Dear Colleagues, Dr. Jim Caruthers was appointed Reilly Professor of Chemical Engineering in February 2011. The funding for this professorship was provided in a bridge status for three years by the College of Engineering. The expectation was that in subsequent years, an external source of permanent funding would be identified. The Gerald and Sarah Skidmore Professorship in Chemical Engineering was established in 2012, by the generous support of Gerald (BSChE '54) and Sarah "Sally" Skidmore, and became fully funded in December 2013. Gerald "Jerry" started Skidmore Enterprises in 1963 which became Skidmore Sales and Distributing Company, Inc. in 1971. The company is now one of the largest distributors of industrial food ingredients to the food industry in the U.S. Both Jerry and Sally volunteer extensively in their communities and support local charities. Jerry received the School's Outstanding Chemical Engineer award in 2011. I am very pleased to inform that at their meeting on Friday, February 21, the Board of Trustees ratified the appointment of Dr. Caruthers as the inaugural Gerald and Sarah Skidmore Professor of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Caruthers joined the Purdue faculty in 1977 and has made outstanding contributions in research, teaching and service. His areas of research and teaching are polymer rheology; polymerization reaction, cure and degradation kinetics; development of cyber-infrastructure to support chemical and materials science; and electric vehicle technology with a specific focus on battery technology. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Caruthers on this appointment. Simultaneously, please also join me in thanking Jerry and Sally Skidmore for so generously creating the professorship in their names, which will permit our School to recruit, retain and recognize outstanding faculty members. With best wishes, Arvind Arvind Varma R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering Purdue University