STATED MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
TRUSTEES OF PURDUE UNIVERSITY
December 17, 2005
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held in Room 326, Stewart Center, West Lafayette, Indiana at 8:30 a.m. on December 17, 2005.
The following Trustees were present: McGinley (Chairman), Cumberbatch, Edmondson, Hardin, Oesterie, Peterson, Powers, Spurgeon, and Townsend. The absence of Trustee Birck was excused by the Board.
Also in attendance were President Jischke, Provost Mason, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Olsen, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer Almond, Legal Counsel Benton, and Corporate Secretary Behringer. Present by invitation to make a report to the Board was Vice President Robinson.
I. FUTURE MEETING SCHEDULE.
Chairman McGinley drew attention to the listing of future meetings and commencements and asked the Trustees to put these dates on their calendars.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon proper motion duly seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the following meetings:
Executive Sessions, November 3, 2005 and November 4, 2005
III. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT.
President Jischke congratulated those students who will be graduating at tomorrow's commencement. He expressed joy in seeing students fulfill their dreams knowing they have received one of the best educations available anywhere in the worid.
Dr. Jischke reported that progress is being made on Mann Hall, which will house the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering. This center has tremendous potential to impact Indiana and the nation. He stated that Dr. Steven Witz will become the Director of the center in mid-January. Dr. Jischke expressed appreciation to Joe Pekny for everything he did as acting director of the Regenstrief Center.
President Jischke discussed the enormous competition U.S. universities are facing for students from around the worid. He recently participated in the National Summit on Competitiveness hosted by the Secretary of Commerce in Washington, D.C, which addressed the impact of four trends in our nation: declining numbers of U.S. graduates in engineering and the physical sciences;