Purdue Trustees: President Chiang to depart for Northwestern University presidency

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s Board of Trustees on Monday (May 18) announced that President Mung Chiang has informed them that he has accepted an offer to become president of Northwestern University, a role he will assume on July 1.

Purdue First Lady Dr. YingKei Hui also will have the position of internal medicine physician at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, an academic medical center that is part of Northwestern Medicine.

Trustees Chair Gary Lehman said Chiang’s three-plus years as Purdue’s president have been a time of growth and academic excellence during a challenging time in higher education.

“We are ever grateful for Mung’s leadership as Purdue continues to impact lives with outstanding teaching, research and engagement,” Lehman said. “We will miss Mung and Kei and their positive influence on our campus and community. We wish them all the best as they move forward to the next steps in their careers.”

“It has been an incredible honor and joy for me to work with the amazing board, colleagues, students and alumni here,” Chiang said. “There truly is something special at Purdue: not just the projects and programs, but also the people, who time after time set the standard for excellence at scale.”

Lehman said the board will name an interim president in the coming weeks and initiate a search for a permanent president shortly thereafter.