Co-Chairs

Mitch Daniels

Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. is the 12th president of Purdue University and the former governor of Indiana. During his tenure, Indiana went from bankruptcy to a AAA credit rating, led the nation in infrastructure building, and passed sweeping education reforms, including the nation’s first statewide school choice voucher program. At Purdue, he has prioritized affordability and student success.  He froze tuition and committed to maintaining the freeze for at least four years, called for greater accountability in higher education, and invested in a series of initiatives that are expanding Purdue’s STEM focus and facilitating the commercialization of faculty discoveries. In recognition of his leadership as both a governor and a university president, Daniels was named among the Top 50 World Leaders by Fortune Magazine in March 2015. Previously, Daniels served as President of Eli Lilly’s North American Pharmaceutical Operations, as a senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan and as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton in 1971 and his law degree from Georgetown in 1979.