CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment to headline upcoming Presidential Lecture Series event   

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Mel Raines, the top executive for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, will join Purdue University President Mung Chiang in early October for a timely conversation as part of the Presidential Lecture Series.

Titled “Leading Teams on and off the Court: Business, Community and the Power of Sports,” the Raines PLS event is at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. The event is free and open to the public but a ticket is required. For tickets and more information, go here.

As CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Raines oversees all business operations for the Indiana Pacers of the NBA, the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, the Noblesville Boom of the G League and Gainbridge Fieldhouse. She has more than 30 years of operations, legislative, political, corporate and public affairs experience.

“Mel has had an incredible career, starting in politics and then the business of sports, where she is considered a pioneer and leader, guiding two professional basketball franchises — the Pacers and the Fever — to incredible success,” Chiang said. “Moreover, her role in building community engagement through Pacers Sports & Entertainment will be of utmost interest to the Purdue community in West Lafayette, Indianapolis and our Presidential Lecture Series audience.”

Prior to joining the Pacers organization 11 years ago, Raines was chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks of Indiana, managing three offices and all legislative, constituent services and communications staff.

From 2009-12, she was a principal architect of Indianapolis’ acclaimed 2012 Super Bowl, serving as vice president of government relations and event operations for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee and 14 committees.

She also has worked in various roles on six Republican National Conventions including as chief operating officer for the 2008 convention and as a senior advisor for the 2012 and 2016 conventions.

Earlier in her career, Raines served as assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for political affairs, directing all of Cheney’s political and domestic outreach activities. She also held several leadership positions at Altria Corporate Services and at the Republican National Committee. She began her career on Capitol Hill with U.S. Sen. Daniel Coats of Indiana.

A South Bend native and graduate of Indiana University with a degree in telecommunications, Raines sits on the board of directors of the Pacers Foundation, Indy Chamber, Visit Indy, the Indianapolis Zoo and the Economic Club of Indiana as well as the board of trustees for Citizens Energy Group. She lives in Indianapolis.

About the Presidential Lecture Series

Launched in 2014 by then-Purdue President Mitch Daniels and continued by President Mung Chiang, the Presidential Lecture Series exposes Purdue students and the broader community to inspiring ideas, courageous leadership, and models of civic engagement and civil discourse. The Presidential Lecture Series has had over 40 guests of many viewpoints and perspectives and hosted some of the great intellectual, business and civic leaders of our time. As one of the world’s premier centers of scholarly leadership, Purdue is — appropriately and necessarily — a regular venue for great thinkers across a wide variety of disciplines.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.