Wednesday Night

Mung Chiang | President, Purdue

Mung Chiang is the president of Purdue University and the Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to being elected university president in 2022, he was the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and executive vice president for strategic initiatives at Purdue University. 

Chiang received his BS (1999), MS (2000) and PhD (2003) from Stanford University and an Honorary Doctorate in Science (2024) from Dartmouth College. Before 2017, Chiang was the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering and an affiliated faculty member in computer science and in applied and computational mathematics at Princeton University. 

He founded the Princeton EDGE Lab in 2009 and co-founded several startup companies and industry consortia since the early years of edge computing. Most of his 26 U.S. patents are licensed for network deployment. He co-authored two textbooks based on his massive open online courses: “Networked Life” (2012) and “Power of Networks” (2016). For his research in communication networks, wireless technology and network optimization, he received the National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award (2013), as well as the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Founders Medal (2025), the IEEE INFOCOM Achievement Award (2022), the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award (2012), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2014). 

In 2020, as the science and technology advisor to the U.S. secretary of state, he initiated tech diplomacy programs in the U.S. government. In 2024, he was appointed to the inaugural board of the congressionally chartered U.S. Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation, which he currently chairs, and was elected to the board of directors of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Thursday Night

Governor Mitch Daniels 

Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. served as a two-term governor of the state of Indiana from 2004 to 2012 and as the 12th president of Purdue University from 2013 to 2022. 

He was elected governor in his first bid for any elected office, and then re-elected with more votes than any candidate in the state’s history. During his tenure, Indiana went from an $800 million deficit to its first AAA credit rating, led the nation in infrastructure building and passed sweeping education and healthcare reforms. 

After a series of transformations, which included the biggest tax cut in state history, the nation’s most sweeping deregulation of the telecommunications industry and a host of other reforms aimed at strengthening the state’s economy, Indiana was rated a top five state for business climate and number one for state infrastructure and effectiveness of state government as Daniels exited office. Indiana’s business climate is now rated among the nation’s best. 

At Purdue, Daniels prioritized student affordability and reinvestment in the university’s strengths. He ended 36 years of consecutive tuition hikes by freezing tuition and mandatory fees at 2012 levels for all students. While under his leadership, the university also went from the second most expensive school in the Big Ten for room and board costs to the most affordable by freezing room rates and reducing meal costs by 10%.

Prior to becoming governor, Daniels served as chief of staff to Senator Richard Lugar, senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He also was the CEO of the Hudson Institute, a major contract research organization. During an 11-year career at Eli Lilly and Company, he held a number of top executive posts including president of Eli Lilly’s North American pharmaceutical operations.

SPECIAL SESSION:
WEDNESDAY
10:30-NOON

Scott Dolson | IU Athletic Director

IU alumnus Scott Dolson is in his sixth year as Indiana University’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, having previously served 11 years as the department’s Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer. Although his tenure has coincided with seismic shifts in the collegiate landscape—including the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of NIL, the evolution of the Transfer Portal, and the complexities of Revenue Sharing—Dolson has successfully navigated these challenges to lead the department through an era of unprecedented athletic and academic success.

The crown jewel of these achievements is the historic ascent of the IU Football program, which recently completed a perfect 16-0 season to capture the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship. Dolson hired the architect of this resurgence, Curt Cignetti, following the 2023 season; since then, the program has posted a 27-2 record, including a dominant 17-1 mark in Big Ten play. After a 2024 campaign that saw the Hoosiers earn their first-ever Playoff berth, the 2025 season exceeded all expectations. In addition to the national title, IU captured its first Big Ten championship in 58 years, and quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the program’s first-ever Heisman Trophy winner.

SPECIAL SESSION:
WEDNESDAY
1:30-3PM 

Vice President Mike Pence

Mike Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana into a family that epitomized the American Dream, instilling in him values of hard work, faith, and family. After graduating from Hanover College and Indiana University School of Law, he embarked on a multifaceted career, including law practice, hosting a talk show, serving as a Congressman for six terms, and championing limited government and fiscal responsibility. Pence then was elected the 50th Governor of Indiana, focusing on tax cuts, job creation, education reform, and infrastructure investment while maintaining fiscal responsibility. His accomplishments in Indiana led to his selection as the 48th Vice President of the United States. Pence’s conservative philosophy, inspired by Ronald Reagan, led to his founding Advancing American Freedom which continues to advocate for faith, family, and liberty as foundational American values.