In a unanimous vote, the Purdue Board of Trustees named Mitch Daniels interim president Monday morning.
Daniels will be the sixth interim president of Purdue University, and will take his position only three years after serving as president from 2012-2023.
The vote was held after President Mung Chiang’s decision to leave Purdue to take over as Northwestern’s president, which was announced May 18. Chiang is at Purdue until taking over at Northwestern July 1, the same day Daniels will take over his interim duties.
“President Chiang has led Purdue forward in a host of important ways, and it’s essential that the momentum he has generated be maintained,” Daniels said in a Purdue release. “If the board believes that recalling me to active duty temporarily can help in this respect, no one as devoted to this institution as I am could say anything but yes.”
Trustees said they appreciated Daniels’ willingness to return to office, saying he “certainly has earned his retirement.”
“There's no one else that can step in and be ready to go as much as (he will) because of his experience,” said Michael F. Klipsch, vice chairman of the board of trustees. “I'm thankful he's willing to do it, and I think it's the perfect choice we can make. (This decision) allows us to get focused on the bigger job of finding the permanent president.”
