2016 Alumni Honorees VIDEO EXTRAS: Meet the Krannert School's alumni award recipients and the inaugural class of Boiler Business Exchange Hall of Fame inductees honored at this year's 16th annual Leaders Speakers Series (Videos by Jeremy Lwande)

KRANNERT BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AWARD

MORGAN J. BURKE (BSIM ’73, MSIR ’75), Vice President, Purdue University

Burke-HummelsMorgan J. Burke has left an indelible mark on Purdue University while making his name as one of the visionary leaders in intercollegiate athletics.

Burke, who announced in early 2016 he would retire as athletics director, had the fourth-longest tenure among current ADs — 24 years — as he handed the baton to his successor. The former Purdue swimmer came back to his alma mater following a successful career with Inland Steel.

During Burke’s tenure, two teams have won NCAA championships — women’s basketball in 1999 and women’s golf in 2010 — while eight student- athletes captured a combined 14 individual national titles. All told, he has overseen 20 regular-season conference championships and 13 tournament titles. In addition, student-athletes regularly performed equal to or better than the student body in the classroom during his time as athletics director.

Burke notably oversaw an investment of more than a quarter-billion dollars in facility construction and renovation projects. Those included significant upgrades to Mackey Arena and Ross-Ade Stadium and new facilities/venues for swimming, golf, soccer, tennis, baseball and softball.

JOHN S. DAY DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI ACADEMIC SERVICE AWARD

JOHN J. MCCONNELL (PHD ’74), Burton D. Morgan Distinguished Chair of Private Enterprise, Purdue University

John McConnellJohn J. McConnell joined the Krannert faculty in 1976, where he has achieved great success as an instructor. A favorite among students, he is a four-time top Krannert professor and received the Salgo- Noren Outstanding Teaching Award in 1993, 1995, 2011 and 2012. He also earned the Most Effective MSM Teacher Award in 1992.

McConnell has been a prodigious researcher during his Purdue career. In a study published in the Journal of Financial Literature, he was named one of the top 10 prolific finance professors over the past 50 years. He was named a Distinguished Scholar of the Eastern Finance Association and has received research support from the National Science Foundation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Small Business Administration, and other groups.

McConnell has served as a consultant to investment banks, government agencies and law firms on various aspects of financial markets and securities, including stock and bond prices, corporate valuation, mergers and acquisi- tions, derivatives, mortgage-backed securities, sub-prime lending, money management, and bank lending practices.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

JODY BANKS RUSSELL (BSM ’93, MBA ’03), Human Resources Director, UCB

Jody Banks RusselJody Banks Russell earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Purdue. During her undergraduate years, she was named the first student member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Following her service on the commission, she was appointed by former Governor Evan Bayh as the first African-American woman to hold a seat on the Purdue Board of Trustees.

Following the completion of her undergraduate degree, Banks Russell earned a law degree from Emory University and started her legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. After a successful career as a felony criminal prosecutor, she revisited her accounting and legal background as a senior international tax attorney with Arthur Andersen LLP.

Banks Russell returned to Purdue to pursue an MBA in both human resources and marketing and joined Guidant Corporation. After earning her MBA, she became human resources director at UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company. She currently serves on the Krannert School Alumni Association board of directors.

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