Daniels recognizes generosity of Pinnacle Award honorees

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Over the next week, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels will recognize several alumni with the President’s Council Distinguished Pinnacle Award for the significant impact their generous gifts have on university student and faculty programs, organizations, and initiatives. Pinnacle Awards recognize donors to the university who have given more than $1 million.

“These gifts are important to Purdue in countless ways,” Daniels said. “Certainly the donations make an impact on visible assets like facilities or student programs, but they also demonstrate the leadership of our alumni in transforming the Purdue University campus into a world-class institution focused on affordability and accessibility to all. We could not be more grateful for their generosity and stewardship.”

Those recognized with Pinnacle Awards will be Milton “Milt” C. Lauenstein, Thomas J. Howatt, Dr. Marjorie Magner and Stanley G. Tebbe.

Milt Lauenstein will be honored with a Pinnacle Award for his ongoing support of the Purdue Peace Project.

Lauenstein possesses a long career as a top executive, consultant and teacher. He has been CEO and/or chairman of several successful corporations and has served on the boards of over a dozen. He taught business policy and strategy at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and at Northeastern University. He is also the author of “What’s Your Game Plan: Creating Business Strategies that Work,” a book on successful long-term planning. Since 2011-2012, Lauenstein has been funding the Purdue Peace Project (PPP), a program in the College of Liberal Arts whose mission it is to encourage and assist local leaders around the world in addressing immediate situations that threaten to lead to political violence.

Lauenstein graduated from Purdue in 1945 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He will receive his Pinnacle Award on Tuesday (Oct. 6).

Tom Howatt will be recognized with a Pinnacle Award for a $1.5 million donation to create the Thomas J. Howatt Chair in the Krannert School of Management.

Howatt joined Wausau Paper Corp. (then Wausau Paper Mills Co.) in 1980 and served in many roles before being named president and CEO in 2000. He was named chairman in 2012 before retiring in June 2014. He is also active in his industry, serving as director of the Wisconsin Paper Council, the Paper Science Foundation at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and the National Council for Air & Stream Improvement.

Howatt graduated from Purdue with a bachelor’s degree in 1972 and a master’s degree in 1973, both in management. He will be recognized with a Pinnacle Award at the 15th annual Krannert Leadership Speaker Series on Thursday (Oct. 8).

Also recognized with a Pinnacle Award on Thursday will be Dr. Marjorie Magner for her long-term loyalty and generosity to Purdue, including a $1.6 million gift to the Krannert School of Management.

Magner is a founding member and partner of Brysam Global Partners LLC, a specialized private equity firm that invests in financial services with a focus on consumer opportunities in emerging markets. She was named to the Fortune magazine list of Most Powerful Women in Business from 2001-2004, the Forbes magazine list of the World's Most Powerful Women (#19), and U.S. Banker's list of the Most Powerful Women in Banking (#1). A 2003 Purdue “Old Master” and recipient of a 2004 honorary doctorate from the university, she is a passionate advocate on issues affecting consumers, women and youth.

Magner graduated from Purdue in 1974 with a master’s degree in management. Besides the Pinnacle Award, she will also be recognized with the Krannert Business Leadership Award, the highest honor the Krannert School of Management can bestow.

Stanley G. Tebbe will receive a Pinnacle Award for giving the lead gift of $1 million to expand the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, a collection of six facilities west of campus where faculty and graduate students from the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics perform propulsion-related research in rockets, jet engines and other internal combustion engines.

Tebbe spent his career with ExxonMobil Corp., serving in numerous roles, including vice president of Paramins Additives (a division of ExxonMobil) and regional director of ExxonMobil Chemical Asia Pacific. Over the years, Tebbe has received numerous awards from Purdue, including the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award in 1983, the Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award in 1991 and the Krannert Distinguished Alumni Award in 1994.

He graduated from Purdue in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and received his master's degree in industrial administration from the Krannert School the following year. He has been giving to Purdue for more than 35 years. Tebbe is scheduled to receive his Pinnacle Award on Friday (Oct. 9).

For more on giving to Purdue, visit giving.purdue.edu. 

Writer: Charlie Henry, 765-496-2644, cghenry@purdue.edu 

Source: Mitch Daniels, president@purdue.edu