Former governor, university president Daniels to present Trine Commencement address

Mitchell E. (Mitch) Daniels, Jr., the 49^th governor of Indiana and the 12^th president of Purdue University, will present the keynote address to graduates from Trine University's Angola campus, Brooks College of Health Professions and TrineOnline during the morning ceremony on Saturday, May 2.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Inc. Athletics and Recreation Center (ARC).

“Mitch Daniels provided visionary leadership as governor of the state of Indiana and as president of Purdue University, guiding both the state and that university to new heights and implementing successful innovations that will continue to have positive impact for generations to come,” said Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., Trine University president.

“We look forward to the valuable wisdom and insights he will share with our graduating students as they seek to become agents of change in their careers and communities.”

The university will present Daniels with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the ceremony.

A separate ceremony beginning at 4 p.m. in the ARC will recognize students who have earned degrees at the university's Detroit, Phoenix and Reston, Virginia, education centers.

Successful tenures with state, Purdue

Daniels served as a two-term governor of the state of Indiana from 2004 to 2012 and as president of Purdue University from 2013 to 2022.

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. During his tenure, Indiana went from an $800 million deficit to its first AAA credit rating, led the nation in infrastructure building and passed sweeping education and healthcare reforms.

After a series of transformations, which included the biggest tax cut in state history, the nation’s most sweeping deregulation of the telecommunications industry and a host of other reforms aimed at strengthening the state’s economy, Indiana was rated a top-five state for business climate and number one for state infrastructure and effectiveness of state government as Daniels exited office. Indiana’s business climate is now rated among the nation’s best.

At Purdue, Daniels prioritized student affordability and reinvestment in the university’s strengths. He ended 36 years of consecutive tuition hikes by freezing tuition and mandatory fees at 2012 levels for all students, a hold which continues today.

While under his leadership, the university also went from the second most expensive school in the Big Ten for room and board costs to the most affordable by freezing room rates and reducing meal costs by 10%.

Overall, aggregate student borrowing fell 37% under his tenure and it cost less to attend Purdue at the conclusion of his time as president than at the start, even without adjusting for inflation.

In recognition of his leadership as both a governor and a university president, Daniels was named among the Top 50 Greatest World Leaders by Fortune Magazine in 2015 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.

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, a major contract research organization. During an 11-year career at Eli Lilly and Company, he held top executive posts including president of Eli Lilly’s North American pharmaceutical operations.

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

He and his wife Cheri have four daughters and seven grandchildren.