To honor President Mitch Daniels’ decade of leadership at Purdue University, the city of West Lafayette along with Purdue University trustees have agreed to rename a portion of State Street in West Lafayette as Mitch Daniels Boulevard. The naming was announced publicly today (Dec. 2) by Michael Berghoff, chairman of Purdue’s Board of Trustees, as the university community began its MitchFest celebration with a Mitch StreetFest near Purdue Memorial Union at the corner of Grant Street and what will soon be Mitch Daniels Boulevard.

The Purdue University Board of Trustees today (Dec. 2) approved naming the Minority Engineering Program within the College of Engineering for Don and Liz Thompson. Don and Liz both graduated from Purdue with degrees in electrical engineering (1984 and 1985, respectively), and were active in the Minority Engineering Program as students. In addition, the board approved a resolution of appreciation for Jay Akridge, who has served Purdue as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity since 2017 and will step down at the end of December.

The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (Dec. 2) ratified six faculty positions, awarded two posthumous degrees, and approved name changes to an academic department and a department head position.

To accommodate enrollment growth in the College of Engineering, the Purdue University Board of Trustees today (Dec. 2) granted approval to plan, finance, construct and award construction contracts for renovation to the Mechanical Engineering Building on the West Lafayette campus. In other action, trustees approved actions preparatory to project commencement for a new residence hall at Purdue Fort Wayne.

Every December, President Mitch Daniels updates the trustees on various measurements of Purdue’s reputation. In this report, Daniels shared rankings and honors the university has received as well as the strong growth in the number of scholarships given to Purdue students. Daniels also identified the increase in applications and enrollment by students from outside Indiana as an indicator of Purdue’s expanded national reputation.

The Purdue Global Board of Trustees met in public session today (Dec. 2) and introduced its newest board member, Neil Hoyne. Hoyne is acclaimed for his exploration of business strategies that strengthen the understanding of customer relationships, and his work is seen across numerous publications, lectures and technical patents. He serves as chief measurement strategist for Google.