WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation committed $50 million to Purdue University to name the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. undergraduate institute. School of Business.
This commitment represents the lead gift to establish the school and the largest monetary contribution ever made to Purdue’s School of Management/Business. The initiative to relaunch the School of Business, which began while Daniels was president of the university, will continue to be championed by new President Mung Chiang and the Board of Trustees.
The institute will be called the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute. White (M ’75), who died on January 19, was the founder and chairman of White Lodging, a former member of the Purdue Board of Trustees, and a longtime benefactor of the university.
“The White Family Foundation has long been a truly dedicated partner in helping Purdue achieve excellence at scale. The naming of Bruce White, one of the most distinguished Boilermakers our university has ever known, is especially is meaningful to us,” Chiang said. “This gift ensures that Purdue will educate outstanding undergraduate business students who will create and grow competitive businesses in a technology-driven economy, free that market.”
Announced in September 2022 as Purdue’s next major step in a decade-long series of major strategic investments, the new school will build on the rich heritage and historical strength of the School of Management and Krannert Graduate School. This gift will help reinvent and scale new degrees and provide transformative educational experiences for undergraduate students.
The Bruce White Undergraduate Institute will serve as the flagship element of the Daniels School of Business. The Krannert name will be retained for the Krannert Graduate Institute. The new names of the two institutes are subject to approval by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees in the coming days.
“Purdue is recognized as a dynamic national leader in higher education, where it redefines value. As such, Purdue is seen as a strategic partner for our foundation,” said Bill Hanna, executive director of the White Family. Foundation.” Bruce has been an instrumental part of Purdue’s growth over the past decade and more, working closely with the university’s senior leadership as a trustee and a dedicated alum. He represents a true northerner that students can look up to as a role model, and the White Family Foundation is proud to support the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute.
To create a revised curriculum that equips graduates to lead at the intersection of business and technology, the Daniels School will recognize the best aspects of its leading programs and build on the success of the new pilot degrees. launched between fall 2021 and fall 2022.
These pilot programs include integrated business and engineering (IBE) and business analytics programs. IBE launched with twice the number of expected students, and the goal of the new school is to increase the number of students in the IBE and business analytics degree to 1,600 — a full 40% of the undergraduate its population.
Another successful new program, for a real estate finance minor, is, in fact, part of an earlier renewal commitment from the White Family Foundation. That gift, a $20.8 million commitment announced in April 2022, launched the Dean V. White Real Estate Finance program — and started conversations to transform the School of Management as a School of Business.
“The White Family Foundation’s commitment to a more prestigious Purdue inspired us to envision a business school that addresses the need to transform business education and produce technology-based graduates who build and lead of successful companies,” Daniels said. “Their gifts provide great strength to accomplish our goals.”
Additional goals for the Daniels School include:
- Increase enrollment to 4,000 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students by 2028.
- The growth of tenure-track and clinical faculty has been significant in this decade.
- Add additional square footage to existing business facilities to accommodate program growth, with 2027 as the target move-in date.
Alumni and friends of Purdue are rallying to support the Daniels School of Business, committing more than $127 million to date to increase the school’s capacity for excellence at scale. The Board of Trustees also committed funds for the initiative. An initial investment of $300 million will jump-start growth and establish Purdue’s program as the standard for an affordable, technology-focused, pro-business business education.
“The transformation of our business school is a huge part of our future as a university, and this gift is a testament to the legacies of Bruce White, the White family and Purdue,” said Mike Berghoff, chairman of Purdue Board of Trustees. “We’ve always been proud of how much we invest in our undergraduate students. This commitment reinforces our mission.”
The White family has been a prominent contributor to Purdue over the past three decades, including a combined gift of $30 million that helped transform the Union Club Hotel. The hotel serves as the university’s boutique on-campus lodging option and learning laboratory for students studying hospitality at Purdue.
“My brother Bruce was a wonderful man,” said Craig White, president of the White Family Foundation’s board of trustees. “His success in business is extraordinary, but his success as a person and as a leader is even more impressive — he put his heart and soul into every aspect of his life, and he inspired countless other people in doing so. Naming the undergraduate program after him could not be more natural.
Likewise, in 2021, Purdue also renamed its hospitality and tourism school White Lodging-JW Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in recognition of the company’s continued support and partnership.
“Bruce was an amazing husband, father and friend,” Beth White said. “He was successful in his personal and business life because he was himself in all situations. Integrity is not just a word for Bruce; it is foundational. His values are matched by a great motivation to constantly improve in all aspects of life, never accepting the status quo and having the courage to ask difficult questions – even to himself. When a leader like that shows up, things become dynamic. Everyone is motivated to give their best, and a journey towards excellence begins. Our family is deeply honored and delighted to know that the values and virtues that Bruce lived by will be instilled and emulated by future generations of leaders who begin the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a leading public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked each of the past five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by US News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue is relentless in its pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/.
Writer: Aaron Martin
Media Contact: Derek Schultz, dcschultz@purdue.edu
