Purdue University announced Wednesday that even after stepping down as school president, Mitch Daniels will be staying on as the chairman of the board for the Purdue Research Foundation.
The move comes at the request of incoming president Mung Chiang. In a Purdue statement, he said that he plans to dedicate his first year to students, faculty, and staff.
The move leaves the oversight of continued economic growth and projects within Purdue’s Discovery Park, as well as the effort to establish a presence in Indianapolis, to Daniels.
PRF’s bylaws previously required the chair to be the university president – but in order to install Daniels in the role, the foundation changed the rules to include someone designated by the current president.
In the same statement, Daniels said that he took time to consider the appointment, given his belief that a president should not “intrude on his successor’s activities.”
But, after some convincing from the board of trustees and Chiang, Daniels agreed.
“Now and always, I’ll do anything that Purdue asks of me,” he said.
Daniel’s announcement earlier this year that he would be stepping down as university president has created a flurry of conjecture about what he might do next – with some suggestions that the former Indiana governor might run for higher office.
Purdue’s press release does not outline exactly how long Daniels will serve on the PRF board, but does say it will be for the “foreseeable future.”
Daniels will officially take up the position after Chiang becomes Purdue’s president on Jan. 1.
