Some students and faculty at Purdue University are hopeful about their new president, former ISU President Martin Jischke. “I’m pretty excited about it. I think he’ll be a good president,” said Derek Fields, junior in Purdue’s School of Pharmacy. Fields said he was impressed by Jischke after he saw an outline of the new president’s goals in an interview. “He’s pretty organized, and it seems like he has a lot of good ideas for the university,” Fields said. Vicki Killion, associate professor of library science, is also looking forward to Jischke’s administration. “I think the general consensus is he’s the person Purdue was looking for,” she said. Killion said she had a chance to meet Jischke during a reception at his new home. “He’s very personable, very excited about being here, certainly enthusiastic,” she said. Jack Gandour, professor in audiology and speech sciences, said he was impressed with Jischke’s academic and administrative credentials. “I was certainly impressed with what he did at Iowa State,” Gandour said. “We are excited. I certainly feel he is eminently qualified to undertake this position.” Gandour said he has not met Jischke yet, but he supports the views the new president has expressed. “As far as the vision that he articulates – the directions that he wants to take the university in are ones that I can support wholeheartedly,” Gandour said. He said two of those directions are Jischke’s emphasis on research and fundraising. “I support all that, without neglecting teaching, of course,” Gandour said. Mark Volkmann, associate professor of science education, said he and his colleagues are looking forward to the new administration. “We’re excited. We think he’s going to be bringing a lot of fresh ideas,” Volkmann said. “He exhibited a lot of good ideas leading Iowa State.” Volkmann said Jischke has been actively examining the campus and getting familiar with each school at the university. “He’s made himself visible,” Volkmann said. “Generally, the atmosphere here is very positive.” Tom Bougher, freshman in engineering, is in the President’s Freshman Leadership Class. “I thought he seemed to be a genuinely nice man,” Bougher said. “He seemed to be very interested in what we had to say, and in our experiences at the university.”