AAE senior Andrew Binder

It seems a bit implausible now, considering how passionate Andrew Binder is about Purdue.

But years ago when Binder was a senior in high school in Louisiana and in full-on application mode to colleges with top-tier aerospace engineering programs, Purdue was not in his first round of submissions. It wasn’t until he did a Google search for top programs and Purdue popped up as No. 2 on a list that Binder did a double-take and quickly fired off an application. A visit to campus wowed him — “I just fell in love,” he says — and he enrolled.

More than four years later, Binder is selling Purdue to any prospective student who will listen and promoting the progress of the College of Engineering to alumni and the community as an ambassador for the College. It’s a position he was selected for last spring, adding to his already considerable schedule of leadership roles. He’s also an ambassador for his school, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and also is active in the Purdue Student Engineering Foundation (PSEF) and the Office of Future Engineers (OFE).

Such heavy involvement has meant Binder has kept accruing nametags — he says he’s up to six now — that now require a box on his dresser for easy storage. But, more importantly, the active role has produced an impact on the College.

“You really see how everything works, and it gives you some really good perspective,” Binder says of being an ambassador. “It’s a really interesting spot to be in. It’s one I’m happy and fortunate to be in. It’s always been interesting seeing all sides of it.”

As a College ambassador, Binder’s role is primarily alumni outreach and serving at College of Engineering events. He helps with college-wide event planning and is heavily involved in Purdue Day of Giving at the College level. He also has met with Dean Mung Chiang to discuss long-term plans for the College, which includes the One Course Higher initiative.

But Binder, a senior in AAE, isn’t only about public-facing outreach.

He’s happy to mix in recruiting prospective students, too, an opportunity he has while giving tours and attending events for AAE and in his other roles for OFE and PSEF.

Binder says he knows of three students he met with on their visits who ultimately chose Purdue, one of whom currently is in AAE. Binder says he actually doesn’t stress rankings much — though the College of Engineering and AAE both consistently rank among the top programs in the country — but instead focuses on elements prospective students may not realize are valuable in the decision-making process.

“If you have a ranking, it’s good for your school. Not only does that matter, do finances matter, but ultimately, it’s the people,” he says. “A lot of people come into college searches thinking that stats are really, really important, and they are. Being a top-10 aerospace program is great. It’s a good thing. But I almost, to a sense, minimize that and talk about some of the more intangible good things about Purdue, being able to interface with the kind of people Purdue attracts, the kind of people who work at Purdue. Being able to work with people who are really, genuinely good people who care about what they do, who are easy to talk to and who are sociable, which is honestly something you don’t expect from engineers. Being able to do and emphasize that stuff I’ve always found is really important.”