More than 3,600 graduating students took their next giant leap during Purdue's three winter commencement ceremonies at Elliott Hall of Music on Sunday (Dec. 15). The winter 2024 graduating class included 2,345 undergraduates, 1,241 graduate students, 15 students from professional programs and 50 students from Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s statewide programs. Sunday’s ceremonies marked the first commencement for students graduating from Purdue’s new urban campus expansion in Indianapolis.
Much has changed at Purdue since Mike Berghoff (BS industrial management ’85) joined the university’s Board of Trustees more than 15 years ago. Since Berghoff became the board’s chair in 2015, Purdue has undergone tremendous growth in enrollment, geographic footprint and international visibility; emphasized affordability through 13 consecutive years of frozen tuition; launched initiatives that will extend its legacy as an innovation powerhouse; and tackled unprecedented challenges. As he prepares to step down from the board Jan. 1, the Purdue community is taking this opportunity to say thank you.
Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research, has announced the awardees of the 2024 Elevating the Visibility of Research seed funding program for Purdue faculty authors. In its second year, the program is a partnership between colleges and the Office of Research. Under this competitive grant program, faculty members authoring books, submitting major review articles or developing monographs can apply for seed funding of up to $10,000 to support these efforts.
Two Purdue faculty members, representing the College of Engineering and the College of Science, have been named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, the organization announced Tuesday (Dec. 10). The 2024 fellow class represents 170 research universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutions worldwide.
Purdue faculty and staff are invited to attend a year-end town hall hosted by President Mung Chiang on Wednesday (Dec. 18). The session will be held virtually from noon to 1 p.m. Chiang will review some of the initiatives over the past calendar year, thank faculty and staff colleagues, and discuss some of the ideas submitted by participants. Faculty and staff should RSVP online and are invited to submit questions or discussion topics.
In 2022, four sisters — Cynthia, Jessica, MargaretEllen and Mary-McNeil Minaise — embarked on an educational journey together, setting out to be the first in their family to earn college degrees. Two years later, all four sisters are now members of Purdue Global’s Class of 2024.
Provost Patrick Wolfe has announced the following leadership updates: Beth McNeil will return to the faculty in January after five years of exceptional service to Purdue Libraries; Sunil Prabhakar, vice provost for faculty affairs, will serve as interim leader of Purdue Libraries; and Haley Oliver has been named vice provost for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars after serving on an interim basis since July.
