Governor appoints new student trustee for Purdue; three trustees reappointed

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has appointed the Purdue University Board of Trustees’ new student member and reappointed three current trustees.

Kevin Boes of Great Falls, Montana, was appointed to serve a two-year term as the board’s student trustee. Theresa Carter, Michael Klipsch and Gary Lehman were reappointed to serve three-year terms. All appointments are effective July 1.

Kevin Boes (Photo provided) Download image

Boes is a direct-to-PhD student in mechanical engineering and currently serves as a graduate research assistant in the Purdue Experimental Turbine Aerothermal Laboratory at the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories. His research under professor Guillermo Paniagua focuses on supersonic internal flow. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 2022 and was a student responder for the 2022 Winter Commencement ceremonies.

In 2021, Boes worked as a Starship operations engineering intern at SpaceX in Texas.

Among his myriad campus activities, Boes has been president of the Interfraternity Council and the Chi Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and treasurer of Purdue’s Barbara Cook Chapter of Mortar Board. He also has been a Boiler Gold Rush team supervisor, Old Masters host and educational ambassador for the Center for Advocacy, Response & Education (CARE).

The student trustee is the student representative to the Board of Trustees, serves on the board’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee and Physical Facilities Committee, and has an equal vote on all actions taken by the board.

Carter, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is one of three alumni trustees, having first been elected by the Purdue Alumni Association in 2020. She is a distinguished military graduate of Purdue’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program – earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1985 – and went on to serve 31 years on active duty in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of major general in 2016. She currently works as an independent consultant providing strategic leadership and management advisory services to the Department of Defense and corporate clients. 

Klipsch, of Carmel, Indiana, has served on the board since 2015. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Purdue in 1985. Following a 20-year career with Klipsch Group, a family-owned and -operated holding company for a wide variety of consumer electronic brands, Klipsch pursued a variety of entrepreneurial opportunities, including the development of state-of-the-art athletic facilities, involvement in many multifamily housing communities and other strategic private equity investments.

Lehman, of Lafayette, Indiana, has served on the board since 2010. He is a 1974 Purdue graduate with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management. He is the retired chairman of the board of Oerlikon Fairfield and president of Oerlikon AG-Americas, and founder of Cannelton Group, a firm specializing in providing management services to underperforming, privately held manufacturing companies. He has also held executive leadership positions with John Deere, Federal Mogul Corp, ITT Industries and Philips Electronics.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu.

Writer: Tom Schott

Sources: Kevin Boes

Theresa Carter

Michael Klipsch

Gary Lehman