council pregame event. Tours will follow the ceremony. The $15 million facility in Discovery Park now makes available to faculty a state-of-the-art, flexible research facility that provides 18,000 square feet that can be configured for individual projects as needed. The center is named for 1962 alumnus William E. Bindley, who, in 2002, contributed $7.5 million to cover half the cost of the building. Event location: tent near the Bindley Bioscience Center in Discovery Park (open to President's Council members).

10:30 a.m. – The College of Agriculture will announce a gift and celebrate the completion of fund raising for a new facility for classes, meetings and hands-on demonstrations. Event location: in a tent at the Agronomy Center for Research and Education, 4540 U.S. 52 West.

6 p.m. – President's Council annual dinner. Three major leadership gifts will be announced. Event location: Purdue Memorial Union ballrooms (open to President's Council members).

10 a.m. – Discovery Park's Birck Nanotechnology Center will be dedicated, and the public can tour the facility. The $58.3 million center – a three-floor, 187,000-square-foot facility – involves about 260 faculty and staff members and graduate students from 25 schools and departments across the university. Nanotechnology is an emerging science in which new materials and tiny structures are built atom-by-atom, or molecule-by-molecule, instead of the more conventional approach of sculpting parts from pre-existing materials. The center is named for Michael and Katherine (Kay) Birck, of Hinsdale, Ill., who donated $30 million for the building. Event location: in a tent behind the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Discovery Park.

12:30 p.m. – A gift will be announced for the College of Education during a President's Council pregame lunch. Event location: Purdue Memorial Union North and South ballrooms (open to President's Council members).

Noon – A gift will be announced to benefit the Purdue Cancer Center and several other donors to cancer research at Purdue also will be recognized. The center is one of just eight basic cancer research centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute. Researchers at the Cancer Center, which is a partner with the Oncological Sciences Center in Discovery Park, utilize Purdue's strengths in chemical and biological sciences to better understand and attack cancer through basic research. The Oncological Sciences Center, which was among four new Discovery Park centers announced this summer, will serve as a location for researchers in the life sciences, liberal arts, engineering and chemical sciences to focus on wider aspects of the cancer problem. Philip S. Low, the Joseph F. Foster Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, will speak about his cancer research. Event location: Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Discovery Park.

2:30 p.m. – Scott Niswonger, a Purdue alumnus and chairman and CEO of Landair and Forward Air corporations, will speak as part of the College of Technology Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series. Niswonger's talk will focus on the value of education in business and the importance of business leaders giving back to help further the education of others. Event location: Stewart Center's Fowler Hall.

3 p.m. – The Chao Center for Industrial Pharmacy & Contract Manufacturing will be dedicated. The $6.5 million, 12,000-square-foot pharmaceutical manufacturing and development facility, located in the Purdue Research Park, is one of only five university-affiliated pharmaceutical manufacturing centers in the nation. The center was made possible by a $5 million gift made in 2001 by Californian alumni Allen Chao, chairman, president and CEO of Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., and his wife, Lee-Hwa Chao. Event location: tent near the Chao Center in the Purdue Research Park.

5-7 p.m. – Student-sponsored carnival and pep rally. This year's carnival includes "inflatables," music and free food. The pep rally will include performances by the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band, Spirit Team and Dance Team, and introductions of the Homecoming king and queen court. Event location: Slayter Hill.

6:30 p.m. – The Krannert School of Management Lecture will feature Steve Forbes. He is CEO of Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine and a former U.S. presidential candidate. Event location: Purdue Memorial Union North and South ballrooms. Tickets are required and are available online or by contacting Tim Newton, Krannert School director of external relations and communications, at (765) 496-7271, (800) 893-4108, tnewton@mgmt.purdue.edu.

2 p.m. – Dedication and demonstration of a "high ropes" course donated by the Class of 1979. The $200,000 course features 20-foot and 40-foot levels that will be used in team-building exercises for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the general public. Participants traverse the course while connected to a rope with a safety net beneath them. Event location: west of campus near the Purdue Airport.

2-4 p.m. – The School of Industrial Engineering, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, will have an open house to celebrate its past and look to the future. Event location: Grissom Hall and Michael Golden Laboratory.

4 p.m. – Groundbreaking for the $7.2 million Dennis J. and Mary Lou Schwartz Tennis Center. The 56,000-square-foot facility, funded by private gifts, will include six indoor courts, six outdoor courts, viewing gallery, offices, lounges, and locker and training rooms. Event location: immediately south of the Varsity Soccer Complex near the intersection of McCormick Road and Cherry Lane.

7 p.m. – The Homecoming parade, with the theme "All Eyes on Purdue: Purdue Mascots Starring in Your Favorite Movies," will start at Elliott Hall of Music and head west on Third Street, south on Russell Street, west on First Street, north on MacArthur Drive, east on Third Street, north on Intramural Drive, ending at Slayter Hill. The Class of 1979 gift committee, with chair Keith Krach, will serve as grand marshal. Fireworks will follow.

9-11 a.m. – Homecoming activities will be centered on the Purdue Mall. The community, as well as alumni, are invited. Purdue colleges, departments and organizations will offer interactive displays, highlights of research and programs, activities, and food. Live performances will be featured on the stage between the Engineering Administration Building and the Purdue Bell Tower. President Martin C. Jischke will address the crowd at about 10:30 a.m. and then join the "All-American" Marching Band and alumni band in leading the crowd from Purdue Mall to Ross-Ade Stadium for the noon kickoff of the Purdue-Northwestern football game.

9:30 a.m. – Purdue Crew, the university's oldest club sport, will celebrate progress made toward a new boathouse to be constructed on land donated by the city of West Lafayette. The $2.5 million boathouse will be located on the banks of the Wabash River in an area that currently serves as a scenic overlook adjacent to the old Brown Street Bridge. Event location: East lawn of the Recreational Sports Center, Third Street and Intramural Drive

Noon – Purdue Boilermakers take on Northwestern University in Ross-Ade Stadium.

Writer: Brian Zink, (765) 494-2080, bzink@purdue.edu

Source: Murray Blackwelder, (765) 496-2144, mblackwelder@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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