To Alumni: Purdue University in Indianapolis

June 15, 2023

Dear members of the Purdue family,

Yesterday, our university took the definitive step to launch Purdue’s first comprehensive urban campus.

We have heard from many alumni over the years if there could be a better arrangement for Purdue than the way IUPUI runs. We have heard repeated and intensifying calls from business leaders who would like to see the full Purdue in the capital city. We have heard from our students and faculty how an urban setting could add to their experience.

On June 14, 2023, Purdue University trustees and Indiana University trustees simultaneously approved the agreements that will effectively dissolve IUPUI on June 30, 2024, completing a process that started in August 2022. Now, two outstanding universities with complementary strengths will arise equally in Indianapolis, making this a momentous day for our state.

Purdue’s Board of Trustees further established Purdue University in Indianapolis, with multiple locations throughout the city and degrees from Purdue University West Lafayette. In addition to continuing offerings in engineering, technology and computer science, we will expand many more programs, from possibly all colleges and departments, as well as some research centers, from West Lafayette to Indianapolis. With new financial resources, these additions will not in any way subtract from the continued investments to West Lafayette infrastructure and programming.

In our state capital, we will expand enrollment. We will create new knowledge. We will From: Subject: Purdue President Mung Chiang Announcing Purdue University in Indianapolis build startups. We will connect talents and industry. We will maximize Indy’s unique strengths such as in sports and biomedicine. For both West Lafayette and Indianapolis, there are endless new opportunities for students, faculty and alumni, and we look forward to hearing your ideas. Please also check out the website, the fact sheet and the FAQ, which will continue to expand during the next year of the transition period.

Today launches a time of transformational growth for our state’s land-grant university, and Boilermakers are excited to serve the people, businesses, and communities of Indianapolis. For the first time, Purdue has the physical resources, state appropriations, freedom to introduce academic programs and independence to operate our own urban campus. That means more choices to Boilermakers and an even stronger Purdue.

Today also propels forward America’s Hard Tech Corridor: 65 miles connecting the two campuses in West Lafayette and Indianapolis, with the state’s LEAP Innovation District at the midpoint. Along this corridor, let us generate talents, jobs and innovation together. Let us build the most consequential engine of economic growth and brain gain in the Midwest. Let us create unique opportunities for students, faculty and private sectors that are now possible because we have put the Old Gold and Black and Indianapolis together.

Boiler Up!

Mung Chiang
President, Purdue University