Alumnus dedicates endowment

By Dave Stephens
Assistant Campus Editor

Teachers seldom realize how they've changed the lives of their students, but one Purdue grad wanted to let one of his old professors know that he made a difference.

That is why Davis Edward Nichols, a 1958 doctoral degree graduate of industrial engineering, gave $1.6 million to create the Charles R. Hicks Professorship in the School of Education.

The gift, announced Tuesday as part of Discover Purdue week, was given in honor of Hicks, who helped Nichols with his doctoral dissertation. The gift is the third endowed professorship Nichols has given Purdue.

Hicks, now professor emeritus of education and statistics after retiring from the classroom in 1985, said the honor came as a surprise to him; especially since he didn't work very much with engineering students.

"I sat on the faculty committee for his dissertation, but I had pretty much lost track of him until I got the call that he wanted to endow something in my name," said Hicks.

Hicks, who worked for three different schools while at Purdue, had the opportunity to pick where his named professorship would be.

"When I was asked about which of the three areas I wanted the professorship to go to, I knew I wanted it to go to the School of Education," said Hicks. "I didn't know if there were any professorships in the school, but I think we need them in the School of Education."

Nichols' gift is only the second named faculty position within the School of Education and will help fund the salary of the professor who earns the endowment.

"We are most grateful for Dr. Nichols and the gift," said Jerry Peters, interim dean of the School of Education, "and we are grateful for the impact that it is going to have."

Peters said the gift demonstrates the major impact that teachers have on their students' lives, but only rarely get to see.

"Sometimes as educators, we never know the hearts of the students we may have changed," said Peters.

Murray Blackwelder, senior vice president for advancement, said gifts like the one made by Nichols help make Purdue's strategic plan, the document that will lay out Purdue's plan for the next five years, a reality.

"One of the most important parts of the strategic plan is to recruit and retain faculty," said Blackwelder. "We must establish more endowed professor chairs if we want to do this."

Currently Purdue has 69 distinguished and named professorships that are annually funded or fully or partially endowed.

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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