Iowa State has lost another good administrator to the clenches of Purdue. Murray Blackwelder, vice president for External Affairs, announced recently that he will be leaving Iowa State for Purdue, following former ISU President Martin Jischke.

Blackwelder is the second administrator Iowa State has lost to Purdue since Jischke’s departure last summer. Rab Mukerjea, former assistant to the president, also followed Jischke to Indiana.

Blackwelder is one of Iowa State’s best fundraisers, and his presence here will be missed.

With pending cuts in state funding to Iowa’s regent universities, the loss of a fundraiser will be felt even more.

Considering all the lost positions in administration this year, we can only hope President Geoffroy will also import some administrators as Jischke has done at Purdue. Bringing some of his trusted administrators along on his coattails may not only make Geoffroy’s transition next year go more smoothly, but it would also spare the financially-strapped university from costly searches.

Blackwelder has made many contributions to Iowa State, and we thank him for those. He has been very active with the athletic department and was the originator of the theme years to highlight different aspects of Iowa State.

We are sure he will be just as appreciated at Purdue as he has been at Iowa State, and we wish him luck in the future.

editorialboard: Carrie Tett, Jocelyn Marcus, Katie Goldsmith, Andrea Hauser and Tim Paluch