West Lafayette-based Purdue University hosted a groundbreaking ceremony April 11 for the new Mitch Daniels School of Business facility.
The future building will join the Krannert Building and Jerry S. Rawls Hall – all connected above and below ground.
The event featured remarks from Purdue President Mung Chiang and Purdue President Emeritus Mitch Daniels. Representatives from the university and Lilly Endowment also attended the ceremony.
“As we educate future leaders and advance the research of a technology-driven, free-market economy, new world-class facilities for the Daniels School of Business will help us achieve excellence at scale,” Chiang said in a press release.
The university approved plans for the reimagined Daniels School in early 2023. The facility's name is a tribute to the university’s 12th president.
“Practiced with integrity, business careers are the noblest of life choices,” Daniels said. “They create new jobs and wealth for others and bring into being the resources which the public and nonprofit sectors take to pursue their goals. This modernized school of business will send out its graduates armed with a sense of mission and the tools to fulfill that mission in the most complex of enterprises.”
Construction will finish by fall 2027. The 164,000-square-foot facility will become Purdue’s second-largest classroom building in West Lafayette. It will feature space for academic instruction and conferences. The facility will also have research labs for financial trading, data visualization, behavioral research and experiential learning.
“Not only will this building illustrate the university’s commitment to the future of business education, it will also serve as a focal point for the seamless integration of business and technology, reflecting our mission to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow,” Bullard said.
The Daniels School represents a focus of Victories & Heroes: Your Campaign for Purdue, a $4 billion fundraising campaign.
