Purdue President Mitch Daniels to retire at end of 2022; new president named

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The "Daniels Decade" at Purdue University will come to a close, and engineering dean Mung Chiang will become the next Purdue president as of Jan. 1, 2023, the university announced on Friday.

Chiang's appointment was by unanimous vote of the Purdue Board of Trustees.

The announcement of Daniels' pending exit and Chiang's naming as president came during Friday's Purdue trustees meeting.

Daniels became the 12th president of Purdue in January 2013, after serving two terms as Indiana governor beginning in 2004.

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After the announcement, Gov. Eric J. Holcomb issued a statement saying, in part: “During his 10 years at the helm, Mitch has delivered higher education at the highest proven value, from freezing tuition during his entire tenure, to creating a national online university, establishing a network of Indiana STEM charter schools, and making record investments in world-class research.

"...I am eager to work with Dr. Mung Chiang as he takes the reins. I know he has had the opportunity to learn from the best and will keep the university’s forward motion moving at a fast pace.”

Chiang arrived at Purdue in 2017 as the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and the Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering after working as an electrical engineering professor at Princeton. He earned a B.S. (Hons.) in electrical engineering and mathematics, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University, according to the university.

"During Chiang’s five years at Purdue, he has led his college to its highest rankings ever," a release from Purdue stated, "even as it has grown dramatically at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, a release from the university stated. Purdue is currently ranked No. 4 among graduate programs, No. 3 for online programs, and No. 8 for undergraduate education, and is the largest school in the nation’s top 10. Both government and industry-sponsored research funding have set new records, as do the 12 national research centers now housed at the university."

Purdue's future

So what will this change in top leadership at Purdue mean for the university's decade-long freeze of tuition rate, and what are Chiang's overall plans as president?

"The board has indicated its desire to continue the tuition freeze for as long as we can," Chiang said. "And we will continue (the freeze) as a top priority for Purdue."

Daniels explained that the frozen tuition price is guaranteed to remain for the next two years.

In terms Chiang's plans, he said he intends to maintain the existing relationship between the university and the City of West Lafayette, and to talk with people about the next best steps are for Purdue.

"We have a (well established) relationship that we value and treasure tremendously," Chiang said regarding West Lafayette. "I look forward to continuing our collaboration and our partnership with the City of West Lafayette and Lafayette.

"...I will very much want to listen to the entire Boilermaker community and to all the friends and partners throughout our state," Chiang said.  "And there will be time over the next six months for me to listen to them and to ensure the smoothest transition and to think about any potential future initiatives afterwards."

Chiang said news of the pending change was first brought to him in April by board of trustees Chairman Michael Berghoff.

"The board of trustees makes the decisions regarding presidential appointments," Chiang said. "I was humbled wyeh Chairman Berghoff approached me back in April. And I was made aware that President Daniels notified the board of trustees that he would no longer be the president starting 2023. Details of the terms were discussed in late May and finalized earlier this month."

'Ten's a nice round number'

On Daniels' side of things, he said that there was no specific incident or reason behind his decision to step down as president; more so that it was just the right time to do so.

"This spring," Daniels said, "I decided that the end of the calendar year would be about right... Ten's a nice round number."

When asked if he feels he has accomplished all he set out to at the beginning of his presidency, Daniels stated that true satisfaction was never in the cards.

"First of all," Daniels said, "you never have accomplished everything you'd like to. The second thing is, I didn't know, I had some ideas that, I think, turned out to be the right ones and some ideas that were the wrong ones."

Chiang provided a statement to the prospective Purdue students who will be joining the university once his presidency begins.

"First of all, warm welcome," Chiang said, "and we can't wait to see that next cohort of Boilermakers joining us here. We welcome them here to West Lafayette campus... I hope to get together with them very soon, maybe for morning jogs."

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: Purdue president Mitch Daniels set to retire, new president named