Appointments, honors and activities
• Alumni honors:
— Purdue alumnus Howard J. Gobstein, who earned a bachelor of science degree in 1974 in interdisciplinary engineering , will receive an Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Engineering Education on Feb. 17. He is executive officer and vice president of research, innovation and STEM education for the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. Gobstein, who lives in Annandale, Va., initiated and co-directs the Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative, a movement of 121 public research universities, including 11 university systems, addressing the shortage of well-qualified science and math teachers in the U.S. A New York City native who grew up near Cleveland, he also earned a master's degree in science, technology and public policy from George Washington University and spent more than a decade with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where he led evaluations of government science programs and policies. He also was director of federal relations for research at the University of Michigan, vice president and senior program officer at the Association of American Universities, where he is credited with rebuilding the association's Council of Federal Relations into a dynamic advocacy group. He also was a senior policy analyst in the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Bill Clinton.
— Purdue alumnus David Swenson's work will be heard by millions of people during Sunday's Super Bowl. Swenson is a senior sound designer at Electronic Arts (EA), which will have an advertisement during the NFL championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints. The advertisement will be the first commercial of the game's fourth quarter and is for the new Dante's Inferno game, which will hit store shelves on Tuesday (Feb. 9). Swenson graduated from Purdue in 2004 and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre sound design. EA is based in Redwood City, Calif. Around 100 million people are expected to watch the Super Bowl.
• Student honors:
— The university's Mortar Board, Barbara Cook Chapter, a national senior honor society that recognizes students for scholarship, leadership and service, hosted about 400 current and future student leaders Saturday (Jan. 30) at its annual leadership conference. Themed "Providing Sustainable Solutions for Tomorrow's Leaders," the conference enables students to develop and analyze their leadership skills. This year's event featured a new format, which allowed students of all ages and various levels of leadership experience to gain insight into how to personally develop themselves during their remaining time at Purdue and after graduation. Speakers included President France A. Córdova and Keith Krach, board of trustees chair.
— Jared Wilkinson, a recent Purdue graduate, was named recipient of the Ruth Weimer Mount Fellowship, a $3,000 award from the Mortar Board national Foundation. Wilkinson graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in neurobiology and physiology with minors in Spanish and psychology. He is currently attending Washington University School of Medicine to obtain an M.D.