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October 26, 1998

Boilermaker alumnus gives to management, athletics

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A Purdue University alumnus and his family are giving $6 million to the Purdue School of Management and the Department of Athletics.

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Richard E. Dauch
Richard E. Dauch, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of American Axle & Manufacturing in Detroit, and his wife, Sandy, announced today (Monday, 10/26) that they and their sons, Richard F. Dauch and David C. Dauch, and twin daughters, Teri (Dauch) Gigot and Jane (Dauch) Harvey, will give $5 million over five years to the School of Management and the Krannert Graduate School of Management.

The family also has committed $1 million over the next five years to support various initiatives within Purdue athletics. Dauch was a fullback and linebacker on the Boilermaker football team from 1961 to 1963. His twin daughters graduated from Purdue in 1987 and were members of the Boilermaker dance team.

The Dauch family gift to the Krannert School is the anchor gift that kicks off a $55 million fund-raising campaign. The "Krannert at the Frontier" campaign goals are to raise $30 million for expansion and redesign of the Krannert facilities, $15 million for faculty and outreach development, and $10 million for student scholarships and programs.

Richard Dauch is chairman of the strategic planning and campaign steering committee charged with assessing the needs of the Krannert School in the areas of student and faculty support, new facilities and technology.

"The Krannert School competes with top-tier private institutions and their well-organized private fund-raising efforts -- that's quite a challenge for a public university like Purdue," Dauch said. "That's why Sandy and I are stepping forward to start what we hope is an influx of private support for Krannert, to help our school compete at the forefront of management education in the new millennium."

Purdue President Steven C. Beering said: "Dick Dauch has been a leader all his life, so it is no surprise that he is taking a leadership role in private support for the university. These gifts will have significant long-term impacts in the Krannert School and in Purdue athletics."

In honor of the Dauches' gift, the Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises (CMME) will be renamed the Dauch Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises. The center promotes manufacturing as a career by creating manufacturing curricula, internship and work opportunities, and student scholarships. It also promotes faculty and research development and serves as an interface between the university and industry on collaborative manufacturing-based projects.

Dauch graduated from Purdue in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in industrial management, and he served on the Krannert Dean's Advisory Council from 1985 to 1991. The council created CMME in 1988 with Dauch, then employed as executive vice president of worldwide manufacturing at Chrysler Corp., as one of the driving forces behind the philosophy and creation of CMME.

The $1 million pledge to athletics includes $500,000 for the completion of a student-athlete computer laboratory, which will be named in Dauch's honor, the creation of an endowed football scholarship for a student in the School of Management, an upgrade for the football coaching staff's computer-video equipment, and a gift to the Purdue cheerleading and dance teams.

The remaining $500,000 will be used for the new Aquatics Center and Recreational Sports Center upgrade. The Dauch gift puts the Aquatics Center campaign over $12 million on the way to a $15 million goal.

Source: Richard E. Dauch, (313) 974-2948

Writer: Kate Walker, (765) 494-2073; e-mail, kate_walker@purdue.edu

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


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