Purdue’s Minority Engineering Program named after ECE alumni
The Purdue University Board of Trustees has approved naming the Minority Engineering Program within the College of Engineering for Don and Liz Thompson.
Don and Liz both graduated from Purdue with degrees in electrical engineering (1984 and 1985, respectively), and were active in the Minority Engineering Program as students. In 2018 the couple established a $1 million endowment for the College of Engineering in support of the program.
The Minority Engineering Program began in 1974 as one of several initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion in the College of Engineering. The program has been key to Purdue’s successful graduation of more than 3,000 underrepresented minority engineering students to date. Other colleges and universities across the country have adopted Purdue’s Minority Engineering Program model.
Don Thompson served as a Purdue trustee from 2009-22 and led the university’s Equity Task Force.