Old Masters select returning alumni

The Old Masters program will bring 10 Purdue alumni to campus Nov. 3-5 to celebrate their professional success and inspire current students. While on campus, the Old Masters will partake in classroom talks, meetings with several student organizations and a community-wide panel discussion.

Students and faculty can request to meet and engage with an Old Master for a classroom talk or student organization meeting through this link.

The program’s largest event, An Evening with the Old Masters, allows the Old Masters to reach a large portion of the students and Greater Lafayette community in a panel driven by the audience’s submitted questions. This free event will be held at 5 p.m. Nov. 4 at Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse.

An Old Master is an exceptional person who has made significant contributions to their field of study and to society. A group of 12 students, known as the Central Committee, goes through hundreds of nominations in order to honor 10 deserving candidates.

Alongside the nine Old Masters is an Honorary Old Master, who this year is also a Purdue graduate. This Old Master is a chosen faculty or staff member who shares the same passion for mentoring students as the other Old Masters. The Honorary Old Master has achieved high levels of success at Purdue and is involved outside of the University in an organization that benefits the community.

The 2019 Old Masters are:

Orlando Ashford, BS 1991, MS 1993, organizational leadership and industrial technology.

Leslie Bottorff, BS 1979, interdisciplinary engineering with a biomedical concentration.

Leslie Holland-Bartels, PhD 1980, forestry and natural resources.

Andre Hughes, BS 1983, industrial engineering.

Tom Morales, BS 1975, civil engineering.

Colleen Nevius, BS 1977, management.

Mark O’Hare, BA 1990, graphic design. 

Patti Poppe, BS 1989, MS 1991, industrial engineering.

Dale Pupillo, BA 1976, political science.

Libby Richards, Honorary Old Master, PhD 2012, health promotion in health and kinesiology.

The Old Masters is one of Purdue’s oldest traditions, dating back to 1950. The program is known for connecting distinguished professionals to the student body in order to enrich traditions, unite generations and empower one another to move the world forward together as Boilermakers.

More information about this year’s Old Masters, the history of the program, involvement within the program and classroom requests can be found at the Old Masters website.

The Old Masters program is also encouraging nominations of deserving candidates for both the 2020 Old Masters and Honorary Old Master positions. This process can be done online here.

Contact: Mary Christiansen, 262-620-6313, publicityomcc@gmail.com