Purdue Northwest Names Chancellor

Thomas Keon has been chancellor of Purdue Calumet since 2011.

Purdue University has announced Thomas Keon will be chancellor of the new Purdue University Northwest. The school, which will begin operations in July, is being created by the combination of Purdue’s Calumet and North Central campuses.

Purdue President Mitch Daniels and search committee chair Gary Lehman made the announcement on Friday.

“Today, we take another important step in building a great new economic and educational asset in northwest Indiana,” Daniels said. “No one, starting with Tom, underestimates the difficulty of bringing together two campuses, their faculty and staff, but we are confident in the tremendous potential for cultural and commercial enrichment in the region. Chancellor Keon has an extraordinary opportunity to lead what will be the fifth largest public university in Indiana and one that will have positive impact on students and businesses for years to come.”

Purdue North Central Chancellor James Dworkin will remain in his position through June 30, 2016. The school says after a sabbatical year, he will return to Purdue’s West Lafayette campus in fall 2017 as a full professor in Krannert School of Management.
 

“I am extremely humbled and extremely excited to take on this enormous responsibility. I am mindful of the very difficult work that is ahead and completely committed to the task of building and cementing relationships that will ultimately lead to the success of our campuses and community. I also want to offer my sincere thanks to Jim Dworkin for his always wise counsel and to the campuses and northwest Indiana community for the collaborative efforts that will lead to the success of this new institution,” Keon said.

School officials say once the unification is complete, Purdue Northwest will be enrolling about 16,000 students, employing more than 1,500 faculty and staff and offering more than 45 graduate and undergraduate programs on two campuses.