2005 Purdue–Silicon Valley Symposia
Purdue University: Preeminence in the 21st Century
Purdue University is investing in infinite possibilities through strategic plans and a capital campaign focused on elevating engineering and its other leading programs to preeminence in the 21st century. Plans include: increasing faculty by 300; investing more than three-quarters of a billion dollars in new and upgraded facilities; increasing diversity; increasing engagement with business and industry, our state and communities; increasing salaries of faculty and staff to attract and keep the best people; increasing scholarships and financial aid; and investing in programs that will expand our interdisciplinary research capacity in signature areas that will impact tomorrow.
We are on track to literally change the face of Purdue with the most aggressive building campaign in our history, including Discovery Park with centers for nanotechnology, biosciences, e-enterprise, entrepreneurship, learning, and more.
Major research universities will be the key to success in the high-technology economy that will dominate this century, and Purdue is positioning itself for leadership in the infinite possibilities that lie ahead.
Sally Mason
Provost, Purdue University
Sally Mason received her bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of Kentucky (1972), a master's degree from Purdue University (1974), and a PhD in cellular, molecular, and developmental biology from the University of Arizona (1978).
After two years at Indiana University in Bloomington conducting postdoctoral research, she joined the University of Kansas (KU) in 1981. During the span of 21 years at KU, she served as a full professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, acting chair of the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and finally, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In 2001 Mason returned to Purdue where she is currently a professor of biology and provost. As provost her responsibilities include oversight for all academic programs on the West Lafayette campus and the four Purdue-affiliated regional campuses.
Mason has received several teaching awards, including a Mortarboard Outstanding Educator Award, an Outstanding Academic Advisor Award, and a prestigious Kemper Teaching Fellowship. She has authored many scientific papers and has obtained a number of research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health, and the Wesley Research Foundation. More recently, she has served as principal investigator for several large statewide NSF grants and grants from the Lilly Endowment in Indiana. Among the number of national and international organizations of which she has been a part, she has served as president of the Pan American Society for Pigment Cell Research, president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences, member of the advisory committee to the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), member of the NSF advisory committee for GPRA Performance Assessment, member of the executive board of the NASULGC Chief Academic Officers Group, and chair of the Board of Inproteo, a start-up company collaboration between Eli Lilly Inc., Indiana University, and Purdue University.