Record-setting Day of Giving for Purdue Engineering
![Multi-colored ribbons tied onto string on which passerby's were asked to write the answer to "A Boilermaker is..."<em> Photographer: Missy Davies </em>](./college-brings-in-2600-gifts-totaling-20m-during-2019-purdue-day-of-giving/pdog2.jpg)
The College of Engineering is feeling a tremendous sense of gratitude for all of the volunteers, students, faculty, staff, and alumni who came together to help achieve record-breaking numbers during the Purdue Day of Giving on April 24.
![Max Downham (C) hands off the baton to Daniel Romary (L). Also pictured is runner Rachel Witterlin. The Relay Run was a fun event to bring awareness to the Day of Giving and to encourage alumni, friends, faculty/staff, and corporate partners to participate. <em> Photographer: Missy Davies </em>](./college-brings-in-2600-gifts-totaling-20m-during-2019-purdue-day-of-giving/pdog1.jpg)
![Daniel Romary (BSBME 18), a graduate student in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and a Purdue Board of Trustees member, carries the baton during the 2019 Day of Giving Relay Run. <em> Photographer: Missy Davies </em>](./college-brings-in-2600-gifts-totaling-20m-during-2019-purdue-day-of-giving/pdog5.jpg)
The CoE as a whole far surpassed its 2018 numbers with more than $20M raised, roughly $8.5M more than last year and the highest ever. University-wide, Purdue Day of Giving raised about $41M. The College also estimates it received about 2,600 gifts, over 170 more than the record set in 2018.
Purdue Engineering is prominently represented on the Purdue Day of Giving Leaderboard with five out of the top 10 units listed being affiliated with the College. Six are in the top 15 that will each win a share of $100,000 in bonus funds: Mechanical Engineering, (coming in at first place), the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, the central College of Engineering, Construction Engineering and Management, the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, and the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.
The School of Mechanical Engineering topped all Purdue contributions for the day with a total of $9,428,541, $7M of which came courtesy of an anonymous gift.
![Relay Run participants (L-R) are Sedona Carey, IDE/MDE senior; Rachel Witterlin, IDE/MDE senior; Max Downham (BSChE 58); and Alyssa Wilcox, senior associate vice president for Advancement. The course of the run was 20.19 miles with 10 runners participating and running 2.019 miles each. <em> Photographer: Missy Davies </em>](./college-brings-in-2600-gifts-totaling-20m-during-2019-purdue-day-of-giving/pdog-web.jpg)
The College also had three student organizations on the campus-wide Leaderboard. At No. 1 was Purdue Student Engineering Foundation (PSEF) with 373 gifts, 90 more than in 2018. Also making the Leaderboard were Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Women Engineers.
“This year’s record success is due to the entire College development team, student organizations, alumni, corporate sponsors, and friends,” says Mung Chiang, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering. “This is an incredible example of the Purdue family coming together to show their Boilermaker pride. Each gift counts, and we are ever grateful for the positive impact on our students and faculty.”
And the runners were …
The College’s Inaugural Relay Run participants/teams each ran 2.019 miles around campus during the 2019 Purdue Day of Giving. The idea was generated during Dean Mung Chiang’s student appreciation dinner following the 2018 Day of Giving.
College of Engineering Dean Mung Chiang
Max Downham (BSChE ’58)
Sedona Carey, senior, IDE/MDE
Rachael Witterlin, senior, IDE/MDE
Daniel Romary, (BSBME ’18), graduate student in BME and Purdue Board of Trustees member
Leony Boudreau, sophomore, biomedical engineering, Purdue women’s basketball team
Aaron Banks, senior, industrial engineering, student body president, football team quarterback
Alyssa Wilcox, senior associate vice president for Advancement
Dominique Oden, junior, civil engineering, Purdue women’s basketball team
Jason Dietz, director of Financial Affairs, College of Engineering
Eric Nauman, director of College of Engineering Honors Program and professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering
Lauren Heiss, junior, industrial engineering
![Mung Chiang, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, takes his turn during the Relay Run. The dean solicited ideas from students for future events after the 2018 Day of Giving. This years run is a direct result of one of their ideas. <em> Photographer: Missy Davies </em>](./college-brings-in-2600-gifts-totaling-20m-during-2019-purdue-day-of-giving/pdog3.jpg)