AGE Fisher Family Foundation commits $10M to establish engineering innovation and entrepreneurship center

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University has received a $10 million commitment from the AGE Fisher Family Foundation to establish an innovation and entrepreneurship center within the College of Engineering. The foundation was created by longtime donors Jeff (BS electrical engineering ’80) and Edie (BS retail management ’80) Fisher.

The Hub for Innovation, Ventures and Entrepreneurship (HIVE) will be located in the heart of campus within the Duncan Annex of the Max W & Maileen Brown Family Hall of Electrical Engineering.

“We are deeply grateful to the Fisher family for this transformational gift, which will empower Purdue to continue leading the way in innovation, entrepreneurship and higher education,” said Purdue President Mung Chiang. “Purdue Innovates is an overall program that supports Boilermaker inventors and entrepreneurs across many colleges. This generous gift will accelerate and amplify the success of entrepreneurs in the College of Engineering, with transformational leadership as demonstrated by Jeff Fisher in his own career.”

Jeff Fisher, who built his career during the Silicon Valley semiconductor technology boom, joined NVIDIA in 1994 and continues to work there as a senior executive. NVIDIA’s invention of the GPU, or graphics processing unit, helped spark the growth of the PC gaming market, revolutionize parallel computing and ignite the recent adoption of AI in virtually every industry.

“Edie and I grew up in Indiana and met at Purdue — it’s where we began our journey to build our family and our careers — so we are very excited to be able to give back to the university,” Jeff Fisher said. “Programs like the HIVE didn’t exist when we were at Purdue. I have spent most of my career working on the business side of technology, and I believe the HIVE will provide a needed resource for engineering students passionate about starting their own companies. We’re proud to establish just such a place at Purdue.”

The HIVE will serve as the College of Engineering’s entrepreneurship center, connecting the college to numerous related resources at the university, such as the Mitch Daniels School of Business, with the resources of the Purdue Research Foundation including Purdue Innovates, a comprehensive system that streamlines, supports and enhances entrepreneurship at the university and beyond.

As a cornerstone of this larger ecosystem, the hub will meet students where they are through faculty and alumni mentors, bringing together talent with opportunities. The facility will span approximately 10,000 square feet and feature:

• Up to 10 incubator spaces for startup companies from the Purdue Engineering ecosystem
• Hot desking space for competitively selected undergraduate innovators
• Purdue Innovates staff offices
• Common areas that encourage collaboration
• Dedicated spaces for hosting pitch competitions and on-campus Purdue Research Foundation entrepreneurship training activities, such as Firestarter and invited talks

This gift will also support the hiring of a managing director.

Christopher Brinton, an Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will serve as the inaugural faculty director of the HIVE. His experience with entrepreneurship dates to when he cofounded the big-data startup Zoomi while pursuing his PhD.

The HIVE will open for activities and events in the fall of 2026.

“Our vision is for the Purdue College of Engineering to become the most consequential engineering college in the nation by 2030, and this extraordinary commitment from the Fisher family and their foundation will certainly help us in this mission,” said Arvind Raman, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering. “The HIVE will create a deeper culture of creativity and persistence, producing more startup companies that will shape our world. It will also help us continue to attract the finest and most forward-thinking students and faculty.”

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 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 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.

About the Purdue for Life Foundation

The Purdue for Life Foundation helps friends and alumni of Purdue University stay connected, get involved and give back. Created on March 11, 2020, the foundation deepens alumni ties to Purdue, drives and coordinates all alumni-related activities across the Purdue family’s postgraduation lives, and works with alumni and friends to garner support for the university. Our organization combines the alumni engagement function of the Purdue Alumni Association and the University Development Office, and it includes President’s Council and the John Purdue Club, as well as alumni lifelong learning programs and on-campus residential opportunities. Learn more at https://purdueforlife.org/.