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March 2, 2009

Purdue Trustee Krach lends support to scholarships, leadership

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
Keith Krach
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The Krach Family Foundation has given Purdue University $500,000 to create an endowed scholarship and an endowed lecture series.

The Keith Krach Endowed Leadership Scholarship supports Purdue's $304 million Access and Success campaign and is part of the Presidential and Trustees Scholarship Challenge aimed at attracting high-achieving high school students to this Big Ten university. The Keith Krach Endowed Leadership Lecture Series supports another of the campaign's goals: the continued leadership development and future success of Purdue students.

Purdue has raised more than $70 million toward the campaign goal to date.

Krach Leadership Scholars will be selected based on academic merit, past leadership experiences and on a leadership essay. Separate scholarship applications are not necessary for consideration. Complete admission applications must be on file in the Office of Admissions by mid-November. Interested students can contact the Division of Financial Aid at (765) 494-5050 or go to https://www.purdue.edu/dfa for more information on financial aid and admissions requirements.

The Krach Leadership Lecture Series is for students participating in the Leadership Journey Program, sponsored by the Student Activities and Organizations area of the Office of the Dean of Students. The program allows students to earn a leadership certificate upon the completion of four years of leadership activities.

Students complete and move through one tier of the program each academic year. Each tier has requirements that focus on different levels of leadership. Year one focuses on emerging leadership, year two concentrates on engaging leadership and year three addresses impacting leadership. The last level teaches students how to transition their leadership skills into their life after Purdue. 

The Leadership Journey combines both academic (such as leadership courses and book reviews) and co-curricular (such as leadership conferences and retreats) requirements within the program. Participants at all levels engage in community service and diversity education programs annually. 

Murray Blackwelder, senior vice president for advancement, said, "Purdue is very grateful to Keith Krach and the family foundation, not only for this gift, but for his invaluable service on our board of trustees."

Krach, a 1979 industrial engineering alumnus and Purdue trustee from Los Gatos, Calif., said aiding in the Challenge and emphasizing leadership was a natural step for a Purdue trustee.

"Our job as trustees has always been to look out for the well-being of Purdue," Krach said. "Our students are our most important resource at Purdue. It's important that we find ways to entice those students who enrich our campus academically and have proven to be leaders to choose Purdue. Then, once they are on campus, we need to provide opportunities for continued development of their leadership skills so they may have even greater impact on the world following graduation." 

Krach currently serves as chief executive officer of 3Points LLC, a California-based investment holding company. He is the founder and former chairman and CEO of Ariba Inc. (NSDQ: ARBA), the leader in business-to-business e-commerce. At the age of 26, Keith was the youngest vice president in General Motors' history and led GM's robotics operations. He was Ernst & Young's National Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000 and was honored at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with the Technology Pioneer Award.

He serves on the board of directors of Collabnet, Microposite, Tropos and Ooma and is a strategic partner of Voyager Capital and Benchmark Capital. His philanthropic endeavors include co-founding the Children's Autistic Network and serving on the board of governors for Opportunity International.

He is the former international president of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and has been named a Significant Sig. Krach has been honored by Purdue several times, including being named an Old Master in 1999, an Extraordinary Boilermaker in 2005 and a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus in 2006. He holds a master's of business administration from Harvard University.

Writer: Jeanne Norberg, (765) 494-2084, jnorberg@purdue.edu

Source: Murray Blackwelder, senior vice president for advancement, (765) 496-2144, mblackwelder@purdue.edu

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

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