Former Indiana governor appointed as interim president of Purdue University

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A former governor of Indiana and university president will serve as the interim president of Purdue University starting in July.

Mitch Daniels was appointed as the interim president of the university during a public session of the Purdue University Board of Trustees on Monday. Daniels previously served as the 12th president of Purdue University and as the 49th governor of Indiana.

Daniels, who is the university’s president emeritus and the chair of the board of the Purdue Research Foundation, will succeed Mung Chiang in the position. Chiang will become the president of Northwestern University in Evanston in July.

“We are extremely grateful to President Emeritus Daniels for his willingness to continue his long and successful service to Purdue University in a role with which he is very familiar,” Gary Lehman, the chair of the Purdue University Board of Trustees, said in a news release from the university. “We look forward to working with Mitch and the executive team in leading Purdue to even greater heights as it continues to impact lives through its land-grant mission and the persistent pursuit of excellence in higher education.”

Officials stated that Daniels will serve as interim president until the university identifies a successor for Chiang. The release said a national search is expected to be launched in the coming weeks.

“President Chiang has led Purdue forward in a host of important ways, and it’s essential that the momentum he has generated be maintained,” Daniels said. “If the board believes that recalling me to active duty temporarily can help in this respect, no one as devoted to this institution as I am could say anything but yes.”

Daniels’ appointment will be effective on July 1, according to university officials.