Daniels Talks Vision for Purdue in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue in Indianapolis carries a vision that could transform the future of higher education in Indiana.
Mitch Daniels is back at Purdue as Interim President. He says Purdue Indianapolis operates as an exact extension of the West Lafayette campus.
“It’s important to keep reminding people this isn’t some separate campus,” Daniels said in an interview with Inside Indiana Business. “It’s not a regional campus. It is part of the main campus, so the faculty and student requirements and standards are all the same.”
Connecting students directly to internships and jobs in Indianapolis will help keep top graduates in the state, according to Daniels.
“Purdue is attracting spectacular young talents from all over America, and right now best we can measure, something like one in five maybe takes their first job in Indiana,” Daniels said. “What if we make that one in four or one in three by the opportunities that Indy metro represents? There’s no quicker way to add to the collective candle power of our state.”
Daniels points to growth in artificial intelligence and life sciences as key areas where Purdue can help Indiana compete nationally.
“The world is being driven so swiftly in the direction of high-tech by the artificial intelligence explosion and everything that feeds into it,” he said. “We don’t pretend to know what AI will mean in terms of the educational system or the broader economy. We know that Indiana better be a competitor in that respect, hopefully a leader. We think Purdue has a huge duty to help shape that, given who we are and what we do.”
Daniels adds long-term success means several thousand of the brightest young people from Indiana and everywhere else studying at Purdue Indianapolis.
“Success is that a high percentage of those young people take that first job and eventually put their roots down here with us, enriching the smarts quotient of our state in a measurable way,” he said.
Purdue Indianapolis begins its first semester this month.
