Purdue University President Mung Chiang will leave West Lafayette less than four years after taking over the the school’s leadership to accept the presidency at Northwestern University.
Chiang, Purdue’s 13th president, will assume the role in Evanston, Illinois, just outside Chicago, on July 1, according to announcements released Monday by both universities.
Purdue trustees said they plan to name an interim president in the coming weeks and begin a search for a permanent successor shortly afterward.
The move marks another leadership transition for Purdue only a few years after trustees selected Chiang through an internal search process following former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ retirement announcement in 2022.
Chiang has been Purdue’s president since Jan. 1, 2023, after previously leading the university’s College of Engineering and serving as executive vice president for strategic initiatives. He first arrived at Purdue in 2017 from Princeton University.
“I have long admired Northwestern for its dedication to interdisciplinary scholarship, artistic creation and impactful research, its tremendous healthcare system, and its palpable school spirit,” Chiang said.
A ‘positive influence’ at Purdue
In a Monday statement, Purdue Board of Trustees Chair Gary Lehman praised Chiang’s tenure during what he described as a “challenging time in higher education.”
The Purdue trustees did not provide details about the upcoming presidential search process or potential interim candidates.
Purdue first lady Dr. YingKei Hui will also make the move with Chiang and become an internal medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“We are ever grateful for Mung’s leadership as Purdue continues to impact lives with outstanding teaching, research and engagement,” Lehman said. “We will miss Mung and Kei and their positive influence on our campus and community. We wish them all the best as they move forward to the next steps in their careers.”
Chiang called his time at Purdue “an incredible honor and joy.”
“There truly is something special at Purdue: not just the projects and programs, but also the people, who time after time set the standard for excellence at scale,” he said in a Purdue statement.
Northwestern separately announced Chiang as its 18th president following what the private university described as an extensive global search that involved trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni.
“In my many conversations with Mung through the search process, he consistently has emphasized how he views Northwestern as one of the world’s most eminent comprehensive universities, at which the interdisciplinary culture drives innovation and new ideas,” Steve Cahillane, a Northwestern trustee who led the school’s presidential search, said in a statement. “Mung emerged as a brilliant mind and driven leader who brings relatable and authentic qualities to the way he operates — a great combination to lead Northwestern.”
Chiang succeeds Michael Schill, who stepped down from the role in September 2025. Northwestern President Emeritus Henry Bienen has served as interim president since then.
Northwestern officials highlighted Chiang’s research background, experience in higher education administration and work building partnerships with government and industry.
“At Purdue, he has led one of the nation’s largest public research universities — a fellow Big Ten institution with 58,000 students on its main campus — through a period of extraordinary pressure and transformation across higher education,” Northwestern officials said in their Monday announcement.
Northwestern also pointed to Purdue’s expansion in sponsored research funding during Chiang’s tenure, including surpassing $1 billion in annual research expenditures, alongside initiatives involving technology, health care and business.
Chiang closes out short tenure
Under Chiang’s leadership, Purdue launched its first urban campus in Indianapolis as it finalized a division of the former Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus with IU. Purdue also continued its long-running tuition freeze and expanded strategic efforts around computing, business and health sciences.
University officials also credited Chiang with helping attract billions in semiconductor and technology investments to Indiana through Purdue-linked partnerships and research initiatives, including work tied to the federal CHIPS and Science Act.
Purdue officials said the university reached record levels in admissions selectivity, graduation rates, fundraising and research funding during Chiang’s tenure. The university also highlighted campus construction and renovation projects undertaken while tuition remained frozen.
Chiang additionally held several national advisory and leadership roles during his time at Purdue, including serving as science and technology adviser to the U.S. secretary of state in 2020 and chairing the congressionally chartered U.S. Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation.
Before Purdue, Chiang spent nearly 14 years at Princeton University, where he rose from assistant professor to chaired professor and helped lead entrepreneurship and engineering education initiatives.
Purdue trustees conducted the school’s last presidential search in 2022 internally and without a public finalist process — a departure from the more open searches commonly carried out at other public universities.
At the time, trustees announced Daniels’ retirement and Chiang’s selection on the same day.
Chiang had already emerged as a prominent university administrator and was previously considered a leading contender for the University of South Carolina presidency before withdrawing from consideration in 2021, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Daniels, who served as Purdue president for a decade after leaving the Indiana governor’s office, had championed Chiang as a key figure in Purdue’s future leadership and strategic growth.
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