May 29, 2009

Purdue names first Dane O. Kildsig Chair in Industrial and Physical Pharmacy

Elizabeth Topp, a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Kansas, has been named as the chair and will serve as a professor and head of the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy. Her appointment is effective July 1.

The Dane O. Kildsig endowment was established in December 2005 with gifts from former students and colleagues in honor of Kildsig, then a professor in the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy. Kildsig died in 2006, and the endowment was amended in January 2007 to establish a chair in his memory.

"The fact that former students and colleagues created this endowment is a tribute to the contributions of Dane O. Kildsig and will keep his legacy alive by providing important support for the department," said Craig Svensson, dean of the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences. "Endowments like these help ensure Purdue remains a leader in the field and attract outstanding talent to our program. Professor Topp has a national and international reputation as an exceptional pharmaceutical scientist and will lead the department as it finds solutions for the present and future challenges of developing pharmaceuticals with optimum stability, safety, efficacy and design."

In addition to the gifts from Kildsig's former students and colleagues, the Purdue Research Foundation contributed $750,000 from the Goodwin Challenge. Income from both endowments supports the chair.

The income from the endowment will be used to benefit research, infrastructure and related needs. As holder of the endowed chair, Topp will oversee the use of these funds.

Endowed funds remain intact in perpetuity, and their earnings continue to provide annual endowment funding.

A Purdue committee conducted a national search that led to Topp's selection.

Topp is widely recognized for her work on protein stability and formulation. She has served as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Pharmaceutical Sciences for the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health Study Sections and on the editorial advisory board of several scientific journals.

Dane Kildsig was a professor of pharmaceutics in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from 1966 to 2006 and served as head of the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy from 1985 until 1994. He died on June 9, 2006.

Writer: Elizabeth Gardner, (765) 494-2081, ekgardner@purdue.edu

Source: Craig Svensson, (765) 494-1368, svensson@purdue.edu

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

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