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PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL

Fabulous at Forty: Supporting Purdue’s Mission

AS THEIR FORTIETH BIRTHDAYS APPROACHED, Beth Hobson (MS ’20) and her husband, Neil, decided they were ready to set their estate intentions. While Beth has many organizations and causes close to her heart, and despite never having set foot in West Lafayette, she chose to give to the Brian Lamb School of Communication.

Beth didn’t take a traditional path to obtain a college degree, and her journey has shown that multiple paths lead to success. Led by determination and hard work, Beth is currently leading a 24 million dollar comprehensive campaign for Hosparus Health, a non-profit organization that provides end of life care and counseling to more than 8,500 patients and families in Kentucky and Southern Indiana each year.

After graduating high school in Kentucky, Beth had hoped to attend law school and become a family court judge. However, she realized very quickly that finances were a major roadblock and dropped out of her undergraduate classes at the University of Louisville (U of L). She recalls weeping in bed as her friends were graduating (even if they were doing so under a crippling amount of debt).

She began working at a small non-profit, which led to a job back at the U of L at the Brown Cancer Center. She worked while attending classes and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree and zero debt.

Having spent more than fifteen years in fundraising and considering herself a lifelong learner, Beth decided to apply for an online master’s in communication program. She debated between her top two choices: Purdue and Johns Hopkins. Ultimately, she selected Purdue because she saw it as the best value to achieve her dreams. During her studies, Beth particularly enjoyed her fundraising course and also appreciated how her first professor, Mike Kohler, was able to strike a balance with non-traditional working professional students like herself. Her health communication class was also a highlight—she still refers to her textbooks for real-world application within her current position.

Purdue hasn’t raised tuition since 2012—effectively not only proclaiming a goal to provide a quality education at the highest value but by proving it. And for Beth Hobson, it meant an advanced degree and a chance to give back to the school that helped her achieve her dreams. //

Writer:  Andrea Marfell, President’s Council Communications akmarfell@purdueforlife.org

More President's Council News

Luzader Legacy: A Lifelong Commitment to Higher Education and the Arts

October 8, 2024

Tim and Sally Luzader first crossed paths at a Midwest College Placement Association conference and, united by their mutual passion for helping students succeed in higher education, have spent decades dedicated to student success. Now, through their generous bequests to Purdue, they’re ensuring their impact continues well into the future.

Jody and Rodney Green

An Expression of Gratitude

September 6, 2024

“It’s our responsibility to create opportunities for others, whether through financial sponsorship or the willingness to commit time and expertise to inspire those following behind us,” say Jody (MS’04, PhD A’08) and Rodney (A’02, PhD A’08) Green.









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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.