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Fort Wayne

Welcome

Founded in 1906, the Purdue Club of Fort Wayne is one of the oldest and largest of Purdue University’s Alumni Clubs. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to providing scholarships to Purdue Students from the Fort Wayne area and supporting the Purdue presence in the Northeast Indiana. Many of our club’s efforts focus on fundraising, promoting Purdue and supporting Fort Wayne Purdue Alumni. Whether your affiliation is to West Lafayette or our local campus in Fort Wayne, we encourage you to join the Purdue Alumni Association by clicking here to learn more! A portion of the dues those in the Greater Fort Wayne area pay to Purdue Alumni benefit our scholarship and local event programming efforts.

Events are planned throughout the year to bring Fort Wayne area alumni together. Popular annual events include trips to football games at Purdue, game-watching parties at local bars, our annual Freshmen Send-Off Picnic, the Old Oaken Bucket dinner, our annual golf outing, Chilifest, and many other local events. We strive to continue to give back to the community and each year we contribute to the Mad Anthony Hope House fundraising auction.

Spell Bowl

The Purdue Club of Fort Wayne is a proud sponsor of the Fort Wayne area spell bowls each year. We provide plaques for the winners and certificates for all participants along with volunteers to help with the event.

If you would like to volunteer or donate please contact vicepresident@purdueclubfw.org.

Scholarship

The Purdue Alumni Club of Fort Wayne is proud to announce an academic scholarship program for current/incoming Purdue students living in Allen County and the surrounding counties of Adams, DeKalb, Noble, Steuben, Wells and Whitley plus a portion of Huntington County. The scholarships are provided by Purdue alumni and friends who have generously donated to support the next generation of Boilermakers in the Purdue Alumni Club of Fort Wayne’s geographical area.

Applications are due by March 1 and will be awarded on or before April 15 for the upcoming academic year. Students who have received other scholarships are eligible to apply.

Recipients of the scholarships will be recognized at the annual Purdue Alumni Club of Fort Wayne spring meeting, and there will be no charge for a student to attend.

Questions? Contact scholarship@purdueclubfw.org

We hope to hear from you soon! Hail Purdue!

Apply

Current and future students of the West Lafayette campus apply here. (March 1 application deadline)

Current and future students of the Fort Wayne campus apply here. (March 15 application deadline)

Merchandise

You can now purchase Alumni Club of Fort Wayne merchandise at the official Purdue for Life Foundation merchandise store. Offerings include branded shirts and outerwear for men and women, plus hats, blankets, tumblers, and more! Please note that you will be purchasing from Freckles Graphics, a preferred partner for merchandise.

Contact Us

Nick Peppler
president@purdueclubfw.org

Natalie G Evans
Director of Alumni Clubs, Purdue for Life Foundation
ngevans@purdueforlife.org
765-496-6279

Social Media

Keagan’s story

I’m walking with Grandparents University tour group near the steps of Hovde Hall. It’s a Thursday morning in July, and the only students around are between the ages of 7 and 14. I catch a snippet of a conversation between a grandmother and her grandson as she details the pranks she pulled with her friends around this area.

I smile because just a few months ago I was doing the same thing.

Grandparents University (GPU) is a two-day event where grandparents and their grandchildren embrace Purdue and all it has to offer.

Participants choose a specific major to study and attend a class taught by Boilermaker experts. The majors aren’t exactly like the ones we have here at Purdue, but they do get to do cool activities like creating hot sauce, designing monsters, flying drones, and cooking in a Purdue kitchen. It’s a great opportunity to see wisdom and curiosity combined in the classroom, as grandparents and their grandchildren collaborate on these projects. They’re equally willing to learn from the instructors —and from each other—while creating lasting memories.

They might not know it yet, but this Purdue experience at such a young age will help with their college decision in a few years.

My mother started working at Purdue when she was pregnant with me, so I’ve been familiar with the university my whole life. Many of my childhood memories are associated with different parts of campus, and these memories played a big part in my decision to attend Purdue. I was going to a place that I knew—a place I already considered a home away from home. In the same way, when these children make their college decisions, they will already have built connections with Purdue through Grandparents University.

It will also help they already have a Purdue degree!

At the end of GPU, the kids graduate just like regular students by walking across the stage of Elliott Hall of Music. They even have their own caps to decorate and keep—which is great because robe rentals would be a nightmare.

I had been to nine commencement ceremonies before my own in May, so I’m well-versed in Purdue graduations. Nevertheless, it was still fun to watch this one.

These children had learned so much more than what was taught in their major. They learned more about their grandparents and strengthened their connection with them. They learned about the university and what’s in store for them when they (hopefully) become Boilermakers. And at the Block Party, they befriended students they had never met before and hung out on Memorial Mall—just like regular college students.

It was almost exactly what I experienced throughout my college career. Yes, I got my degree and now  have a job as was intended on this life path. But I also made lifelong friendships and went outside my comfort zone in ways that helped me grow as an individual.

Purdue shaped me and continues to shape me. I credit a lot of my growth as a person and a professional to my college career here, and a lot of what I know to the professors and instructors I had throughout my education.

Through Grandparents University, you have the opportunity to provide the same transformative experience for future Boilermakers. You can be the Purdue instructor that inspires a path that lasts a lifetime.

Patsy J. Mellott

BS College of Health and Human Sciences, 1969
Fishers, IN

Patsy earned a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition in business from Purdue in 1969, in addition to an MBA in food marketing from Michigan State University in 1970. She retired from Kraft Foods in 2006 after 36 years in corporate food marketing and marketing communications management.

A community volunteer, Patsy serves on the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana Advisory Board and the Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, in addition to the President’s Council Advisory Board. She is a former member of the Health and Human Sciences Alumni Board. Patsy held several offices from 2006 through 2013, including president and treasurer. She serves her community’s Discover Indianapolis Club in Fishers, holding several leadership roles for over 10 years.

Patsy has received several honors, including the Purdue University Nutrition Science Department Hall of Fame recipient in 2009 and the Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. She also received the college’s Gold and Black Award in 2016, an honor reserved for donors who have moved the college forward by committing exceptional financial resources.

In addition to endowing two scholarships, the Patsy J. Mellott Scholarship and Patsy J. Mellott HHS Scholarship, she established the Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award in the College of Health and Human Sciences in 2013. In 2015, she endowed the Patsy J. Mellott Women’s Tennis Coach Performance Award. She is a lead donor in the Christine M. Ladisch Faculty Leadership Award and the Purdue Women’s Network Virginia C. Meredith Scholarship for the College of Health and Human Sciences.