When former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels was named Purdue University’s twelfth president, he became one of a small handful of nationally renowned figures to lead an institution of higher education. In an era when university presidents had largely abandoned the role of public intellectual, Daniels immediately captured broad attention for his willingness to take a thoughtful stand on America’s most pressing challenges—in academia and far beyond.
Boiler Up: A University President in the Public Square offers readers a fascinating compendium of commencement addresses, published columns, and transcripts of speeches and hosted events spanning ten years of insights and insightful interactions that put Mitch Daniels front and center among American thought leaders. Throughout the book, Daniels’s sharp intellect, incisive analysis, and delightful sense of humor reign supreme. Via embedded QR codes, readers can “attend” recorded content, including evenings with Condoleezza Rice, Garry Kasparov, Walter Isaacson, and other fascinating people. Whether the reader seeks lessons on leadership or immersion in engaging ideas, Boiler Up is a tour de force of transformative thinking.
Proceeds from the sales of Boiler Up support the scholarship fund at Purdue Polytechnic High Schools.
Advance Praise for Boiler Up: A University President in the Public Square
“This compendium of common sense comes from a cheerful veteran of two arenas of anger —politics and academia. Mitch Daniels has spent a lot of time in two dens of intemperate lions and emerged with an abundance of a rarity: wisdom.”
— George F. Will, Washington Post columnist and Pulitzer Prize–winning author
“Throughout our history, certain university presidents, such as Theodore Hesburgh and Robert Maynard Hutchins, were also our nation’s foremost public intellectuals. In our era, Mitch Daniels has played that role, as this collection of his speeches and interviews shows.”
— Walter Isaacson, New York Times best-selling biographer, journalist, and professor of history
“This is a delightful collection of essays showing an academic and political leader grappling in real time with the challenges of our day. Unlike so much of our current public discourse, these reflections are not about scoring points or heating up the debate, but about providing insights drawn from maturity and judgment. We should hope that more of our leaders would display such virtues.”
— Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University, and author of Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech
“If you wish there were a blueprint for innovative, practical leadership that brings people together across all divides, Boiler Up was written for you. Mitch Daniels shares his wisdom gained across decades leading some of America’s most prominent institutions. Every leader needs to read this book.”
— Arthur C. Brooks, professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times best-selling author
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Introduction
Part I. Speeches, Interviews, and Messages
Speeches and Interviews
Messages to the Purdue Community
Part II. The Columns
Common Sense
Educational Challenges
Keeping Our Democracy (Good Policy and Practice)
COVID and Our After Life
Our Cultural Crevasse
Bad Policy and Its Trappings
Lessons from Science
Part III. Presidential Lecture Series
No Greater Honor — Public Service at Its Finest
How We Got Here — Great Historians of Our Time
The Grand Experiment — The Future of Democracy
A Way with Words — Journalists, Writers, and Commentators
Great Challenges, Great Courage
Science and Sound Thinking
Part IV. The Ten Commencements
Ingenuity
Change
Duty
Intention
Humility
Tribalism
Grit
Connection
Risk
You
Part V. Selected Media Interviews and Articles from the Daniels Decade
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author
About the Author
Mitch Daniels is one of the few Americans to excel as a leader in the private, public, and education sectors, within the span of a decade having been called both “America’s best governor” and its “best university president.”
Elected Indiana’s governor in 2004 in his first bid for public office, Daniels was reelected in 2008, earning more votes than any candidate in state history.
During a decade as Purdue University’s president, Daniels exemplified the role of public intellectual and thought leader in poignant speeches, provocative opinion pieces, and national interviews on topics of great currency to American society. He captured the country’s attention by prioritizing student affordability and investment in faculty and research.
Daniels held senior positions in two U.S. presidential administrations as well as top executive posts at Eli Lilly and Company. In 2015, he was named to Fortune magazine’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, and in 2019, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023, Purdue University named its business school for him.
Daniels earned a baccalaureate from Princeton and a law degree from Georgetown. He is a contributing columnist to the Washington Post.
Read the Book
Boiler Up: A University President in the Public Square by Mitch Daniels with a Foreword by Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a hardcover book with jacket (Purdue University Press; Nov. 1, 2023; ISBN 9781612499369), 416 pages with 31 illustrations, $34.99. You can receive a 40% discount on this title by ordering directly from Purdue University Press and using the code Mitch40 at checkout. Purdue University Press books are also available through your favorite hometown bookstore, preferred online retailer, or your local library in both print and e-book.
Note for Media and Book Reviewers
A digital review copy of this book is available via Edelweiss for librarians, book reviewers, bloggers, and journalists. Additional questions about this book may be directed to sales and marketing manager Bryan Shaffer.
About Purdue University Press
Founded in 1960, Purdue University Press is dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information. We publish books in several key subject areas, including Purdue and Indiana history, aeronautics/astronautics, the human-animal bond, Central European studies, Jewish studies, and other select disciplines.
Learn more about Purdue University Press at www.press.purdue.edu.