Governor reappoints Purdue trustees; alumni trustee reelected

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has reappointed two members to Purdue’s Board of Trustees, and an alumni member has been reelected.

Mike Berghoff and JoAnn Brouillette were reappointed to serve three-year terms, while Vanessa Castagna was reelected by the Purdue for Life Foundation to a three-year term. All actions are effective July 1.

Berghoff, of Indianapolis, was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2009 and has served as chairman since 2015. He is a 1985 graduate of Purdue with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management. Berghoff is founder and president of the Lenex Steel Corp., the largest steel fabricator in the region, which is headquartered in Indianapolis. He is currently a member of the board of directors for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Brouillette, of Lafayette, has served on the board since 2006. She has the longest tenure of the current board members and serves as chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee. Brouillette is managing partner and president of Demeter LP, a privately held agribusiness firm headquartered in Fowler. She is also an operating partner for St. Louis-based Lewis & Clark Agrifood, a growth equity fund focused in the agriculture and food technology sectors.

Castagna is one of three alumni trustees, having first been elected in 2013. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and speech communication from Purdue in 1971. Castagna is a longtime retail leader and executive, working for blue chip Fortune 50 retail companies, and she is a key retail consultant and advisor to private equity and investment companies. She also serves as member and past chairman of the Purdue University Band & Orchestras Advisory Board.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Writer: Tom Schott

Sources: Mike Berghoff

JoAnn Brouillette

Vanessa Castagna