About Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.  

Purdue President Emeritus Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. served as a two-term governor of the state of Indiana from 2005-13 and as Purdue’s 12th president from 2013-22. He subsequently has continued to serve as board chair of the Purdue Research Foundation and returned as the university’s interim president on July 1, 2026.

Daniels was elected governor in his first bid for any elected office, and then re-elected with more votes than any candidate in the state’s history. During his tenure, Indiana went from an $800 million deficit to its first AAA credit rating, led the nation in infrastructure building, and passed sweeping education and healthcare reforms.

After a series of transformations, which included the biggest tax cut in state history, the nation’s most sweeping deregulation of the telecommunications industry and a host of other reforms aimed at strengthening the state’s economy, Indiana was rated a top five state for business climate and No. 1 for state infrastructure and effectiveness of state government as Daniels exited office. Indiana’s business climate is now rated among the nation’s best.

With Daniels as president, Purdue became the nation’s No. 1 most recognized public university. He prioritized student affordability and reinvestment in the university’s strengths. He ended 36 years of consecutive tuition hikes by freezing tuition and mandatory fees at 2012 levels for all students. The hold on rates continued throughout his presidency and will continue at least through the 2026-27 academic year. Under his leadership, the university also went from the second-most expensive school in the Big Ten for room and board costs to the most affordable by freezing room rates and reducing meal costs by 10%. Overall, aggregate student borrowing fell 37% under his tenure, and it cost less to attend Purdue at the conclusion of his time as president than at the start, even without adjusting for inflation. 

In recognition of his leadership as both a governor and a university president, Daniels was named among the Top 50 Greatest World Leaders by Fortune Magazine in 2015 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.

Prior to becoming governor, Daniels served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan, and director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He also was CEO of the Hudson Institute, a major contract research organization. During an 11-year career at Eli Lilly and Company, he held a number of top executive posts, including president of Eli Lilly’s North American pharmaceutical operations.

Daniels earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a law degree from Georgetown. He is the author of four books and a contributing columnist to the Washington Post.

He and his wife, Cheri, have four daughters and seven grandchildren.