WEST LAFAYETTE (WRTV) — Mitch Daniels is coming out of retirement to lead Purdue University again.
The Purdue Board of Trustees voted Monday to appoint Daniels as interim president, effective July 1. Daniels served as Purdue's president for 10 years from 2013 to 2022.
He succeeds Mung Chiang, who will become president of Northwestern University on July 1.
"We are extremely grateful to President Emeritus Daniels for his willingness to continue his long and successful service to Purdue University in a role with which he is very familiar," trustees Chair Gary Lehman said.
Daniels said he couldn't say no when asked to return.
"President Chiang has led Purdue forward in a host of important ways, and it's essential that the momentum he has generated be maintained," Daniels said. "If the board believes that recalling me to active duty temporarily can help in this respect, no one as devoted to this institution as I am could say anything but yes."
Daniels is president emeritus and chair of the board of the Purdue Research Foundation. He will serve as interim until the next president is identified and takes office.
A national search will be launched in the coming weeks, Lehman said.
