Purdue AD and former student-athletes take the stage at Krannert's Leadership Speakers Series

Friday, October 12, 2018

Purdue University’s Mike Bobinski and a trio of championship-winning Boilermaker alumni shared the spotlight at the Krannert School of Management’s 18th annual Leadership Speakers Series on Oct. 11 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.

Taking “A Night of Champions” as its theme, the event featured a discussion with Bobinski, Purdue’s vice president and director of Intercollegiate Athletics; Ukari Figgs, a mechanical engineer and member of the Boilermakers’ 1999 NCAA women’s basketball championship team and former WNBA champions the Los Angeles Sparks; former Purdue men’s basketball All-American and current ESPN broadcaster Robbie Hummel; and former Purdue men’s football player Matt Light, who won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

The panel was moderated by Tim Newton, Krannert’s director of external relations and communications and the longtime play-by-play voice of Purdue football and the Purdue women's basketball team.

Several awards were presented during the event. Shawn Taylor (BSM ’82), president and operating partner of Zaxby’s Houston, received the Krannert Business Leadership Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has achieved success in business and in the community. In addition to serving as a panelist, Hummel (BSM ’12) also received the 2018 Young Alumni Award.

Other alumni awards presented included:

Distinguished Alumni Award — Kassandra Agee Chandler (BSM ’80), founder and principal consultant with Systematic Design Consultants.

Distinguished Service Award — Jeff Durr (BSM ’05), a senior client partner with Korn Ferry

John S. Day Distinguished Alumni Academic Service Award — Pareena Lawrence (MSM ’90, PhD ’93), president of Hollins University.

Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Award — Nobu Okada (MBA ’01), founder and CEO of Astroscale.

Along with the Krannert awards, the Boiler Business Exchange of Indianapolis inducted its third class of Purdue alumni into its Business Hall of Fame: John Bratt (BSME ’65), president of Dual Machine Corp.; Fred Fehsenfeld Sr. (BSME ’48, HDR ’99), founder of The Heritage Group; Melody Birmingham-Byrd (BSOLS ’94), president of Duke Energy Indiana.

Purdue alumna Loretta Rush (BALA ’80), Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, was honored with the Father Phil Bowers Award, which is presented annually to a non-businessperson who has contributed to the quality of life in Indiana.

Click here to view a photo gallery of the evening’s festivities or copy and paste the following URL into your web browser: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9uNucCwknhM46FTw9