Former Indiana Governor to Speak at Ashland University

Mitch Daniels Jr., former governor of Indiana and the 12th president of Purdue University, will speak on the topic of “Higher Education: Higher than What?” at the Ashbrook Center’s Major Issues Lecture Series on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 12 p.m. in Myers Convocation Center on the Ashland University campus.

Tickets for this lunch and lecture event are $20 per person or $160 for a table of eight. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Carrie Clever at 419-289-5411 or cclever@ashbrook.org.

Daniels was elected Indiana’s 49th governor in 2004 in his first bid for any elected office, and then re-elected in 2008 with more votes than any candidate for public office in the state’s history.

At Purdue, Daniels has prioritized student affordability and reinvestment in the university’s strengths. Breaking with a 36-year trend, Purdue has held tuition unchanged from 2013 through at least the 2018-19 academic year.

Free speech also has been an area of emphasis. Under Daniels’ leadership, Purdue became the first public university to adopt the University of Chicago Principles of Free Expression, and is now one of just two dozen institutions to maintain the highest ratings for the protection of free speech.

In recognition of his leadership as both a governor and a university president, Daniels was named among the Top 50 World Leaders by Fortune Magazine in March 2015.

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 and president of Eli Lilly’s North American pharmaceutical operations. 

Daniels earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a law degree from Georgetown. He is the author of three books.

The Ashbrook Center, located on the campus of Ashland University, seeks to restore and strengthen the capacities of the American people for constitutional self-government. Through undergraduate, graduate and civic programs, the Ashbrook Center aspires to be the leading national educator in the enduring principles and practice of free government in the United States.