Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 2003 Herbert A. and Janice A. Wilson
Longtime corporate executive Herbert A. Wilson and his wife, Janice A. Wilson, live in Iowa City, Iowa. Herbert Wilson's career has been centered on plant expansion, facilities planning and corporate planning for a variety of companies in the United States and Canada. He was owner, president and chief executive officer of Micro-Surface Finishing Products Inc., in Wilton, Iowa, from 1977 until retiring in 2000; owner and president of Startups Unlimited Inc., in Iowa City, from 1993 to the present; senior vice president for manufacturing at I.S. Berlin Press in Chicago from 1970 to 1973; executive vice president for Iowa Steel Mill, in Wilton, Iowa, from 1973 to 1977; corporate planning manager and manager of manufacturing for Phoenix Manufacturing in Joliet, Ill, from 1965 to 1970; and manager of corporate planning for Atlas Steels Ltd, in Welland, Ontario, from 1961 to 1965. He has served on numerous community boards and committees and has been a Rotarian for 40 years, including service as district governor in Iowa's Rotary District 6,000. Janice Wilson is a nurse by profession and former vice president of Micro-Surface Finishing Products. Herbert Wilson earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1951 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1959. The Wilsons are longtime supporters of Purdue engineering and the arts. Herbert Wilson said he grew up in Chicago admiring Purdue and has an older sister, Elynore, who received a home economics degree from Purdue in 1940. The Wilsons have been giving to Purdue for decades. They have funded scholarships for both engineering and the university's band program. The couple donated $2.8 million to Purdue in 2003, with $500,000 going toward the School of Mechanical Engineering's $128 million fund-raising campaign. A graduate student commons in a new wing of the mechanical engineering building will be named for them. The campaign is raising private donations for the construction of a new wing for the mechanical engineering building, renovations to existing facilities and expansion of the mechanical engineering faculty from the current 51 to 65, adding eight endowed professorships in the process. Because the Wilsons are longtime supporters of the theater, another $500,000 of their gift will be used for Purdue's new Visual and Performing Arts Building. The couple's contribution will be acknowledged by naming the building's green room after them. The green room is where the cast of productions prepare to take the stage. The remaining $1.28 million will go to provide $800,000 in scholarships for Purdue's "All-American" Marching Band and $480,000 for athletic scholarships. The Wilsons have four children, Charles Everett Wilson, who earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue in 1975; Steven Wilson, a medical doctor; Keith Wilson; and Amy Wilson-Nicholson. They have 10 grandchildren. Writer: Emil Venere, (765) 494-4709, venere@purdue.edu Related Web site: |
