Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 2003 John A. and Nancy J. Bratt
John Bratt is chief executive officer of Tenax Corp. in Indianapolis. A native of Terre Haute, Ind., he currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Nancy, who is originally from Kingman, Ind. Before his current position at Tenax Corp., he was president of Crown Paper Box Corp. in Indianapolis from 1983 to 1986; assistant director of quality control for the range division of the Jenn Air Corp. in Indianapolis and manager of engineering for the company's fan division from 1977 to 1981; manager of engineering for Burger Chef Systems in Indianapolis from 1974 to 1977; manager of production engineering and manger of quality control for the Anderson Co. in Gary, Ind., from 1968 to 1974; and a manufacturing research engineer for the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors, in Saginaw, Mich., from 1965 to 1968. Nancy Bratt is a nurse who helped put her husband through school at Purdue University by working at Home Hospital in Lafayette, Ind. John Bratt earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1965 and an MBA in 1972 from Indiana University. He obtained a professional engineering license from the state of Indiana in 1970. He is a former chairman of the Purdue President's Council and was a member of the cabinet of the Vision 21 campaign, which raised $332 million over five years ending in 1994. John Bratt is currently a member of the board of the Purdue Research Foundation. He also serves on the steering committee for Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering's capital campaign. He is a member of the board of directors of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the American Pianists Association. John Bratt has been a member of Purdue's Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Council since 1994. The council makes recommendations about the mechanical engineering curriculum. He also has served as a guest speaker for the school's product realization class and has served as a panel member in that class, observing and evaluating the final oral presentations for class projects. He received a Purdue Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Award in 1993 and the state's Sagamore of the Wabash award in 1997. The Bratts have been giving to Purdue since the late 1980s and have funded several scholarships, including the John A. Bratt and Nancy J. Bratt Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering. Their most recent gift of $1 million will go to support mechanical engineering faculty. Their eldest daughter, Jennifer, is a Purdue mechanical engineering alumna. Their youngest daughter, Kathleen, received a degree from Purdue in interior design. Both daughters are married to Purdue graduates. Writer: Emil Venere, (765) 494-4709, venere@purdue.edu Related Web site: |
