Eli Lilly and Company and Purdue University are partnering on an innovative scholarship program that will develop interest and talent in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Through the new Lilly Scholars at Purdue program, a selection of talented incoming undergraduate students will benefit from a long-standing partnership between Purdue and Lilly.
The Lilly Scholars program encourages students who are from under-resourced urban and rural populations, who have overcome socioeconomic or educational disadvantages, or who are among the first generation in their family to attend college to apply. Those with a shared commitment to reducing barriers to education are also encouraged to apply.
Students applying to majors that relate to the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry will be considered for these awards.
The Lilly Scholars at Purdue Program is open to current high school seniors applying to Purdue University with the intent to study one of the majors below. Preference will be made for undergraduate students who have an interest in the pharmaceutical industry. Consideration will only be given to those who apply to Purdue University by the Early Action application deadline of November 1.
Students applying to Purdue University in these majors are eligible to apply to become a Lilly Scholar:
College of Agriculture
Biochemistry
College of Engineering
Engineering (All Majors)
College of Science
Biochemistry
College of Science
Chemistry
College of Science
Microbiology
College of Science
Data Science (First-Year)
College of Agriculture
Biological Engineering
College of Pharmacy
Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Science
Chemical Biology and Biochemistry
College of Science
Chemistry (ACS)
College of Science
Biology
College of Science
Genetics
Note: Scholars must maintain studies in an eligible major and follow change of major policy.
First things first—apply to Purdue University before the Early Action application deadline of November 1, 2024 by using the Common App.
Apply to Purdue.
Review the Lilly Scholars Overview/Opt-in Process and apply to the program by November 1.
Apply to Lilly Scholars Program.
Notification for those accepted to the Lilly Scholars at Purdue program will be included in the admission decision letters from Purdue Univesrity that will be released in January. In addition to the admission letter, Lilly Scholars at Purdue will receive next steps on accepting and opting-in to the program. This is a highly competitive opportunity, we hope you consider applying!
Step one
First things first—apply to Purdue University before the Early Action application deadline of November 1, 2024 by using the Common App. Apply to Purdue.
Step two
Review the Lilly Scholars Overview/Opt-in Process and apply to the program by November 1. Apply to Lilly Scholars Program.
Step three
Notification for those accepted to the Lilly Scholars at Purdue program will be included in the admission decision letters from Purdue Univesrity that will be released in January. In addition to the admission letter, Lilly Scholars at Purdue will receive next steps on accepting and opting-in to the program. This is a highly competitive opportunity, we hope you consider applying!
For more information on program details, internships or scholarship amounts, please see our frequently asked questions.
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 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.