2023 Alumni Awards

John S. Day Distinguished Alumni Academic Service Award

John Boudreau, PhD '81, MSIA '78

Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California

Dr. Boudreau is recognized worldwide for breakthrough research on the bridge between superior human capital, talent and sustainable competitive advantage. His research has received the Academy of Management's Organizational Behavior New Concept and Human Resource Scholarly Contribution awards.

John consults and conducts executive development with companies that seek to maximize their employees' effectiveness by quantifying the strategic bottom-line impact of superior people and human capital strategies. He has published more than 50 books and articles. In addition to HR metrics, his research has addressed decision-based HR, executive mobility, HR information systems and organizational staffing and development. His research findings have been published in dozens of academic and professional journals.

The recipient of the General Mills Award for teaching innovations at Cornell University, John also founded the Central Europe Human Resource Education Initiative, which links American HR professionals and academic researchers with faculty and students in the Czech and Slovak Republics. He has directed the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS), which partners executives from America's top corporations with university researchers and students to explore leading-edge HR issues. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. He is a member of the board of advisors of the Human Resource Planning Society, and for Brassring.com, a technology information and career portal.

John is a Trustee for the Foundation of the National Academy of Human Resources. He chaired the Academic Advisory Board of the California Strategic HR Partnership, a Silicon-Walley HR executive consortium, and served on the boards of advisors for the Saratoga Institute, a leading global source of human capital benchmarking and performance measures. He has also been elected to the executive committees of the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Distinguished Alumni Award

Kim Hauer, BS ’97

Executive VP, Chief HR Officer, SC Johnson

Kimberly Hauer is executive vice president and chief human resources officer at SC Johnson. Kim joined SCJ in December 2016 as senior vice president and chief human resources officer. She leads the company’s global HR function and is responsible for human resources policies and workplace practices around the world.

Kim joined SCJ from Caterpillar, where she was vice president and chief human resources officer since 2011. Prior to that, during her nearly 20-year career at Caterpillar, she held a wide array of HR roles including international assignments in Switzerland and Belgium.

Kim has been honored by HRO Today magazine by receiving the 2016 CHRO of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, recognition of her accomplishments both internally to the company and externally within the HR field. She is a board member of the HR Policy Association, Core Construction and was a founding member of the American Health Policy Institute. She also serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at Purdue University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in management, with an emphasis in human resources, from Purdue University in 1997 and has been certified as a Human Resources Professional.

She currently resides in Lake Bluff, Illinois, with her husband, Jason, and their two daughters.

Distinguished Service Award

Kelvin Pennington, BSIM '80  

Managing Director, IMB Partners

Kelvin J. Pennington has been an advisory board member to IMB Partners since 2010 and became a managing director in 2020. IMB is a private equity independent sponsor firm focused on making control acquisitions of lower middle-market companies.

From 1990 to 2020, Kelvin served as the managing principal of Pennington Partners & Co. (PPC). PPC and its affiliated partnerships provided private equity investment management and financial consulting services to lower middle market sized companies.

Prior to PPC, Kelvin worked for Prudential Capital Corporation in various capacities including vice president of corporate finance. He was responsible for making and managing investments in middle-market leveraged buyouts.

Kelvin received a BS in Industrial Management from Purdue University in 1980 and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Young Alumni Award

Christian Piller, BSIM '07

President, Pollen Technologies

Christian Piller is co-founder and president of Pollen Technologies Inc., where he is responsible for business development, fundraising, sales and strategy. Christian brings 15-plus years of experience of supply chain digitalization and execution from project44, Amazon, and Grainger.

He is a lecturer at DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and an instructor for the University of Tennessee's Executive Education for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He has been quoted in several publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inbound Logistics, SupplyChainBrain and American Journal of Transportation.

Christian earned a bachelor's from Purdue University where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He and his wife, Michelle, live in Chicago.

Business Leadership Award

David Randich, BSIM '83

Retired President, MasterBrand Cabinets

Dave Randich led Masterbrand as president from 2012 until his retirement in December 2019. During his 7-plus years as president, Dave and his team nearly doubled the size of the company through acquisitions, product innovation, growth investments and market share gains.

Since his graduation from the business school in 1983, Dave developed a successful career as an international business leader, living and working in Europe and Asia for fourteen years, and leading four global businesses in the consumer durables/building products sectors.

Prior to Masterbrand, Dave led three other companies in the US and Europe: president of Therma-Tru Inc, the #1 US entry door brand (2007-2012); CEO of Armstrong DLW GmbH based Frankfurt, Germany (2004-2007); managing director of Armstrong Ceilings-Europe, based in London, England (2000-2004)

Early in his career, Dave progressed though global supply chain and manufacturing positions including production supervisor in Macon, Georgia; start-up plant manager in Shanghai, China; and general manager over plants in the US, Europe, and Asia. Dave earned an MBA at night from Mercer University while working as a production supervisor.

Today, as a lecturer in Purdue’s Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Dave works to bring real-life experience into the classroom. One of the three courses he teaches is MGMT 332, Problem Solving in the Business World, which engages students to work in cross-functional teams to analyze a business challenge, develop recommendations and persuade decision makers.

Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Award

Tarrus Richardson, BS ’91

Founder and CEO, IMB Partners

Tarrus Richardson is the CEO of IMB Partners. Founded in 2010, IMB Partners is an acquisition driven business that invests in middle market companies that provide services to the utility sector and government agencies, with a focus on women and minority business initiatives and solutions.

Today, IMB has over a billion in revenues and 700-plus employees via eight partner companies: Pro Foods Solutions, a $280 million food supplier to US military markets; Carr & Duff, an $100 million electrical contractor; Farwest, a $65 million corrosion control company; e&e IT and Ashburn Consulting, a $40 million combined provider of IT solutions to state agencies and the federal government; and IMB Solutions, a $550 million provider to the pharma industry.

Prior to IMB, Tarrus served as CEO, founder and/or lead director of ICV Partners, Chung’s Foods, Gold Coast Securities Ghana, The Hilsinger Company, and PFM. He is also the founder of the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), the founding board chair of All Star Code, past president of the Purdue Black Alumni Organization and the lead funder of two documentaries: BlackPurdue and Reginald Lewis – the Making of a Billion Dollar Empire.

He received a BS in Accounting from Purdue University, where he served as the student body president and as a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He also received an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Robert Toigo Fellow.

Tarrus is married with two sons who are currently enrolled in college in the city of Los Angeles, California.