Purdue celebrates Class of 2025 at summer commencement ceremonies  

• Summer 2025 Commencement photo gallery
• Purdue commencement livestreams

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — With caps, gowns and plenty of Boilermaker pride, Purdue honored the achievements of 1,725 graduates during its summer commencement ceremonies at Elliott Hall of Music on Saturday (Aug. 9). Spanning two events, the celebration recognized 612 undergraduates, 1,104 graduate students and nine students from Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s statewide programs.

Philip Low, Purdue’s Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Science, delivered the commencement address. President Mung Chiang was in attendance for both ceremonies, and each ceremony featured a student responder.

The ceremonies were livestreamed on the Purdue News YouTube channel and linked on the Purdue commencement website. A photo gallery is also available.

About Low

Low (rhymes with “now”) is a prolific innovator, holding 101 U.S.-issued patents through the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization. He has co-founded seven companies to bring his discoveries to market and recently formed and funded the Low Institute for Therapeutics to accelerate the transfer of his laboratory’s most promising discoveries into human use. He also serves as a faculty member in the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research.

In recognition of his groundbreaking contributions to human health, Low has received numerous prestigious honors, including the Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research award from the American Association for Cancer Research, the George and Christine Sosnovsky Award for Cancer Research and the Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest from the American Chemical Society, the Legacy Award from the American Lung Association, and a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health. For his vital work at Purdue, he was also awarded the Order of the Griffin, one of the university’s highest honors.

Low earned a BS in chemistry from Brigham Young University in 1971 and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, in 1975.

Hickman and Park give student responses

Katelyn Hickman of Lafayette, Indiana, who received a dual Bachelor of Science in marketing and business management from the Mitch Daniels School of Business, was the student responder in the Saturday morning (Division I) ceremony. Hickman transferred to Purdue after one year at Ivy Tech Community College. While at Purdue, she served as director of marketing for the Purdue Marketing Association and was a dedicated member of Purdue Musical Organizations’ Heart & Soul choir. She gained valuable professional experience through internships at The Dauch Center; JPMorgan Chase in Columbus, Ohio; and the Office of the President Pro Tempore, Rodric Bray, in the Indiana State Senate. After graduation, Hickman will attend the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Christopher Park of Atlanta, who received a Bachelor of Science in computer and information technology from the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, was the student responder in the Saturday afternoon (Division II) ceremony. Park served as director of Computing Challenge Day 2024, a student representative on the Faculty Teaching Award Committee, and was a board member and webmaster for Purdue Information Technology Professionals. He was a teaching assistant for various computer and information technology courses and volunteered as a student facilitator for Civic Engagement and Leadership Development’s service day. After graduation, Park will continue at Purdue in pursuit of a premedical degree.

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 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 comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.