Catching up with Mung Chiang: first month as Purdue president

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series featuring a one-on-one with new Purdue President Mung Chiang.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. − About a month into his presidency, Mung Chiang sat down with the Journal & Courier to discuss how business is going so far, what issues he plans to tackle next and more.

Top priorities

The new president of Purdue first went over some of his top priorities for the school and what actions have already been taken so far.

"Well first, is that we created the student housing and well-being Action Council," Chiang said, "co-chaired by our provost and chief financial officer. And with a great set of committee members including (the) under-graduate student government president, graduate student government president...along with many colleagues across the university.

"They are looking at mental health as part of well-being, they are looking at undergrad and graduate housing. And (the Journal & Courier was) there at the (Purdue trustee) board meeting, so you heard the (board chairs) talking about student housing exploration."

Chiang also discussed the university's excitement about the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, which was recently officially named at the February Purdue trustee meeting, as well as Purdue's presence in Indianapolis.

Set apart from Mitch Daniels

The Journal & Courier asked Chiang how he sets himself apart from the 12th university president, Mitch Daniels, who just retired from the position as of Dec. 31, 2022, especially in regards to both launching new projects and taking over the reigns from ongoing ones.

"Well he rides Harley-Davidsons, I eat Häagen-Dazs" Chiang said. "...Otherwise, it's full continuity of the 'Daniels decade' into the future decades. We are excited by the relaunched School of Business, we're excited about Purdue University in Indianapolis. And of course, any given year, any given moment, there will always be something exciting...One consistently, articulated unique feature about Purdue, is that Purdue University - we create and disseminate and deploy knowledge at a scale with quality and affordability that is second to none."

Professional experiences that led him to the presidency

Chiang reflected on the recent years of his professional and schooling history that helped lead him to his current role of university president − a history that dabbles in the professional, academic and federal levels.

"I had my bachelor degrees in engineering and mathematics and a master (and) Ph.D. in electrical engineering," Chiang said. "And then I was a professor at Princeton University for 14 years...I did several startup companies, three (startups), and learned a lot in the private sector in tech entrepreneurship myself. And then I started serving in administrative roles at Princeton, and then now, almost six years ago, I had the chance to interview for the opening of the dean of College of Engineering at Purdue University...I took one year to serve our country, (at the) State Department."

Before university president, Chiang's most recent roles at Purdue were as the executive vice president for strategic initiatives as well as the previously mentioned engineering college dean.

Honorable mention: recent board appointment

As of Wednesday, Chiang has been appointed to the board of directors of First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank. According to a release, Chiang was selected due to his strong advocacy for economic growth in Indiana and in the Midwest.

"First Merchant Bank is an outstanding institution," Chiang told the Journal & Courier, "that grew out of our own state and continues to serve our own state of Indiana. I'm very honored to be able to contribute to the board and I think that if you look at how First Merchants banks (are) serving so many in this state and a few nearby states, (you would see) it provides an essential service to many Hoosiers and many of our neighbors."

Closing thoughts

When asked if he had anything else to say to the Journal & Courier, Chiang came prepared with three points regarding the tuition freeze: money saved over the past decade, "student access and success" and investments for the university.

"I just want to highlight three particular aspects to (the tuition freeze), Chiang said. "Number one is, over the past decade, well over $1 billion of tuition and fees have been saved Boilermaker families and students...And now it costs, in real dollar term, much less to attend Purdue today than 10 years ago.

"Second, is that we'll continue to uphold the student access and success as a public land-grant university's core mission. And (we will) review on a year-by-year basis the financial possibilities. And after careful study, we believe that for the 2024-2025 year, it is fiscally, financially viable to recommend another year of tuition freeze.

"...And then the third is that we, at the same time, are not shy of investing in our people and in important dimensions of learning and research. For example, you can look at on the Big 10 average, there's more than $1 billion savings based on (the) tuition freeze versus had we grown tuition and fee rates...You can similarly look at the salary increase, what we call the merit increase pool average, look at our average versus the aggregate average of Big 10. We've been doing better at (the) hiring of new faculty."

Chiang further noted that Purdue is at an historic high of an aggressive rate of professors and instructors hired.

Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Catching up with Mung Chiang: first month as Purdue president