Leadership personnel updates announced

Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Chris Ruhl and Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President for Partnerships Alyssa Wilcox announced Friday (Dec. 1) several personnel updates to university leadership.

Vice President for Global Partnerships and Programs

After a search in the fall semester, Professor Vijay Raghunathan has been named vice president for global partnerships and programs. He replaces Mike Brzezinski, who led international programs for 14 years at Purdue and held the role of vice president for global partnerships and programs from January 2023 until retiring in August 2023.

Raghunathan’s experience and understanding of strategic global partnerships make him ideally suited to shape the mission, vision and strategy of Purdue’s future global agenda. He joined Purdue in 2006 and is a professor and associate head for graduate and professional programs in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Raghunathan also serves as the director of Purdue’s Semiconductor Degrees Program (SDP), a role he will continue to hold. SDP, which Raghunathan helped create, is the university’s comprehensive initiative for semiconductor workforce development. Launched in May 2022, it has earned international recognition for the university as a leading innovator in semiconductor education in the United States. Raghunathan’s research and innovative work have resulted in several opportunities and initiatives to connect with students, academic institutions and industry partners around the globe.

Today, Purdue ranks among the nation’s largest universities in international student enrollment and is a leading innovator in higher education for its recruitment strategies, notably for undergraduate students and study abroad programs. The 2023 Open Doors Report, issued by the Institute of International Education, ranks Purdue No. 8 among more than 4,500 public and private universities in attracting international students. Based on fall semester enrollment and optional practical training data for the 2022-23 academic year, the report shows Purdue had a total of 11,872 students from abroad, representing around 130 countries.

Raghunathan will be tasked with further expanding the university’s role and reputation as a leading global institution through increased international enrollment numbers, study abroad participation and enhanced high-impact partnerships with academic, industry and government partners overseas. The team at Purdue will continue expanding upon these connections with strategic partners, alumni and friends to benefit the entire Purdue community and the state.

Raghunathan holds a BTech degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from UCLA.

Vice President for Human Resources

Amy Boyle has been named vice president for human resources after serving on an interim basis since July. She succeeds Bill Bell, who stepped away from the role in June as the longest-serving vice president for human resources in Purdue history.

Boyle’s 20-plus years in Purdue’s human resources department, coupled with her interim experience, make her the ideal person to permanently fulfill this role. Prior to assuming her interim position, Boyle served as the associate vice president, talent, a position in which she was responsible for ensuring Purdue’s prime position for the development, retention, engagement and attraction of innovative talent. Additionally, she has held positions in recruitment, compensation and employee relations and several HR leadership roles.

Boyle has extensive experience in blending teams, providing them with strategic vision and offering critical leadership to achieve goals. Specifically, she led the merger of the former Student Life HR team and Physical Facilities team by combining resources, streamlining processes, realigning talent, elevating service levels and eliminating duplication. She was part of the Transform Purdue initiative, served as a change lead for the Human Capital Management (SuccessFactors) project, worked on the job family structure and served as the HR lead on the Future of Work project.

Prior to joining Purdue in 2002, Boyle worked as an HR generalist in manufacturing.

Boyle holds two Purdue degrees: a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and supervision from Purdue West Lafayette and an MBA from Purdue Global.

Marketing and Communications

Following the departure of R. Ethan Braden, leadership of the Marketing and Communications teams will remain consistent with the following configurations:

 

• Julie Rosa will continue in her role as vice president for communications, overseeing executive communications, internal communications, media relations and crisis communications.
  
  
• Kelly Hiller is promoted to vice president for marketing, with overall leadership of the marketing, brand strategy, and creative services teams.

 

• Kati Pratt is promoted to associate vice president for brand, continuing to lead the brand strategy team as well as Purdue Global marketing, and will report to Hiller.

Rosa and Hiller will report to Ruhl and will have regular strategy meetings with President Mung Chiang.