Cara Putman named new director of Brock-Wilson Center

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Cara Putman, a clinical assistant professor in business law, communications and ethics, is the new director of the Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Management.

Putman brings her reputation as a highly effective instructor and student mentor in Krannert's undergraduate program to oversee the growth and enrichment of the Brock-Wilson Center’s portfolio of programming, which emphasizes gender and diversity issues in the workplace. These include the Empowering Women in Management summer bootcamp, a successful recruiting event that attracted 102 high school women in Summer 2021, and the PowerShift Case Competition.

Additionally, Putman will work with the Learning Community and serve as the advisor for the Krannert Women in Business and Graduate Women in Business student clubs. The Brock-Wilson Center will continue to partner with Purdue’s Women in Engineering, Women in Science, and Women in Technology to develop programs that strengthen the Purdue experience for all female undergraduate and graduate students. She will also collaborate with BOP, LLA, IBE, and Honors to provide programming for School of Management undergrads.

Putman is excited to take what she learned as the inaugural School of Management Honors Director to her expanded position as the Director of the Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Management. Students will often find her door open, an invitation to come in and talk about classes, grad school, or career plans.

"I have loved the opportunity to mentor and serve our undergraduate Honors students over the last three years. That role gave me the opportunity to build programs that help that group of students perform at a high level and complete their curriculum, but it also gave me the ability to support them as they explore what’s next and how to reach their goals," Putman says. "I see this role as expanding that to a larger population of Krannert’s students. Women who are admitted to Krannert are already accomplished, but they don’t always recognize that.

"One of my first priorities is to work across Krannert to identify and then help our young women recognize the skills they are acquiring while at Krannert to build their confidence as they move into the work world. I’m also excited to work with recruiting to foster a pipeline to attract top high school women to Krannert. We have so much to offer them, and I’m excited to help communicate that message in a way that resonates. I also think creating a recruiting pipeline to attract top young women to Krannert is important and there are opportunities to spread the word about what a Krannert degree does for you."