Lehman named trustee representative to PRF board

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (April 5) named trustee Gary Lehman as its representative to the Purdue Research Foundation board of directors. Lehman replaces Michael Birck, who resigned as alumni trustee earlier this year.

Lehman of Lafayette, Ind., was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2010. A 1974 graduate of Purdue with a bachelor's degree in industrial management, he is chairman of the board of Oerlikon Fairfield and president of Oerlikon AG-Americas. He also holds an MBA with honors from Case Western University, where he was the recipient of the Eaton Scholarship and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society.

He has also held executive leadership positions with John Deere, Federal Mogul Corp., ITT Industries and Phillips Electronics. He is founder of Cannelton Group, a firm specializing in providing management services to underperforming, privately held manufacturing companies.

Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. The foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds research, scholarships and grants; acquires property; and negotiates research contracts on behalf of Purdue. In the 1990s, the foundation was charged with helping the university in the realm of economic development. The Purdue Research Foundation oversees the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, which is the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country, and Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization.

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu