Alumna gives money for professorship

By Laura Pelner
Campus Editor

Susan Butler discovered Purdue 40 years ago.

Butler, a 1965 Krannert School of Management graduate, came to Purdue because of the "preeminence of the home economics school" but quickly changed her major to a different form of economics — the program in Krannert.

Monday morning Butler joined Murray Blackwelder, Purdue's senior vice president for advancement; Richard Cosier, dean of the Krannert School; and Provost Sally Frost Mason to highlight a gift sponsored by Butler for an endowed professorship in Krannert.

The gift is the first in a series that will be announced this week for the University's Discover Purdue campaign, a yearlong fund-raising effort to inform people about Purdue.

Butler, who is currently a managing partner for Accenture, which was formerly Andersen Consulting, gave Purdue $750,000 for the Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair in Operations Management.

"I'm a product of Purdue and Krannert," said Butler via videoconference from Irving, Texas. "I wouldn't be here if not for Purdue."

Butler was the first female hired by Andersen Consulting and is the only female executive in Accenture now. She said she hopes her gift will have a lasting impact on Purdue and Krannert students.

"This is my way to give forward to the future students of Purdue," Butler said, adding that she no longer thinks of it as "giving back."

Cosier said the gift will help Purdue excel in an area it's already strong in — operations management. He said Purdue needs to be aware of the competition in the field, and he said there are three important factors that play into success — facilities, faculty endowments and student scholarships.

"Our faculty endowments are limited compared to the competition," he said.

With this new one, Krannert will have eight endowed professorships, but Cosier said the school should have 25 or 30. "It's tough to execute in today's environment, but we're undaunted. We will prevail," he said.

Frost Mason said Purdue's strategic plan, the document that will map out the University's future for at least the next five years, specifically sets goals for learning, discovery and engagement. She said one way to achieve these goals is to attract and retain faculty, and endowed professorships help do that.

"This will have enormous and lasting effects on the lives of students who come here," Frost Mason said, and she added it would do the same for the state of Indiana.

During the Discover Purdue announcement Butler was given a "special Boilermaker award" for being such an important and outstanding Purdue alumna. Cosier said her contributions extend far past her monetary gifts.

The new endowed chair position actually totals $1.5 million. Alumni Harold Greenberg and Al Schleicher each gave gifts and Butler matched them for the total gift.

This is the second endowed chair Butler has been a part of. She worked with Accenture last year to sponsor a $1 million endowment for a Krannert professorship in information technology.

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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