Trustees recognize Chiang, Raman; ratify named chair positions; approve resolutions of appreciation and naming

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (June 5) approved resolutions of appreciation for outgoing President Mung Chiang, who will become president of Northwestern University on July 1, and for Arvind Raman, former John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, who in May was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and also will serve as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In other action, trustees ratified two named chair positions:

• Channing Arndt as the Robert and Karen Thompson Chair in International Agricultural Economics
• Huseyin Gulen as the Bob and Sharon Schafer Chair in Finance

Arndt was a faculty member at Purdue from 1998-2007 and returned in 2025 as a research professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He currently serves as director of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) at Purdue, a globally recognized platform that supports a network of more than 32,000 individuals engaged in quantitative analysis of 21st century challenges. GTAP is supported by a consortium of 30 leading national, international and private institutions that provide baseline financial support and strategic advice to the Center for Global Trade Analysis. Arndt’s research focuses on growth, trade, economic development, poverty alleviation, market integration, nutrition, gender and discrimination, health-related shocks, technological change, aid effectiveness, energy, bioenergy, climate variability, and climate change. He has published more than 100 articles in leading academic journals. His recent books include “Growth and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa,” “Measuring Poverty and Wellbeing in Developing Countries” and “The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions.” He has also been a member of several editorial boards, including Development Southern Africa, Climatic Change and Food Policy. The Robert and Karen Thompson Chair in International Agricultural Economics was established in 2023 by Bob Thompson, former Purdue dean of agriculture, and his wife, Karen. This professorship was designed for a leading scholar in an international aspect of trade, development or comparative agricultural policy to help solidify the college’s commitment to its international focus.

Gulen joined the Purdue faculty as an associate professor of finance in 2007, moving up the ranks to department head and professor of finance in the Mitch Daniels School of Business. His research focuses on empirical asset pricing, corporate finance and behavioral finance, with influential work on stock-return predictability, political uncertainty, investor beliefs and credit cycles. Gulen’s work has been published in leading journals such as The Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics and The Review of Financial Studies. He has more than 12,800 Google Scholar citations and frequent coverage in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others. Gulen has also served on the editorial boards of Financial Review and International Review of Finance. His awards and honors are many, including the Jack Treynor Prize, being named a University Faculty Scholar and more. The Bob and Sharon Schafer Chair in Finance was established in 2015 by Robert E. Schafer and Sharon Schafer to provide leadership in discovery, learning and engagement in the area of finance.

In other action, trustees approved resolutions of appreciation for friends of the university who recently contributed $1 million or more to Purdue. Those are:

• Robert Buckman and Joyce Mollerup, to support the College of Engineering
• Julie and John Dussliere, to support the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
• Michael and Mary King, to support the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
• Marvin House, to support Purdue University Fort Wayne
• John and Brittany Moser, to support the College of Engineering
• Richard and Julie Penington, to support the College of Engineering
• An anonymous gift, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine
• An anonymous gift, to support the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
• Two anonymous gifts, to support the College of Engineering

Additionally, trustees approved the following naming:

• The Pickett-Chaney Pickleball & Tennis Complex within the Recreation and Wellness program, in recognition of gifts by Martin and Janice Pickett and Jean Anne Darr Chaney and James Chaney

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.

Media contact: Trevor Peters, peter237@purdue.edu