MAKE A LASTING IMPACT. JOIN US!

The R.B. Stewart Society recognizes special benefactors who make a commitment to the future of our University in their estate plan—regardless of the amount. Thank you to all our society members for demonstrating your commitment to the future and lasting success of Purdue.

Membership is extended on a confidential basis to alumni and friends who have made a commitment to the future of Purdue through their estate plans or with life income gift arrangements. Your name will be used only with your permission, and you can be a member while remaining anonymous. If you have made a planned gift but have not yet received an invitation to join the R.B. Stewart Society, please complete our membership form.

Qualifying gifts include:

Bequest in a will or revocable trust
Charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity
Charitable lead trust
Whole or partial beneficiary of an IRA, qualified retirement fund, or pension plan
Life insurance policy
Remainder interest in a personal residence or farm

A written confirmation of intent is needed for inclusion in the R.B. Stewart Society. This could be a signed statement of support, a copy of the will or trust documents, a letter or email from the donor, or a completed membership form. Purdue recognizes that revocable gift plans could change. The written confirmation outlines your intent and is not a binding document. Our society provides recognition for your intention to support our University.

Membership benefits

As a thank you for their sustaining support, R.B. Stewart Society members enjoy special benefits including:

Letter of recognition and membership certificate
Recognition for your estate gift in the President’s Council
Exclusive invitation to annual society event
Society’s annual newsletter
Valuable financial and estate planning resources

Our namesake

Purdue is the beneficiary of the drive of a man who couldn’t stop building.

R.B. Stewart arrived at Purdue as controller in 1925. At that time, Purdue enrolled 3,000 students, the physical plant was worth $3 million, and the endowment totaled $340,000. Twenty years later, Stewart was still at it and was named vice president and treasurer. When he retired in 1961, enrollment had grown to 22,000, the physical plant was valued at $160 million, and yields from the $25 million endowment were producing funds for research, scholarships, and grants.

Stewart’s pioneering ways of financing expansion through trust gifts and interest-free bonds enabled Purdue to grow, and our University became the benchmark for every university in the country. In 1971, Stewart made a planned gift to Purdue by donating his home, Westwood. It has served as the home of Purdue’s president ever since.

Questions?

Contact the Office of Planned Giving at 765-494-8657 or plangift@purdueforlife.org.

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.