Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, has announced a $10 million commitment from alumnus Gerald Lyles (BSCE ’64, MBA ’71) and his wife, Nanette, in support of its business school.

The unrestricted commitment will support the university’s recently reimagined Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business. The Lyles family has a long history of supporting Purdue, tracing back to Gerald’s maternal grandfather, who was a student and later a professor at the university. The family previously awarded $15 million to Purdue in 2014 to name the Lyles School of Civil Engineering and helped establish the Lyles Family Ideas to Innovation Learning Laboratory, the William M. Lyles Computational Laboratory, and Lyles-Porter Hall.

“It’s only natural that we give back to Purdue because the university has played such a big part in our success,” said Lyles, who received the university’s Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award in 2018. “I feel like Purdue has done so much for me and my family. When I studied engineering and business at Purdue, I received a great foundational education and then learned the skills I needed to be competitive in the world. We truly believe in the new direction Purdue is taking with the business school, and we want our gift to amplify the impact it can make for the facilities, faculty, and students.”

(Photo credit: Purdue University)