Rising Professionals announces returning alumni

Six Rising Professionals will return to campus March 8-9 to celebrate their professional success and ignite ambition in the Purdue student body. The Rising Professionals will share their stories with all areas of campus through participation in classroom talks, student organization receptions and a community-wide panel discussion.

The Purdue Rising Professionals program exists to honor distinguished young alumni and inspire Purdue students to discover their Boilermaker experience. A Rising Professional is a distinguished alumnus who not only has shown success in their early career but also was involved on campus as a student, taking full advantage of the opportunities Purdue has to offer. Each year, a Central Committee of student leaders at Purdue evaluates hundreds of nominations in order to recognize a group of deserving candidates who embody qualifications of extraordinary career and life experiences, well-rounded accomplishments, and involvement during their time at Purdue.

The program’s largest event, “Pack The Panel,” is set for 4 p.m. March 8 in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. The Rising Professionals will share how their Purdue journey affected postgraduate success and answer questions from the audience at the event, which is free and open to the public.

If you would like to nominate a young Purdue alumnus who you feel embodies the ideals of the Rising Professionals program, complete the nomination form. Additionally, if you are a student at Purdue interested in the opportunity to host one of the distinguished young alumni, the second Rising Professionals Host Callout is at 7 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 16) in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, room 1121.

The 2020 Rising Professionals are:

Lizzie Berkovitz, Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish (Purdue, 2013). Global product lead, Google.

Anurag Garg, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Purdue, 2009); Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Purdue, 2015). Vice president, product, analytics & IoT, Plex Systems Inc.

Lt. Sharyl Pels, Bachelor of Arts in public relations and rhetorical advocacy and political science (Purdue, 2012). Juris Doctor (Indiana University, 2015). Lieutenant, U.S. Coast Guard, Judge Advocate.

Melissa Pineda, Bachelor of Science in speech, language, and hearing sciences (Purdue, 2009); Master of Science in speech-language-pathology (Purdue, 2011). Speech-language pathologist, Wittenberg Village Rehabilitation Center.

Joe Rust, Bachelor of Science in agribusiness management (Purdue, 2014). Project manager and owner of Plus 3 Consulting LLC.

Andrew Walters, Bachelor of Science in management (Purdue, 2013). Account executive, Lev.

Contact: Anna Szolwinski, directingrpcc@gmail.com.