Purdue meets challenge: $30 million to endow professorships

Purdue honored the donors during a dinner Friday (Oct. 27) in the Purdue Memorial Union Ballrooms as part of the Purdue President's Council annual weekend events.

"Meeting this challenge is a major success not just for our Campaign for Purdue but also for the entire university," said Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. "The professorships it will create empower us to recruit and retain the best faculty, the key to every great university."

So far, Purdue has raised $198 million to help fund 100 new endowed professorships as a result of the $1.5 billion Campaign for Purdue. The campaign to date has raised $1.45 billion and will conclude on June 30.

A challenge match to create 20 endowed professorships was made possible through a $15 million unrestricted estate gift from George E. Goodwin, who died in 2002. Money from the estate was used to match dollar for dollar every new $750,000 gift, and the combined total of $1.5 million will fund each professorship.

Goodwin, who was born in New Castle, Ind., received a bachelor's degree from Purdue in civil engineering in 1930. After he retired as executive director of the Indiana Department of Transportation, he made his residence in Venice, Fla. He was a member of the Purdue Research Foundation since 1967 and was a lifetime member of the Purdue Alumni Association. He also was a member of the President's Council for many years and the council honored him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1997.

The 20 Goodwin professorships have been created in departments and areas across the university, including engineering, education, liberal arts, pharmacy, nursing, veterinary medicine and science, as follows:

• Members of the concrete paving industry of Indiana provided funds for the Concrete Paving Industry Professorship in Concrete Pavement and Materials Science in the School of Civil Engineering. Members include paving contractors, cement companies, equipment manufacturers, material and service suppliers, ready-mixed concrete producers, allied associations/organizations, bonding and insurance companies, consulting firms and other allied organizations and individuals.

• Trent Anderson and his wife, Judith, of Wilmette, Ill., are providing funds for the Trent and Judith Anderson Chair in Science. Trent Anderson received a bachelor's degree from Purdue in physics in 1961 and is a partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw LLP in Chicago. Judith Anderson attended Purdue and is a homemaker and a community volunteer.

• Kay and Michael Birck of Hinsdale, Ill., provided funds for the Katherine Birck Chair in the School of Nursing. Kay Birck, originally from Terre Haute, Ind., is retired as head of nursing at Women's Healthcare of Hinsdale. She is a graduate of St. Anthony's Nursing School, now part of Indiana State University. Michael Birck, a Purdue trustee who is originally from Clinton, Ind., received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue in 1960. He is founder and chairman of Tellabs Inc. and chairman of the Campaign for Purdue steering committee. The couple earlier contributed $30 million for the Birck Nanotechnology Center, $5.5 million for the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, $3 million for the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex and $2.3 million to create a professorship and endow scholarship support for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

• Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen of Indianapolis provided funds for the Bowen Engineering Head of Civil Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering. Robert Bowen earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Purdue in 1962 and is chairman and chief executive officer of Bowen Engineering Corp. in Fishers, Ind. Terry Bowen is president of the Bowen Foundation. The couple also have funded Purdue's Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory for Large-Scale Civil Engineering Research, the Bowen Foundation to provide scholarships to Marion County students, and Science Bound, a Purdue program to encourage eighth-grade to 12th-grade students from Indianapolis Public Schools to pursue careers in the sciences and technical fields.

• James Bradley of Las Cruces, N.M., provided the funds for the James V. Bradley Chair in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts. Bradley is a retired former faculty member at New Mexico State University's Department of Psychology. He received a doctorate in psychology from Purdue in 1962.

• William and Carolyn Byham of Pittsburgh contributed funds for the William C. Byham Chair in Industrial and Organizational Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts. Byham received a doctorate in psychology from the College of Liberal Arts in 1963 and is chairman and CEO of Development Dimensions International of Bridgeville, Pa.

• Cook Group Inc. of Bloomington, Ind., provided funds to endow the Leslie A. Geddes Chair in Biomedical Engineering in honor of the longtime faculty member. Geddes, who came to the university in 1974, is Purdue's Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering. Cook Biotech Inc. has licensed and commercialized many of Geddes' inventions, including regenerative tissue graft made from a layer of a pig's intestines known as small intestinal submucosa, or SIS, which has been used by surgeons to treat more than 200,000 patients so far, and a pacemaker that automatically increases a person's heart rate during exercise. Bill and Gayle Cook founded Cook Inc. in 1963 in Bloomington, Ind. Today, Cook has 15 medical companies serving 42 medical disciplines located on three continents. It employs more than 6,000 people and sells products in 110 countries. Two of Cook's companies, Cook Biotech and the MED Institute, are located in the Purdue Research Park.

• Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Ind., supported the Cummins Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The Cummins professor will have expertise in advanced research in the integration of engines and power-generation systems and will work closely on research projects at Cummins. The funds are part of a $1.75 million gift announced in September that also will support a new laboratory. Cummins, which employs about 900 Purdue graduates, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems.

• Dale and Suzi Gallagher of Chevy Chase, Md., provided funds for two Goodwin professorships, one in the College of Education and one in the College of Engineering. Dale Gallagher received a bachelor's degree from Purdue in industrial engineering in 1969, and Suzi Gallagher received a bachelor's degree from Purdue's College of Liberal Arts in 1970. Dale Gallagher is retired from PepsiCo, where he served as senior vice president of operations for Frito Lay in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Suzi Gallagher is a retired academic language therapist.

• The John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Foundation provided funds to create the John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Chair of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine in the School of Veterinary Medicine. The Florida-based foundation, which studies human genetic disorders, has been funding School of Veterinary Medicine research in the area of comparative genetic research in dogs for eight years.

