PURDUE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEE ELECTIONS
For more than 140 years, the Purdue Alumni Association has existed to connect graduates to each other and to advance Purdue University. Through the Purdue for Life Foundation, the alumni association offers exciting ways for alumni and friends to engage with Purdue across a lifetime.
With the responsibility to connect, inspire, and serve more than 600,000 alumni, the Purdue Alumni Association Board of Directors strives to represent the diversity and broad interests of all Purdue alumni—in the United States and around the world. Board members possess a wide variety of skill sets, executive competencies, and strategically aligned experiences to lead the organization.
We thank our Purdue Alumni Association members for helping to identify and select the next class of alumni to serve in this vitally import role.
The 2024 Purdue Alumni Association board of directors and trustee elections will take place online from 8 a.m. ET on Monday, April 1, to 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 5.
The worldwide alumni population is divided into geographic districts. Members are eligible to vote for a director from the district in which they reside. All members are eligible to vote for the trustee.
Members must register to vote by creating an account on the Purdue for Life Foundation’s portal. This website verifies membership in the Purdue Alumni Association. Visit connect.purdue.edu/s/login to register.
Election results will be ratified by the board at its annual meeting on Friday, April 12.
Alumni Trustee Election
The trustee, one of three elected by current members of the Purdue Alumni Association, will serve a three-year term on the Purdue University Board of Trustees commencing July 1. As stated in the Purdue Alumni Association bylaws Article IX, the board of directors serves as the nominating committee for alumni representatives of the corporation on the Purdue University Board of Trustees as provided by law. As such, the board has endorsed one candidate through an election conducted at the fall 2023 board meeting. Other members of the alumni association may also run for the position of alumni trustee as defined in the bylaws by certifying their nomination at least 90 days prior to the annual meeting. For the 2024 election, no additional nominees were submitted.
Alumni Trustee Election
The trustee, one of three elected by current members of the Purdue Alumni Association, will serve a three-year term on the Purdue University Board of Trustees commencing July 1. As stated in the Purdue Alumni Association bylaws Article IX, the board of directors serves as the nominating committee for alumni representatives of the corporation on the Purdue University Board of Trustees as provided by law. As such, the board has endorsed one candidate through an election conducted at the fall 2023 board meeting. Other members of the alumni association may also run for the position of alumni trustee as defined in the bylaws by certifying their nomination at least 90 days prior to the annual meeting. For the 2024 election, no additional nominees were submitted.
Vanessa Castagna (HHS’71)
Naples, Florida
Castagna is a retail consultant and an advisor for MyNextSeason. She previously served as CEO for JCPenney and chair of Mervyn’s department stores. She also held senior-level merchandising positions with Walmart and Target. She was listed in Fortune’s “The 50 Most Powerful Women in Business” for four years and in Forbes’s “100 Most Powerful Women” for two years. Castagna has served on numerous boards for organizations including, Levi Strauss & Co., Carter’s/Oshkosh B’Gosh, Speed FC, and Purdue Bands & Orchestras. She was essential in developing the Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s after-school programs, transforming them into national programs. Highly involved with Purdue, she was dedicated to the vision of Marc and Sharon Hagle Hall, which opened in 2022, and established a scholarship endowment for members of the “All-American” Twirling Team. She has received an Outstanding Alumni Award from Purdue Bands & Orchestras, a Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Health and Human Sciences, and a Distinguished Pinnacle Award from President’s Council.
Vanessa Castagna
Vanessa Castagna
Board of Directors Candidates
United States Central // One Opening
Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin
Earl Major (HHS’88, MS M’90)
Laingsburg, Michigan
Major is vice president of human resources for Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. He is responsible for overseeing the human resources department, establishing and executing an integrated people strategy, translating business goals into human resource strategies, and ensuring the company’s community involvement is aligned to Delta Dental’s brand. Major previously held roles at Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Humana, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. He serves as a board member of Children Trust Michigan and previously served as president of the Krannert School Alumni Association board. Major is a lifetime member of the Purdue Alumni Association.
James Overman (ME’80)
Houston, Texas
Overman worked at Shell from 1980 until his retirement in 2019. He stays professionally active as a managing consultant with Petrogenium and a board member of Bay Area Turning Point, a nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. As a current member of the Purdue Alumni Association Board of Directors, Overman is the vice chair of the Purdue Alumni Advisory Council, a member of the Finance Committee, and vice chair of the Purdue Alumni Association Governance Task Force. He previously served as vice president for the Purdue Alumni Club of Houston. At Purdue, Overman serves on the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council and is an active reviewer for Engineering Projects in Community Service. He is a member of President’s Council and a lifetime member of the Purdue Alumni Association.
Brennan Quintus (PG’22)
Bismarck, North Dakota
Quintus is chief executive officer of the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund. He is also a trustee for the North Dakota Public Health Insurance Trust and previously served as chairperson from the trust’s creation in 2020 until 2022. Quintus is a faculty member for Insurance Journal’s Academy of Insurance and regularly speaks on behalf of national organizations, including the Association of Governmental Risk Pools and the CPCU Society, about governmental liability, contractual risk transfer, and other liability insurance and risk management issues. He has won CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for his work in constitutional law and legal analysis and writing and earned the Executive Juris Doctor Award for Academic Excellence during his time in law school at Purdue Global. Quintus is a member of the John Purdue Club and President’s Council and a lifetime member of the Purdue Alumni Association.
Earl Major
Earl Major
James Overman
James Overman
James Overman
James Overman
Brennan Quintus
Brennan Quintus
United States West and International
// One Opening
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, all U.S. territories, and all countries other than the U.S.
Charles “Chip” Bay
Charles “Chip” Bay
John Thurman
John Thurman
Charles “Chip” Bay (HHS’81)
Wilson, Wyoming
Bay served in the U.S. Army for eight years before beginning his career in real estate. He is a founding partner of Mill Creek Residential, an organization that specializes in the investment, development, construction, acquisition, and operation of high-quality rental communities across the country. Bay has been involved in the entitlement, development, and construction of over 30,000 rental homes. He served as chair and treasurer for the Montgomery Housing Partnership and as a board member for Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland. A proud Boilermaker, Bay supports the colleges of Liberal Arts and Agriculture and established the Bay family endowment for the Military Family Research Institute. He is a member of President’s Council and a lifetime member of the Purdue Alumni Association.
John Thurman (LA’09)
Los Angeles, California
Thurman is vice president and chief operating and financial officer at the Center for Civic Education, where he is responsible for financial oversight, ensuring the center can fulfill its mission-driven work and civic engagement within the community. He has dedicated more than 17 years of his career to the nonprofit sector, advocating for causes such as early childhood education, homeless prevention, after-school enrichment, and arts education. Thurman previously worked at Excellent Education; After-School All-Stars; the Hammer Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles; and the Salvation Army. As a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, he is committed to making a positive impact on his community. Thurman is a lifetime member of the Purdue Alumni Association.
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