“The Ever True Campaign runs through 2019,” explains IE Director of Development Jerry Alberts. “IE’s fundraising goal of the campaign is $25.3 million. The $25.3 million will support IE students, recruit and retain strong faculty, provide program funding, allow the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, and support groundbreaking research and new initiatives. To date, IE has reached 43% of its fund raising goal.”

Alberts says that the 43% raised includes gifts such as:

• Ravi and Eleanor Talwar Rising Star Faculty Endowment – To lead nationally and internationally, Purdue IE must attract the sharpest and most ambitious IE faculty working in areas such as healthcare, complex systems, manufacturing, and information engineering, and to retain premier mid-career professors who are not yet candidates for full-term named professorships. “We need bright young faculty to advance the school’s mission to lead the field of industrial engineering,” states Alberts. “A generous gift from Ravi (MSIE 1969) and Eleanor Talwar to establish the Ravi and Eleanor Talwar Rising Star Faculty Endowment is a major step in assisting Purdue IE to continue its reputation for attracting and retaining world-class faculty.”
• Endowed Undergraduate Scholarships - Five IE alumni donors in the past year have established IE scholarship endowments to support undergraduate IE students.
• Purdue Systems Collaboratory – An IE Alumnus recently gave a significant lead gift to this new initiative that seeks to solve today’s complex challenges through interdisciplinary research.
• Estate/Planned Gifts – An IE alum recently established a $1 million estate gift to establish an endowment in support of student scholarships.

Besides funding the opportunities above, Purdue IE Head Abhi Deshmukh wants to help IE students participate in meaningful global experiences, and also to increase support for IE graduate students. The school is looking for support with:

• Endowed Global Experience funds to prepare future graduates to become global leaders and help design solutions to global challenges. Purdue IE’s goal is to give its undergraduate students at least one study abroad experience while at Purdue.
• Endowed Graduate Support to provide tuition and living expenses to attract the highest quality grad students, who in turn will help elevate Purdue IE’s teaching and research.
• Equipment and Lab Renovations funds to upgrade the aging Michael Golden Labs facilities. And although Grissom Hall has been amazingly “re-invented” since 2015, additional funds are needed to outfit labs with the latest equipment specific to the research being conducted.

“We have three years remaining in the campaign to raise the remaining 57% of our goal,” says Alberts. “Purdue IE is currently experiencing some the greatest growth in the history of the school. Student enrollment in both undergraduate and graduate students is at an all-time high. Purdue IE now boasts of having the 2^nd largest IE faculty members in the U.S. And Purdue IE research initiatives are expanding the boundaries of traditional IE research into areas never thought possible."

"Including the newly reinvented Grissom Hall, and with all this exciting activity, the Purdue School of Industrial Engineering is the place to be," adds Alberts. "We invite you to join Purdue IE on this exciting journey. I am here to answer your questions and to assist you in joining your fellow alums in supporting Purdue IE’s efforts in the Ever True Capital Campaign.”

Contact the Purdue IE Office of Development & Alumni Relations to discuss how you can help.

Ever True: The Campaign for Purdue University