Award History

Since 2011 the Office of the Provost, in partnership with Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, has honored alumni who earned a Purdue doctorate and have made significant scholarly contributions to their respective academic communities. By recognizing our academic alumni of distinction, we also acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of our faculty to mentoring these successful scholars and recognize Purdue’s role in diversifying university faculty across the nation. At the same time, we demonstrate to our undergraduate and graduate students the many benefits of a Purdue graduate degree. We hope the honorees will be role models to all of our scholars in the making.     

 

2023 Honorees 

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Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2023
Patrice Buzzanell	Communications, 1987	Distinguished Professor, Department of Communication, University of South Florida
Gladys Francis	French and Francophone Studies, 2008	Associate Dean for Academic Student Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University
Seetha Raghavan	Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2008	Professor and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2022
Elena Ianchovichina	Agricultural Economics, 1998	Deputy Chief Economist, Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank, Washington, D.C
Delita Martin	Studio Art, 2009	Founder, Black Box Press Foundation & Owner of Black Box Press Studio, Huffman, Texas
Sulma Mohammed	Microbiology, 1991	Professor, Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University
Susan Rodger	Computer Science, 1989	Professor,Department of Computer Science, Duke University
Senay Simsek	Food Science, 2006	Professor and head, Department of Food Science, Purdue University
Lesley Sneed	Civil Engineering, 2007	Professor, Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago

 

  

Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2021
Nicole Key	Mechanical Engineering, 2007	Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Courtesy appointment of Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University
Bhramar Mukherjee	Statistics, 2001	Chair and John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics, University of Michigan

  

2020 Honorees

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Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2020
Lynda Ciuffetti	Plant Pathology/Plant Physiology, 1983	Professor Emeritus, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University
Cassander (Cassie) Smith	Early American Literature, 2010	Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Alabama
Trisha Van Zandt	Quantitative Psychology, 1992	Professor, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University

 

2019 Honorees

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Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2019
Karyl A. Rickard	Food and Nutrition, 1978	Professor Emerita, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Indiana University’s School of Health, Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Medicine
Katherine E. Yutzey	Biology, 1992	Professor, Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

 

2018 Honorees

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Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2018
Christine M. Ladisch	Textile Science, 1978	Dean, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University
Kay A. Lawton	Horticulture, 1990	Vice President, Intellectual Property, Metabolon Inc
Deborah E. McDowell	English, 1979	Alice Griffin Professor, Department of English, Director, Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies, University of Virginia
Marilyn K. Speedie	Pharmacy, 1973	Dean Emeritus and Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota

 

2017 Honorees

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Name	PhD	Affiliation as of 2017
Caula Beyl	Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, 1979	Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Tennessee
Kristine Blair	English, 1994	Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Youngstown State University
Yael Edan	Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 1990	Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Vicki McCracken	Agricultural Economics, 1984	Associate Director and Professor, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University
Marcy Towns	Chemistry, 1994	Professor, Department of Chemistry, Director, Department of General Chemistry, Purdue University

 

2016 Honorees

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Name	PhD
Talya Bauer	Business, 1994
Kara Hoffman	Physics and Astronomy, 1998
Angela Barron McBride	Developmental Psychology, 1978
Tuajuanda Jordon	Biochemistry, 1989

 

2015 Honorees

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Name	PhD
JoAnn Browning	Civil Engineering, 1998
Lynn A. Bryan	Science Education, 1997
Renu Khator	Political Science, 1985
April C. Mason	Food and Nutrition, 1984

 

2014 Honorees

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Name	PhD
Carole Ames	Education, 1976
Virginia Ayres	Physics, 1985
Gloria Muday	Biochemistry, 1989
Carolyn Perrucci	Sociology, 1965
Kathryn Stecke	Industrial Engineering, 1981
Leslie Struble	Civil Engineering, 1987

 

2013 Honorees

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Name	PhD
Dorothy Denning	Computer Science, 1975
Annette LaGreca	Pyschology, 1978

 

2012 Honorees

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Name	PhD
Jane Butler Kahle	Science Education and Educational Psychology, 1972
Carolyn Woo	Strategic Management, 1979
Kathleen Blake Yancey	English, 1983

 

2011 Honorees

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Name	PhD
Mary Eileen Dolan	Medicinal Chemistry, 1983
Nancy Ann Monteiro-Riviere	Veterinary Anatomy, 1981
Mary Jean Wirth	Chemistry, 1978

  

*The Distinguished Purdue Alumni Scholars Award was renamed in 2022 to reflect its openness to all distinguished Purdue doctoral alumni who have contributed to the advancement of women in academia.  It was previously named the Distinguished Women Scholars Award.