Retired Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, president of the University of Arkansas System, will become the 14th president of Purdue University following his unanimous election by Purdue’s Board of Trustees on Thursday (Nov. 5). Silveria will succeed Mitch Daniels effective Feb. 1, 2027. Daniels has served as interim president since July.
Silveria, who has spent his career developing people, building organizations and connecting institutional missions to results, emerged from a diverse field of qualified candidates. A retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, he has served as president of the University of Arkansas System since January 2025. Previously, he served as associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government and Public Service in Washington, D.C. (2020-24), and as superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy (2017-20).
“I am honored to become the next president of Purdue University, one of the top public research universities in the country,” Silveria said. “While I am familiar with Purdue’s worldwide reputation for affordability and accessibility, ingenuity and integrity, I look forward to meeting the people who make this place so special and to listen and learn about its culture.
“As Indiana’s land-grant research university, Purdue has a responsibility to pursue academic excellence while using its knowledge, research and graduates to advance the state and serve society. I look forward to meeting that responsibility by supporting outstanding faculty, staff and researchers; helping students succeed; mobilizing resources; building partnerships; and connecting institutional goals and outcomes to public value.
“I am excited for the opportunity to meet and work alongside faculty, students, staff, alumni, industry collaborators and the people of Indiana.”
Purdue Board of Trustees Chair Gary Lehman said, “Jay’s career reflects a consistent commitment to preparing people and organizations to accomplish consequential missions. His strength is in the combination of his experiences, rather than any single position. This combination brings us a leader who has operated in environments that require disciplined execution, developed future leaders, built an educational enterprise in an urban setting and taken responsibility for a broad public higher-education mission. The board is excited to welcome Jay as Purdue’s next president, and we look forward to working with him to advance our mission.”
The University of Arkansas System, which enrolls more than 80,000 students and employs over 30,000 people, includes a flagship land-grant top-tier research university, medical sciences campus, regional universities, community colleges, law school, and agricultural and other public-service divisions. Silveria’s work there has required understanding the distinct missions of individual institutions while advancing shared goals. The system’s current strategic pillars emphasize access, student success, innovation and discovery, responsible stewardship, statewide responsiveness, and collaboration.
“The University of Arkansas System’s mission explicitly connects education, scholarship and service with the economic, health and cultural advancement of Arkansas. Its agricultural and extension work reaches communities across the state,” Silveria said. “Purdue’s land-grant mission similarly connects education and research with public engagement and the needs of Indiana. The common principle is that a public university’s value is measured not only by its academic reputation but also by what its knowledge and graduates contribute to society.”
At Texas A&M University, Silveria was tasked with launching an urban graduate school educational enterprise in the heart of the nation’s capital, which required coordination among academic leadership, faculty, administrators, students and external partners. The Bush School of Government and Public Service has successfully connected students with the institutions, practitioners and policy debates relevant to their studies.
As superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Silveria led an educational institution with an integrated mission: academic instruction, military preparation, athletics and character development. His time there provided a meaningful foundation for understanding how educational institutions can align their culture, resources and programs around student development, and he gained an appreciation for the responsibility of universities to prepare graduates for contributory roles in society.
During his military career, Silveria served as deputy commander, Combined Air Force Component, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia, where he was responsible for the command and control of air operations in a 20-nation area and where key operations Resolute Support in Afghanistan and Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria were executed under his command. He has served as commander, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and vice commander, 14th Air Force at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, as well as director, Security Assistance in the Office of Security Cooperation-Baghdad, Iraq. Silveria has commanded a fighter wing, an air operations center and a fighter squadron, and among his many military decorations, he earned a Distinguished Service Medal and a Bronze Star, along with multiple Air Medals.
Silveria grew up in an Air Force family and is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He completed undergraduate pilot training in 1986. He is a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours in the T-37, T-38, F-15C/E, HH-60 and F-35A aircraft. He has flown combat missions over the Balkans and Iraq.
Silveria earned a master’s degree in social science from Syracuse University and master’s degrees from Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C.