Rising Professionals: An Old Masters Program to hold Campus Wide Panel on Sunday

Five young alumni will return to the West Lafayette campus Sunday and Monday (March 5-6) to celebrate their successes and inspire current students as part of the Rising Professionals program, and a Campus Wide Panel with the alumni will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday in Honors College and Residences' Honors Hall.

A Rising Professional is a distinguished alumnus who not only has shown success in their early career, but was involved on campus during their time as a student, taking full advantage of the opportunities Purdue has to offer.

At the Campus Wide Panel, which is open to faculty, staff and students, the Rising Professionals will share how their Purdue journey affected their postgraduate success, and students and faculty will be encouraged to ask questions. Free pizza will be provided as well.

The 2017 Rising Professionals are:

* Karan Ahuja, BS 2011, electrical engineering and management. Previous Delta Sigma Pi president and member of Purdue Student Engineering Presidents' Council. Currently attending Harvard Business School. Former senior product manager at LinkedIn and management consultant at McKinsey and Co.

* Lauren Mioton Conner, BA 2009, biology; MD from Vanderbilt. Previous Purdue basketball team captain and Homecoming queen. Plastic surgery resident for Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

* Derek Mauk, BS 2009, management, MBA 2010. Previous School of Management Council president and University Honors Program Leadership Council president. Senior innovation brand manager for Anheuser-Busch. Former senior financial analyst/assistant brand manager for Procter & Gamble.

* Alexandra French, BA 2012, political science and philosophy. JD from University of Virginia Law School. Previous Order of the Iron Key member and Purdue Musical Organizations’ Purduettes. Litigation associate for Barnes and Thornburg LLP.

* Eric Barnard, BS 2009, agriculture finance and management. Previous Purdue Student Government president and Farmhouse Fraternity brother. Analyst, implementations manager, and software engineer for RICS Software. Former senior software engineer for Cadagami.

The Old Masters Program has been a Purdue tradition since 1950, celebrating distinguished professionals while inspiring students to embody the value of the Boilermaker experience. Built as part of the Old Masters program, Rising Professionals was developed to inspire current Boilermakers and give them the opportunity to interact with some exceptional recent graduates.

For more information, email directingrpcc@gmail.com or visit www.purdueoldmasters.org/rising-professionals/welcome-from-directing.