Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr.

49th Governor of Indiana (2005 - 2013)
President of Purdue University (2013 - 2022)

Recognized as one of 50 "World's Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine, Mitch Daniels has worked to better the lives of his fellow Americans through his time as a businessman, Governor, White House Budget Director, and University President.

Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. served as a two-term governor of the state of Indiana from 2004 to 2012 and as the 12th president of Purdue University from 2013 to 2022. He currently serves a Distinguished Scholar and Senior Advisor at the Liberty Fund.

He was elected governor in his first bid for any elected office, and then re-elected with more votes than any candidate in the state's history.

At Purdue, Daniels prioritized student affordability and reinvestment in the university’s strengths. He ended 36 straight years of rising prices by freezing tuition and mandatory fees at 2012 levels for all students, a commitment that endured for his presidency. Following Daniels' departure, Purdue University was named the best managed university in the world by the Canadian firm Organizational Excellence Specialists with the report claiming, "Under Mitch Daniels’ leadership, Purdue pioneered fiscal accountability while improving public confidence in higher education."

Prior to becoming governor, Daniels served as chief of staff to Senator Richard Lugar, senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He also was the CEO of the Hudson Institute and had an 11-year career as an executive at Eli Lilly and Company.

Daniels earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a law degree from Georgetown University. He is the author of four books and a contributing columnist in the Washington Post.

Of course, we would be remiss not to mention his greatest adventure - raising four daughters, Meagan, Melissa, Meredith and Maggie, with his wife Cheri. Together, they now have nine grandchildren.

But most of all, he is a model of leadership that challenges each of us to make our state, nation, and world, and the lives of the people around us, better than we found them.