[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4329]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO FRANCE CORDOVA

  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Dr. France A. 
Cordova, Purdue University's 11th president and the first woman to head 
that institution.
  Dr. Cordova became president of Purdue on July 16, 2007, and has 
overseen a strategic plan that emphasizes student success, research 
deliverables and global engagement. During her presidency, she has led 
Purdue to record levels of research funding, reputational rankings, and 
student retention rates; championed diversity among students, staff and 
university leadership; and promoted student success, faculty 
excellence, education affordability and programmatic innovation. Under 
her leadership, Purdue has expanded its role as a top research 
institution on the global stage and raised more than $1 billion through 
private philanthropy.
  President Cordova will retire from Purdue at the end of her 5-year 
term, July 2012. She leaves a legacy of excellence at Purdue and in the 
field of higher education. Among the numerous national boards she 
serves, she is currently the chair of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, 
a three-year term which began in January 2012.
  That Purdue is the cradle of astronauts--with 23 astronaut alumni--is 
significant to Dr. Cordova, who first dreamed of exploring space as she 
watched Neil Armstrong take the first human footsteps on the moon in 
1969. She has served Purdue University honorably and with a great 
commitment to students, research innovation and global outreach.
  It is my honor to recognize Dr. France A. Cordova as an outstanding 
scientist, educator and administrator, who has given so much to Purdue 
University and the State of Indiana, and I wish her every continuing 
success in her future endeavors.

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