November 14, 2022
Selected significant accomplishments of the Mitch Daniels presidency
- Frozen tuition for unprecedented 11 years through 2022-23, saving families over $1 billion.
- March 2013: Just seven weeks into his presidency, President Daniels announces a two-year tuition freeze to address rising college costs and concerns over affordability. This marks the first-time tuition will not go up since 1976.
- Launch of bold initiatives and university priorities: Purdue Moves in 2013 and Purdue’s Next Moves in 2021.
- Acquisition, launch and growth of Purdue University Global.
- Creation of Purdue Polytechnic High Schools, now three schools strong in Indianapolis and South Bend.
- Commitment to Freedom of Expression, with Purdue becoming the first public institution of higher education to adopt a free speech policy called the “Chicago principles.”
- Conception and championship of growth and expansion of Discovery Park District at Purdue, a $1 billion development of housing, high-end manufacturing, and industry and research-driven partnerships for advancing a thriving “live-work-play” community.
- New vital partnerships and corporate locations, including Rolls-Royce, Saab, Schweitzer Engineering Labs and SkyWater Technology.
- Signed 10-year, $75 million research and testing agreement with Rolls-Royce, extending university’s 70-year relationship with the global aerospace leader year. The deal is the largest involving an industry partner in Purdue’s history.
- Record innovation and commercialization activity, including growth in patents and startups based on Purdue faculty and student research and discovery — 169 patents granted in 2021, ranking sixth globally and first in Indiana and the Big Ten.
- Transformation of the State Street corridor, a $120 million project to create an attractive and easy-to-navigate point of pride through campus that’s friendlier to pedestrians and bicyclists and accelerates sustainable economic development.
- Record fundraising growth, including incredibly successful Ever True campaign, raising over $2.5 billion, and the launch of the Purdue Day of Giving, an annual celebration that has grown and achieved record donors and donations each year since 2014.
- Purdue Day of Giving raised a record $68.2 million in April 2022, pushing amount fundraised to nearly $310 million since 2014. The one-day annual social media event generated the prior all-time high of $52.5 million in 2021.
- Yearlong celebration of Purdue’s 150th anniversary in 2019, featuring more than 60 Giant Leaps Series and Ideas Festival events, drawing over 45,000 people to campus and close to 500,000 via livestream.
- Increased rankings across the board for the university, its colleges and programs. During Daniels’ last year in 2022, Purdue was recognized as:
- Top 10 public university in the country – U.S. News & World Report.
- No. 4 most trusted public university in America – Morning Consult.
- No. 6 in the world for utility patents granted – National Academy of Inventors/Intellectual Property Owners Association.
- No. 7 most innovative university – U.S. News & World Report.
- No. 4 for engagement – The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education
- A “Brand That Matters” in 2022 by Fast Company magazine for second consecutive year.
- Unprecedented growth of the faculty, with a record 213 new professors hired for 2022-23 school, including 84 as part of a $75 million Equity Task Force effort to diversify racial makeup of university’s faculty ranks.
- Eight consecutive years of record enrollment, boosting the number of undergraduate students by 29% since 2015, with 9,354 freshmen and an overall enrollment of 50,884 for 2022-23.
- Transformative education initiatives, including Degree-in-Three programs across campus, a Civics Literacy requirement and an assessment of the growth in critical thinking for all students.
- Expansion of the physical plant, including:
- Chaney-Hale Hall of Science.
- Agricultural and Biological Engineering Building.
- David and Bonnie Brunner Purdue Veterinary Medical Hospital Complex.
- Wilmeth Active Learning Center.
- College of Engineering and Purdue Polytechnic Gateway Complex: Dudley Hall and Lambertus Hall.
- Marc and Sharon Hagle Hall.
- The Life Sciences Ranges Phenotyping Greenhouse Building.
- Animal Sciences complex: Creighton Hall of Animal Sciences, the Land O’Lakes Center for Experiential Learning and Purina Pavilion.
- Zucrow High-Speed Propulsion Lab.
- Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility.
- Schleman Hall of Student Services and Stewart Center renovations for student services.
- SkyWater announces plans to build $1.8 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility in Discovery Park District.
- Creation of Presidential Lecture Series, bringing to campus prominent guest speakers on policy, leadership, culture and society.
