Ideas Festival working group vetting proposals for 150th year celebrations

President Mitch Daniels has appointed a faculty working group to help identify the themes for the Ideas Festival, the centerpiece of Purdue’s 150th anniversary celebration during 2018-19.

According to co-chairs Christine Ladisch, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, and Mark Lundstrom, the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the working group has been identifying themes as it reviews proposals submitted following the February callout. A set of themes and the first set of events will be announced in the coming weeks.

Purdue’s 150th anniversary celebration is set to kick off at Homecoming 2018, and Ideas Festival events will continue throughout the next year on the West Lafayette campus and around the state, country and world.

The Ideas Festival was announced in February as the centerpiece of the sesquicentennial celebration with the goal of addressing the world’s most pressing issues in a provocative and engaging way that cuts across academic disciplines and connects world-renowned speakers and Purdue expertise. Events may include high-profile national and internationally known speakers, workshops, panel discussions, and curricular, classroom and community examinations of world-changing technologies and long-term trends.

Working group members for the Ideas Festival are:

Co-chairs

* Christine Ladisch, dean, College of Health and Human Sciences, professor of consumer science.

* Mark Lundstrom, the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Committee

* Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, chief scientist and executive director, Discovery Park, professor of materials science and engineering.

* Gebisa Ejeta, Distinguished Professor of Agronomy.

* Ken Ferraro, Distinguished Professor of Sociology; director, Center on Aging and the Life Course.

* Kathleen C. Howell, the Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.

* Ananth Iyer, senior associate dean, Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair in Operations Management..

* Signe Kastberg, professor, mathematics education.

* Christopher Lukasik, associate professor, English and American studies.

* Jay Melosh, University Distinguished Professor, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

* Jennifer Neville, associate professor and Miller Family Chair of Computer Science and Statistics.

* David D. Nolte, the Edward M. Purcell Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy.

* Timothy Ratliff, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Pathobiology; Robert Wallace Miller Director, Center for Cancer Research.

* Richard Voyles, director, Purdue Robotics Accelerator; professor of electrical engineering technology.

* Zhong-Yin Zhang, head, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry.

* Melinda Zook, professor of history; director of Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts.

Purdue was founded as Indiana’s land-grant university in 1869 as a result of the Morrill Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln. Its history of teaching, research and engagement is one of excellence and success, making Purdue an intellectual hub between the coasts. 

A website in development at www.purdue.edu/150 will include information about all events and celebrations planned on campus and around the world.