Impatience Is a Virtue

Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an accomplished American academic leader, businessman, author, and former politician. He served as Indiana’s 49th governor from 2005 to 2013 and later as president of Purdue University from January 2013 to December 2022.

Daniels launched his career in politics as an assistant to Senator Richard Lugar, later becoming his chief of staff in the U.S. Senate from 1977 to 1982. He then went on to serve as the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (1983-1984) when Lugar was chairman. In 1985, he worked as a political advisor and liaison to President Ronald Reagan. Following this, Daniels returned to Indiana to head the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. His career in the private sector took him to Eli Lilly and Company, where he held senior positions, including president of North American Pharmaceutical Operations (1993-1997) and senior VP of corporate strategy and policy (1997-2001).

In January 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Daniels as the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, a position he held until June 2003.

After leaving the Bush administration, Daniels ran for governor in the 2004 Indiana election, winning the election and a subsequent second term.

Though he was widely speculated to run for president in 2012, Daniels ultimately chose not to enter the race. After his terms as governor ended in January 2013, a committee made up largely of Purdue faculty and administrators recommended him as the university’s next president. Daniels was appointed to the position by the Purdue Board of Trustees, most of whom he had appointed during his time as governor. He retired from the role on January 1, 2023.