• Hewlett-Packard, based in Palo Alto, Calif., provided funds for the Hewlett-Packard Professorship of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Hewlett-Packard is a provider of various technologies to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. The company's offerings include IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing.

• Jack and Kay Hockema of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., contributed funds for the Jack and Kay Hockema Professorship in Civil Engineering. Jack Hockema received a bachelor's degree from Purdue in civil engineering in 1968 and a master's degree in management from the Krannert School in 1970. He is chairman, president and CEO of Kaiser Aluminum Corp. in Foothill Ranch, Calif. They are both Lafayette natives and are graduates of Lafayette Jefferson High School.

• Former students and colleagues of Dane Kildsig, a professor and former head of Purdue's Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, raised funds to create the Dane O. Kildsig Chair in Industrial and Physical Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy. Dane died in 2006. Dane's widow, Nancy Kildsig, received a master's degree in Russian from Purdue in 1972.

• Bill Oesterle, of Indianapolis, who received a bachelor's degree in management from Purdue's Krannert School in 1987, contributed the funds for the Germaine Seelye Oesterle Endowed Chair in History, in honor of his mother. Bill Oesterle is a member of the Purdue Board of Trustees and is CEO of Angie's List in Indianapolis.

• The Olson Family Fund, a component of the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, provided a grant of $750,000 upon the recommendation of Bruce and Kim Olson to establish the Olson Chair in Management in the Krannert School. Bruce Olson received a bachelor's degree from Purdue in industrial engineering in 1971 and a master's degree in industrial administration in 1972. He is president of BBI Group, a private investment group in Clayton, Mo. He is also chairman of Envisioneering Medical Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of ultrasound and biopsy products for the urology and radiation oncology markets. He joined Group One Capital, an acquisition company co-founded by his wife, Kim, in 1987, and is on the board of the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, a public charity, and is a member of the dean's advisory council of the Krannert School. Kim Olson received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1976 and is the former executive vice president of Group One Capital. The Olsons have been fund-raisers for various organizations in the St. Louis area, including St. Louis Children's Hospital, where Bruce Olson has served as a director on the hospital's foundation board. They also donated funds that the Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School used to create Olson Hall, a $6 million, 36,000-square-foot building with 20 classrooms, 18 offices and a bookstore. In addition, they donated funds to help build the $1.9 million Olson Family Garden, a rooftop retreat at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

• The Pankow family of California provided funds for the Charles Pankow Professorship in the School of Civil Engineering. Pankow, who died in 2004, was a South Bend, Ind., native and a 1947 graduate in civil engineering who received an honorary engineering doctorate from Purdue in 1983. He was the recipient of the national Chi Epsilon Award, the organization's highest individual honor. Pankow founded his own construction company, Charles Pankow Inc., in the garage of his Altadena, Calif., home in 1963. The company builds commercial office buildings, multifamily housing, mixed-use developments, hotels, hospitals and parking structures.

• Nancy Schleicher and her late husband, Allison, provided the match to create the Allison and Nancy Schleicher Chair in Management in the Krannert School of Management. Allison received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1966. The Schleichers supported the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Krannert School through the years. Allison was a member of the Krannert Dean's Advisory Council and Frontier Campaign Cabinet. He also received the 1994 Krannert Distinguished Service Award and was Purdue's Outstanding Mechanical Engineer in 2004. An engineering classmate of Allison's, Joseph Schoendorf, and his wife, Nancy, provided $50,642 toward the Schleicher Chair.

• Paul Wattelet and his wife, Madeline, of Oak Brook, Ill., are providing funds for the Paul Wattelet Chair in Nuclear Engineering. Paul Wattelet received a doctorate from Purdue in nuclear engineering in 1967. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1958. Paul Wattelet joined Sargent & Lundy in 1972, where he rose to the position of chairman, president and CEO and retired in 2004. He wrote the book "Managing To Get It Done" about business sustainability. In addition, he was selected as a Purdue Distinguished Engineering Alumnus in 2002. Madeline received a master's degree from Purdue in mathematics in 1966. She holds a bachelor's degree from Mundelein College in Chicago. Paul is a former member of the Engineering Visiting Committee and of the Engineering Alumni Association Board at Purdue.

• Sally and Bob Weist of Chicago and Koloa, Hawaii, provided the match to establish the Mary Endres Professorship in Elementary Education in the College of Education. The professorship is named after Chicago-area educator Endres, who was one of the founders of Purdue's elementary education program. During her 17 years at Purdue, Endres took leaves of absence to establish teacher-training programs in Nigeria and Pakistan and to establish parent and early childhood programs in African-American communities in Mississippi, Georgia, Indiana and Ohio in the 1960s. She died in 2005. Sally Weist received a bachelor's degree from Purdue's College of Liberal Arts in 1961. She is a former elementary school teacher at Edgelea Elementary School in Lafayette, Ind. Bob Weist received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Purdue in 1962 and is president of Weist Associates, a biotechnology industry consulting business in Chicago. In 1966, he received a law degree from New York University and in 1981 received an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Executive Program. He retired in 1989 from Amgen Inc., where he served as senior vice president, corporate secretary and general counsel. Weist also was the founding consultant and initial chief executive officer of Hyseq Inc., a genomics company.

Endowed funds, such as the Goodwin gift, remain intact in perpetuity. A portion of the earnings is reinvested each year so inflation does not degrade the endowment principal.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Sources: Murray Blackwelder, senior vice president for advancement, (765) 496-2144, mblackwelder@purdue.edu

Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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