Meet Mung

// Compiled by Matt Schnepf

Mung Chiang, Purdue’s 13th president, quietly began his new role on January 1, 2023. “Fueled by a sense of urgency, we got right to work today and will report actions to you in the coming days, skipping any investiture ceremony,” he wrote at the time.

Here, we learn about the new president’s goals, get to know his family—wife Dr. YingKei Hui and three children—and discover some of his favorite things about the university.

“As an immigrant living the American dream, and as a citizen of the greatest nation in human history, I am grateful to serve in higher education—the best hope for freedom and opportunity.”

The university will continue to execute Purdue’s Next Moves and its five strategic pillars: Transformative Education 2.0, Equity Task Force, National Security and Technology, Plant Sciences 2.0, and Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), which includes the appointment of Mark Lewis as PARI’s first chief executive officer.

The Midwest’s Hard Tech Corridor—formed by Purdue in Indianapolis through Lebanon to the Discovery Park District at Purdue in West Lafayette—will leverage our region’s promising technological growth to generate talent, jobs, and knowledge.

We will also pursue exciting opportunities presented by the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business. The Daniels School will include the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute, made possible by a $50 million gift from the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation, which was announced in February.

Additional priorities that have recently been unveiled include:

// The establishment of Purdue Computes and its three pillars: academic resource of the computing departments, strategic AI research, and semiconductor education and innovation.

// Purdue Innovates, which streamlines and strengthens support for both inventors and entrepreneurs among the university’s students, faculty, and alumni.

// Opportunities to serve the nation by bringing Purdue’s unique strengths in tech diplomacy, national security, semiconductor talents, and more to Washington, DC.

// Additional campus enhancements, including the recently dedicated Dudley and Lambertus Halls and the approval of a new campus housing project adding approximately 1,000 beds.

And, of course, Purdue will also continue its emphasis on excellence at scale, staying true to our land-grant mission, student success, and affordability. In fact, in February 2023, the university announced another year of frozen tuition.

The university will continue to execute Purdue’s Next Moves and its five strategic pillars: Transformative Education 2.0, Equity Task Force, National Security and Technology, Plant Sciences 2.0, and Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), which includes the appointment of Mark Lewis as PARI’s first chief executive officer.

The Midwest’s Hard Tech Corridor—formed by Purdue in Indianapolis through Lebanon to the Discovery Park District at Purdue in West Lafayette—will leverage our region’s promising technological growth to generate talent, jobs, and knowledge.

We will also pursue exciting opportunities presented by the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business. The Daniels School will include the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute, made possible by a $50 million gift from the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation, which was announced in February.

Additional priorities that have recently been unveiled include:

// The establishment of Purdue Computes and its three pillars: academic resource of the computing departments, strategic AI research, and semiconductor education and innovation.

// Purdue Innovates, which streamlines and strengthens support for both inventors and entrepreneurs among the university’s students, faculty, and alumni.

// Opportunities to serve the nation by bringing Purdue’s unique strengths in tech diplomacy, national security, semiconductor talents, and more to Washington, DC.

// Additional campus enhancements, including the recently dedicated Dudley and Lambertus Halls and the approval of a new campus housing project adding approximately 1,000 beds.

And, of course, Purdue will also continue its emphasis on excellence at scale, staying true to our land-grant mission, student success, and affordability. In fact, in February 2023, the university announced another year of frozen tuition.

Rooted in its public land-grant heritage, Purdue has become the nation’s most consequential public university after the Daniels Decade. It creates, disseminates, and deploys knowledge at scale, with quality and affordability second to none in our country.

Every morning, I look at my email inbox, and I’m bombarded by another award won by our colleagues; another new course introduced online by our professors; another student club created by our students; another lab or research article highly cited; another invention commercialized. It is a constant joy to be a cheerleader, if you will—to be there to help accelerate and amplify other people’s success and to celebrate it.

Rooted in its public land-grant heritage, Purdue has become the nation’s most consequential public university after the Daniels Decade. It creates, disseminates, and deploys knowledge at scale, with quality and affordability second to none in our country.

Every morning, I look at my email inbox, and I’m bombarded by another award won by our colleagues; another new course introduced online by our professors; another student club created by our students; another lab or research article highly cited; another invention commercialized. It is a constant joy to be a cheerleader, if you will—to be there to help accelerate and amplify other people’s success and to celebrate it.

Excellence, dedication, and humility.

Any time Boilermakers are tempted by complacency, we always have chosen to aim even higher, to touch the surface of the moon.

Excellence, dedication, and humility.

Any time Boilermakers are tempted by complacency, we always have chosen to aim even higher, to touch the surface of the moon.

I will be coteaching a new course with Professor Chris Brinton in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where I remain a faculty member. It will be a study of networks—social, economic, and technological—and the principles of networks that rule our lives in some sense.

This will be a fun course open to all students. In fact, we hope primarily nonengineering students will enroll in it.

I will be coteaching a new course with Professor Chris Brinton in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where I remain a faculty member. It will be a study of networks—social, economic, and technological—and the principles of networks that rule our lives in some sense.

This will be a fun course open to all students. In fact, we hope primarily nonengineering students will enroll in it.

My father didn’t have the opportunity to attend college until he was in his 50s. He enrolled in community college first, then enrolled in a four-year school to complete his undergraduate degree, and eventually earned a master of fine arts.

I attended his graduation, and it was my proudest moment to watch one of my parents earn their degree. You see this a lot during our Purdue Global graduations. Getting to see your father’s commencement is very special, and I’m glad we are giving that same opportunity to many others.

My father didn’t have the opportunity to attend college until he was in his 50s. He enrolled in community college first, then enrolled in a four-year school to complete his undergraduate degree, and eventually earned a master of fine arts.

I attended his graduation, and it was my proudest moment to watch one of my parents earn their degree. You see this a lot during our Purdue Global graduations. Getting to see your father’s commencement is very special, and I’m glad we are giving that same opportunity to many others.

President Chiang lets us in on some of his favorite things

PURDUE TRADITION // Commencement

You see pride on the faces of our newly graduated Boilermakers and pride on the faces of those who supported them—their parents, families, and friends.

As dean, I had the honor to shake many hands, including about 2,000 in one single spring commencement. That gave me this immense sense of what Purdue stands for—the combination of excellence and values we hold dear to our heart, which has a consequential impact on our students, our state, and our country. There’s no place quite like Purdue.

SNACK // Ice Cream

I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle like former president Mitch Daniels, so one major difference will be from Harley Davidson to Häagen-Dazs. I do eat a lot of ice cream. I like Silver Dipper. I like Frozen Custard. When Pappy’s was in the basement of the Union, I enjoyed the floats there. I love them all!

SPOT ON CAMPUS // The Neil Armstrong statue and the replica of his giant leaps

TYPE OF MUSIC // Classical

COMPOSER // Brahms

DOGS OR CATS // Dogs

MOVIE // Schindler’s List