“Motion carries unanimously.” And with that proclamation by the chairman of the Purdue University Board of Trustees, Keith Krach, Governor Mitch Daniels was welcomed Thursday morning as Purdue’s 12th president.
Daniels said he is determined to live up to the opportunity and confidence afforded him by the search committee and trustees.
“No institution of any kind means more to Indiana today or tomorrow than Purdue University,” he told the large Loeb Playhouse audience. “It educates at the highest level the engineers, scientists, agricultural experts, information technologists, on whom our state and national success disproportionately depend. Its research gives rise to the innovative new goods, services and companies on which American and Hoosier prosperity must be built. I can conceive of no other assignment in which a person has the chance to contribute more to building the kind of Indiana of which we dream.”
HAT spoke with Dean Jay Akridge from the College of Agriculture after the announcement.
“Governor Daniels is a person who knows our state inside and out, so you’re talking about a person who is going to come into this job with the knowledge base that a lot of candidates would not have, and I think important to our college and to agriculturalists across the state is, he and his administration have been very supportive of agriculture since day one as governor. So we’re excited about the governor’s commitment to agriculture as the governor of our state and certainly excited about the potential for that enthusiasm for this industry to transfer to his role as president.”
Akridge said it’s too soon to say exactly what the Daniels appointment will mean for the College of Agriculture, referring to the governor’s stated intent to do a lot of listening and not talking in the coming months. Only after he has done his homework will we learn more about his plans for the college and Purdue as a whole.
One Purdue student very pleased with the new president is a recent Indiana FFA state officer. Joe Rust is involved in student government at Purdue and says he is excited for the good things to come under Daniels’ leadership.
Daniels begins his 5 year term in January and current provost Tim Sands will serve as interim president after France Cordova leaves in July.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/06/Governor-Daniels-goes-to-Purdue.mp3|titles=Governor Daniels goes to Purdue]
Hear more from Dean Akridge:[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/06/Ag-Dean-Jay-Akridge-thoughts-on-new-Purdue-president.mp3|titles=Ag Dean Jay Akridge thoughts on new Purdue president]