Today’s top 5 from Purdue University
It was a big Indy news week for Purdue with the rendering for the Academic Success Building in Indianapolis and announcement of new academic programs coming this fall to the capital city. Trevor Peters has all of this week’s stories covered in the latest “Purdue News Now.”
Plus, check out five good stories below you may have missed.
Conceptual renderings of Purdue’s new Academic Success Building in Indianapolis were released Wednesday (Jan. 15), bringing a uniquely Purdue look to the Circle City. Approved by the Purdue University Board of Trustees in June, the 248,000-square-foot red brick building, to be located near the intersection of West and Michigan streets, will be the initial centerpiece of Purdue’s urban expansion, providing classrooms, laboratories, dining and housing, as well as space for community and local high schools’ use. The cutting-edge facility will provide innovative programs for career-ready Purdue students and focus on academic success right in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, with the ability to evolve with the demands of experiential education.
Media contact: Derek Schultz, [email protected]
Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research at Purdue University, has announced that she will retire June 30. A national search will be launched immediately to identify Plaut’s successor. Lucy Flesch, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science and professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences, will chair a search advisory committee. Since assuming her current position in January 2023, Plaut has fostered an environment for research and collaboration by helping to build interdisciplinary relationships among researchers for broader impact. Plaut’s successes are evident in the continued growth of Purdue’s research portfolio, which surpassed $3 billion in fiscal year 2024. She has developed or relaunched programs aimed at providing internal funding to seed research, increased support for large multidisciplinary grants, streamlined processes and incentivized faculty success.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, [email protected]
Purdue University is continuing to expand its world-class higher education offerings in Indiana’s capital city with the announcement of new undergraduate and graduate program opportunities available to students starting fall 2025. Spanning multiple colleges and units, the new Purdue University programs in Indianapolis for the fall 2025 semester are: Bachelor of Science in actuarial science, Bachelor of Science in integrated business and engineering, certificate in entrepreneurship and innovation, Master of Science in interdisciplinary engineering – sports engineering concentration, Master of Science in chemical engineering – pharmaceutical engineering concentration and Master of Science in software engineering.
Media contact: Derek Schultz, [email protected]
Joe Balagtas, a professor in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics and director of the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability at Purdue University, discusses the center’s December Consumer Food Insights Report, which focuses on the impact weight loss drugs have on consumer food behavior. Balagtas says GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound treat diseases related to blood sugar and weight management. Among survey respondents, 14% said they have recently used one of these drugs.
Media contact: Trevor Peters, [email protected]
On the last day of 2024, Purdue President Mung Chiang received the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor bestowed by the Indiana governor, in recognition of his “transformational leadership at Purdue University.” Then-Gov. Eric Holcomb said, “Under your leadership, Purdue has continued to pioneer advancements in research, innovation and education, truly living up to the university’s motto of education, research and service.” The award was presented in person Wednesday (Jan. 15) by Chris Lowery, commissioner for Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, [email protected]
MORE: Recent AP video stories
The AP Newsroom (for AP members) and Purdue News YouTube channel (for all reporters) provide comments from Purdue experts on timely topics.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
