Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WEST LAFAYETTE - Purdue University leaders, who are traveling the state to meet and learn from its citizens, will be in Warsaw Thursday to visit businesses and community members.
Purdue President Martin C. Jischke and other Purdue leaders will visit Zimmer Inc., Biomet Inc., DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and Maple Leaf Farms, in addition to other locations. Jischke also will address community and business leaders at a luncheon. Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins will serve as the community host for the day's events.
This is the fifth year Jischke and university leaders have conducted daylong visits to Indiana communities. More than 50 previous stops have ranged from Gary to Jasper and from South Bend to New Albany. Future visits in 2004 and 2005 are planned for Bedford, Marion, Indianapolis, Muncie, Evansville, Valparaiso, Kokomo and Elkhart.
Activities scheduled for the Warsaw visit include:
• 8:30 a.m. - Tour Biomet Inc.
• 10:15 a.m. - Tour DePuy Orthopaedics Inc.
• 11:15 a.m. - Meet with staff of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service for Kosciusko County, lobby of the Ramada Inn, 2517 E. Center St.
• 11:45 a.m. - Lunch with Kiwanis Club members, Chamber of Commerce members and business leaders at the Ramada Inn, 2517 E. Center St.
• 2:15 p.m. - Tour Zimmer Inc.
• 4 p.m. - Visit Maple Leaf Farms processing plant, Milford.
• 5:30 p.m. - Visit with alumni at the Bistro A' Lago restaurant North Detroit Street, Warsaw.
Jischke, who came to Purdue in August 2000, is the university's 10th president. He previously served for nine years as president of Iowa State University, another land-grant institution. His experience in higher education also includes 17 years as professor and dean at the University of Oklahoma and five years at the University of Missouri-Rolla.
He received his doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968, and joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma's School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. During his 17 years at Oklahoma, he served in multiple capacities. He became director of the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering in 1977. He served as dean of the College of Engineering from 1981 to 1986, and he was named the university's interim president in 1985.
