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Purdue for Life Foundation

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL

Purdue for Life Foundation Formed

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University President Mitch Daniels announced Wednesday (March 11) the creation of the Purdue for Life foundation, an organization designed to deepen ties to alumni and to drive and coordinate all alumni-facing activities for the university.

“Our Purdue graduates and friends number in the hundreds of thousands,” Daniels said. “Purdue For Life will lead us to new connections and better engagement with this entire alumni universe. In a world of continuous learning and online education and networking, the Purdue experience must become not four years but literally lifelong.”

Purdue for Life will encompass the Purdue Alumni Association, the University Development Office, John Purdue Club and President’s Council and is intended to improve alumni engagement and communication by aligning development and stewardship activities across campus and with alumni and friends. The Purdue Alumni Association board has approved the move to the integrated model. 

Matt Folk, a 1991 Purdue electrical engineering graduate will serve as a Purdue vice president for university advancement and alumni engagement and will be the chief executive officer of Purdue for Life, overseeing the combined activities and goals of the aligned units. Folk has recently retired as president and CEO of Technology Marketing Corp. (a semiconductor sales and marketing company).  He was a founding member and has been serving as president of the Boiler Business Exchange in Indianapolis for many years. Additionally, Folk led the Purdue for Life investigation committee, which was made up of Purdue alumni who have been studying university integrated models across the country over the past year.

“Our goal is to strengthen ties both internally and externally, continuing our efforts to come together as one Purdue,” Folk said. “Working alongside the incredibly talented people already in place, we see a future of improved events, improved communication, the addition over time of a lifetime learning component for our Purdue alumni family and much, much more.”

Folk will report to a five-member board of directors that includes Daniels, three members of the Purdue Board of Trustees and one member of the Purdue Alumni Association board. The alumni association will maintain its alumni board and membership levels, and will retain its responsibility to nominate three members to the Purdue Board of Trustees.

“The Purdue Alumni Association Board supports taking steps to continue its mission within the Purdue for Life concept through an integrated engagement and advancement model,” said Dan Dawes, chairman of the Board of Directors for the Purdue Alumni Association. “We see Purdue For Life creating a pathway for enhancing lifelong engagement and enabling these three alumni-facing organizations to better serve our alumni. Purdue for Life will provide greater access to personal, professional and intellectual development. As an alumnus of this great university, one can expect to be more aware of what Purdue has to offer them today and through every stage in their life. The idea of a broader and strengthened outreach is well in line with the mission of the Purdue Alumni Association which it has been pursuing for more than 140 years.”

With the transition to the Purdue for Life alumni engagement model, Amy Noah, Purdue vice president for development, will resign from her position effective March 13. Greg Kapp will take on the role of interim vice president for development. Kapp, currently the senior associate vice president for development operations, has more than 40 years of experience leading companies and nonprofit agencies, including the last 20 focused on community and higher education advancement. Kapp has led Purdue’s advancement services organization through two major capital campaigns.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Contact: Tim Doty, 765-494-2080, doty2@purdue.edu

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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.