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STORY AND PHOTO CAN BE FOUND AT: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/000523.Beering.Years.News.html
May 23, 2000
Beering Leaves Behind 17-Year Legacy At Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Steven C. Beering will leave a 17-year legacy of growth in academics, facilities and reputation when he relinquishes the Purdue University presidency this summer. His name appears on the diplomas of more than half of the university's living alumni.
Purdue announced today (Tuesday, 5/23) that Martin C. Jischke, president of Iowa State University, will succeed Beering on Aug. 14.
Many of the Beering accomplishments were made possible through private funding. Private donations grew from $20 million annually in 1983 to $90 million. Purdue's endowment in 1983 was $121 million. Today it exceeds $1.3 billion.
Much of that increased funding has been targeted not only for brick and mortar but also for a variety of other academic priorities, including scholarships to attract high-caliber students. To date, 60 students have received the top award -- the Steven C. Beering Scholarship or Fellowship-- which pays for all college expenses through graduate school. Beering has also invested in the faculty, increasing the number of distinguished and named professorships from 21 to 66.
During his tenure, 20 new buildings or facilities have risen on the West Lafayette campus, and an additional 13 building or facilities have been renovated or expanded, increasing the value of those facilities by $235.5 million. They include:
-- The Knoy Hall of Technology
-- Hansen Life Sciences Research Building
-- Materials and Electrical Engineering Building
-- Civil Engineering addition
-- Schleman Hall of Student Services
-- Class of 1950 Lecture Hall
-- Liberal Arts and Education Building
-- Hillenbrand Residence Hall
-- Lynn Hall Addition
-- Bell Tower
-- Food Science Building
-- Black Cultural Center
-- Aviation Technology Simulator Building
-- Purdue Research Park Expansion
-- William H. Daniel Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center
The work continues with the renovation of Cary Quadrangle residence hall, the planned construction of a visual and performing arts center and the expansion of the Krannert Graduate School of Management.
Athletics facilities also have been improved during the Beering years. The Mollenkopf Athletic Center, an indoor football practice facility, was built in 1989. The Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex combined sports and research with the opening of the turfgrass research facility in 1998. A new aquatics center is under construction, and planning has already begun for a renovation of Ross-Ade Stadium.
The look of the campus has undergone a marked transformation, becoming pedestrian friendly with fountains and park areas that include the Purdue Mall and fountain, Founders Park and Academy Park.
The regional campuses also have experienced growth. Purdue North Central unveiled its new Technology Building. Purdue Calumet added the Donald S. Powers Computer Education Building, a classroom-office building and the Charlotte R. Riley Child Center. A Purdue Calumet conference center is partially completed and includes the Challenger Learning Center, which just opened. New buildings at the Fort Wayne campus include the Engineering and Technology Building, the Williams Theater and Visual and Performing Arts Building and the Science Building.
While other institutions have struggled to maintain their enrollments, Purdue's has grown to record levels. When Beering arrived in the fall of 1983, Purdue's West Lafayette enrollment was 31,856 students. A record 37,762 students were enrolled at West Lafayette last fall, and 66,455 students took classes systemwide.
Students enrolling at Purdue are more prepared than ever. Last fall's beginning students had an average SAT score of 1110, compared with the national average of 1016. More than two-thirds of the incoming freshmen were ranked in the top 30 percent of their high school class. The class included 185 valedictorians and 55 National Merit Scholars.
As the student body has increased, so has its diversity. International student enrollment grew from 1,334 students in 1983 to 4,133 students from 127 countries last fall. Purdue has more international students than any other public research university.
Enrollment of ethnic students has increased as well. There were 1,874 African American, Asian American, American Indian and Hispanic students enrolled in 1983, and they made up 5.8 percent of the student body. Last fall 3,525 ethnic students were enrolled at West Lafayette and comprised 9.3 percent of the total student enrollment.
Purdue under Beering has expanded its role as Indiana's engine for economic development, expanding its research park and offering technical assistance to businesses. Purdue's School of Technology also extended its programs throughout the state and began offering courses and degree programs in Kokomo, South Bend and Elkhart in 1984. The Statewide Delivery System now offers programs at 11 locations.
A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Beering subsequently was graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and spent more than 12 years in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps. During his military career, he served as an adviser to the U.S. surgeon general in internal medicine and was a medical consultant on the U.S. space program's early attempts to put humans into orbit. Before coming to Purdue, he served as dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine and director of the I.U. Medical Center.
Purdue bestowed its highest honor -- honorary doctoral degrees in science and hospitality management, respectively, -- to Beering and his wife, Jane, on May 13. The diplomas had traveled on the space shuttle Endeavor with Purdue alumnus Jerry Ross, one the 21 Purdue alumni who have been selected for space flight.
The dean of Big Ten presidents, Beering has held senior positions with numerous national and state committees, boards of directors and educational policy-making groups. He is the immediate past president of the Association of American Universities and was co-chairman of the NCAA Presidents' Commission Subcommittee on Gender Equity. He served as chairman of the Big Ten Council of Presidents from 1990 to 1992.
Beering is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the National Academy of Science/Institute of Medicine.
He serves on many civic and corporate boards, including American United Life Insurance Company, Arvin Industries, Eli Lilly and Co., NiSource Inc. and Veridian Corp.
After he steps down as president, Beering and his wife, Jane, plan to continue working as ambassadors and fund-raisers for the university.
Purdue is the 10th-largest four-year university in the country, based on the 37,762 students enrolled in fall 1999 on its West Lafayette campus. Purdue also offers degrees at four regional campuses and 11 School of Technology sites statewide, bringing its systemwide enrollment to 66,455.
jmw/N-The Beering Years.News
Writer: J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-2096; [email protected]
Related Web sites:
Meet our new president: http://www.purdue.edu/oop/president
Office of the President, Iowa State University: http://www.iastate.edu/~president/
PHOTO CAPTION:
Steven C. Beering, president of Purdue University, 1983-2000.
A publication-quality photograph is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu and at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/+PRESIDENT. Photo ID: Beering.S.
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: A publication-quality photograph of President Steven C. Beering is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu or at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/+PRESIDENT. It is called Beering.S
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