Purdue celebrates the Class of 2024 during 8 commencement ceremonies May 10-12

• President Mung Chiang’s keynote address and video of his speech
• Spring 2024 Commencement photo gallery
• Purdue commencement livestreams

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University concluded its annual spring rite Sunday (May 12) with the last of eight commencement ceremonies that took place at Elliott Hall of Music throughout the weekend.

The spring 2024 graduating class had 8,284 undergraduates, 2,323 graduate students, 210 students from professional programs and 244 students from Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s statewide programs.

Purdue President Mung Chiang delivered the keynote speech for each ceremony.

The ceremonies were livestreamed on the Purdue News YouTube channel and linked on the Purdue commencement website. A photo gallery from the weekend is available here.

Student responders

Each ceremony featured a student responder:

• Megan Walawender of Carmel, Indiana, who received a Bachelor of Science from the College of Health and Human Sciences, was the student responder in the Friday morning (Division I) ceremony.
• Paige Fulkerson of Carmel, Indiana, who received a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Education, was the student responder in the Friday afternoon (Division II) ceremony.
• Mridhula Srinivasan of Dallas, Texas, who received two Bachelor of Science degrees from the College of Science, was the student responder in the Friday evening (Division III) ceremony.
• Justice Rowe of Milo, Iowa, who received a Bachelor of Science from the College of Engineering, was the student responder in the Saturday morning (Division IV) ceremony.
• Kayla Zalesny of Nipomo, California, who received a Bachelor of Science from the College of Agriculture, was the student responder in the Saturday afternoon (Division V) ceremony.
• Sydney Hummel of Nolensville, Tennessee, who received a Bachelor of Science from the College of Engineering, was the student responder in the Saturday evening (Division VI) ceremony.
• Amanda Hubert of Dexter, Michigan, who received a Bachelor of Science from the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, was the student responder in the Sunday morning (Division VII) ceremony.
• Ian Chen, a dual citizen of Taiwan and Canada, who received a Bachelor of Science from the College of Pharmacy, was the student responder in the Sunday afternoon (Division VIII) ceremony.

Honorary doctorates

Two individuals received honorary doctorates during commencement. Carolyn Woo, former CEO of Catholic Relief Services, received an honorary doctorate of management from the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business during the Sunday ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Jennifer Rumsey, chair and CEO of Cummins Inc., received an honorary doctorate of engineering from the College of Engineering during the Sunday ceremony at 2:30 p.m.

Woo’s ties to Purdue began in 1972, when she arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong as a student, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in industrial administration and a doctoral degree in strategic management by 1979.

After two years in industry, Woo was recruited back to the university as a faculty member and then administrator, first as director of master’s programs in the School of Business and then as associate executive vice president for academic affairs. Under her leadership, the Krannert master’s program achieved a top 20 ranking in Businessweek.

From 1997-2011, Woo served as dean of the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. In 2012 she became CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S., serving in the role until 2016.

Woo is recognized for her teaching, research, service and leadership through numerous awards and honorary doctorates. She was cited as one of Change magazine’s Top Forty Leaders Under Forty and, in 2013, named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the 500 Most Powerful People on the Planet.

Woo is a frequent contributor to “Give Us This Day” and the author of two books, “Working for a Better World” and “Rising: Learning From Women’s Leadership in Catholic Ministries.”

As CEO for Cummins, Rumsey oversees the strategic direction, growth initiatives and global operations for the 105-year-old, Indiana-based power solutions company, which has more than 75,500 employees worldwide and achieved $34.1 billion in revenue in 2023.

Rumsey has focused her 25-year career on advancing technologies and bringing products to market that power customers’ success and make a positive difference in the world. She was recognized in 2020 by the Society of Women Engineers for her contributions to engineering and efforts to create environments that attract and retain more women engineers. She was inducted as a Society of Automotive Engineers fellow in 2022, and in 2023 she received the Women Business Collaborative’s CEO Excellence in Gender Equity and Diversity Award, in addition to being recognized as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women.

Rumsey earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1996 and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives. 

Writer: Kami Goodwin, kami@purdue.edu 

Media contact: Trevor Peters, peter237@purdue.edu