Purdue trustees chair to retire; board approves Chiang’s at-risk pay
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Michael Berghoff, chair of the Purdue University Board of Trustees, has announced he will retire from the board at the end of the year after more than 15 years as a trustee. The board also made several approvals during its meeting Friday, including the at-risk pay for President Mung Chiang.
Berghoff, a 1985 graduate of Purdue, has served as chair since July 2015. He said during the meeting that he is “forever grateful” to have served on the board and as its chairman.
“The experience changed my life, and I’m hopeful that any difference I might have made helped position Purdue as the nation’s most consequential public university—one our students, alumni, faculty and staff are proud to call their university,” Berghoff said.
Following the announcement, the board elected Gary Lehman, who currently serves as vice chair, to succeed Berghoff as chair. Mike Klipsch was also elected to serve as vice chair.
The changes will go into effect Jan. 1.
Additional board approvals
The board on Friday approved President Mung Chiang’s at-risk pay at 104%, based on performance measures outlined a year ago.
The at-risk pay model awards additional compensation for Chiang based on the board’s evaluation of his performance in five key categories: financial success, student success, research, reputation, and university initiatives.
The board said Chiang reached or exceeded 19 of the 20 metrics that make up his at-risk pay. As a result, he will receive $218,400 in at-risk funds for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
“President Chiang hit the ground running as president in January 2023 and hasn’t stopped in his efforts to not only achieve but exceed the goals we have as a board to ensure that Purdue University remains at the top of institutions of higher education to the benefit of our students, our state and our world,” Malcolm DeKryger, chair of the board’s compensation committee, said in written remarks. “We thank our entire campus community for continuing to make giant leaps forward in all aspects.”
The board also approved housing and dining rates for the 2025-26 academic year. A tiered increase in housing rates were okayed, with 79% of beds increasing by less than $50 per month, Purdue said.
Meal plans will see a 3.5% increase with an annual price ranging from $1,760-$5,894, which the university said will remain below the Big Ten average for comparable plans.
Additionally, the board approved naming Purdue’s School of Industrial Engineering after alumnus John A. Edwardson. The move is in recognition of $25 million in total gift commitments.
Edwardson, who graduated from Purdue in 1971, is the former CEO of Illinois-based CDW Corp. He also served on the Purdue board from 1995-2005.
Purdue said the $25 million will support the Edwardson Scholars Program endowment for undergraduate scholarships, the Leimkuhler Fellows endowment, named in honor of the former head of the school, for graduate students, a matching-funds initiative to promote eight new named faculty endowments and 20 new fellowship endowments for graduate students, and discretionary funding for the school’s head.
As a former holder of the John A. Edwardson Deanship, I know how much they care about the impact of excellence at scale of Purdue University,” Chiang said. “Through this latest and transformational gift of their longstanding support, the discovery, dissemination and deployment of knowledge in industrial engineering, already top two in the country, will be further elevated through both student scholarships and leading professorships that attract top talents to our university.”
You can read more about all of the board’s approvals by clicking here.