Purdue Northwest’s Day of Giving a “roaring” Success

Purdue-Northwest-colorPurdue University Northwest (PNW) received an impressive $756,244 in contributions during Wednesday’s (April 24) sixth annual Purdue Northwest Day of Giving.

This year’s total for donor participation was the tenth highest from among 60 various participating groups across the entire Purdue system, resulting in additional “bonus money” awarded to Purdue Northwest.

Highlighting the PNW impact

“Each year’s Day of Giving shows the collective impact that the Purdue Northwest community can have,” said Chancellor Thomas L. Keon. “The generous gifts made by our graduates, faculty, staff, students, and friends make a clear statement about the value that PNW represents to northwest Indiana.”

“With this single day of giving Purdue Northwest shows the world how we can bring together a diverse array of supporters who believe in PNW as a driver of economic development, innovation, and academic excellence,” said Keon.

Gifts to PNW, as designated by the donors, will be used to support student scholarships, academic programs, athletics and other strategic initiatives.

Donor generosity

“We can’t thank everyone who participated in this year’s PNW Day of Giving enough for making it such a resounding success,” said Lisa Goodnight, vice chancellor of Institutional Advancement. “Scholarships, academic programs, athletics, the Nils K. Nelson Bioscience Innovation Building and Sinai Forum all received significant contributions. There is no doubt that many students’ lives will be changed for the better for years to come because this community believes in Purdue Northwest.”

Some 500 gifts received by PNW contributed to a single day giving total of $41.6 million across the entire Purdue system—an amazing fifth consecutive year for a 24-hour higher education fundraising campaign.

Goodnight said many PNW alumni and generous supporters of Purdue Northwest contributed to the success of Purdue Northwest Day of Giving. Significant gifts announced throughout the day included:

  • Peter Nau, president of Hammond Machine Works, made a major gift in support of the College of Technology.
  • Ben Simmons, former PNW basketball star and Hammond native, made a $100,000 gift to PNW’s NCAA Division II athletics program.
  • Lakeshore Public Media offered PNW’s College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences $24,400 in airtime and advertising support to renew the 26-episode “Roundtable Perspective” program another season.
  • The Nils K. Nelson Bioscience Innovation Building received $50,000 for a state-of-the-art microbiology laboratory through the generosity of Carol Abshire.
  • Duneland Health Council of Michigan City made a gift of $30,000 to the PNW College of Nursing to fund scholarships to students from La Porte County.

Purdue University Northwest

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is a student-centered university that values academic excellence, supports growth and celebrates diversity. Located in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago, PNW fosters a vibrant academic community through high quality and engaging undergraduate and graduate education. For more information about PNW, visit www.pnw.edu.