Funk Associates Assists Purdue for Life Foundation with CEO Search

September 18, 2024 – Funk Associates has assisted in the recruitment of Julie Dussliere, a Purdue alumna and longtime executive with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), as president and chief executive officer of the Purdue for Life Foundation. She was selected following a national search that included the assistance of Funk Associates and resulted in a large and competitive applicant pool. Ms. Dussliere succeeds Matt Folk, who served as president and CEO since 2019 and now will become ambassador for Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Ms. Dussliere will report to the Purdue for Life Board of Managers, chaired by Purdue University president Mung Chiang. She will oversee all aspects of alumni-facing organizations — including the Purdue Alumni Association, President’s Council, and John Purdue Club — and development, alumni services, alumni lifetime learning and alumni campus living.

“We are truly excited to welcome Julie Dussliere back to her alma mater. And we thank the members of the search committee for their dedication,” said Mr. Chiang. “In her distinguished career with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee after graduating from Purdue, where she was on our swimming team, Julie has proven to be an excellent leader, collaborator, diplomat and decision-maker, demonstrating executive leadership of large teams and strong intellect and people skills. The Purdue for Life Foundation is a team of many talents that can serve and connect all Boilermakers for life and create the largest premier social network in the world. Julie is the ideal leader to develop, articulate and implement the long-range vision and strategy for the foundation and to most effectively serve and advance Purdue University.”

Ms. Dussliere has been with the USOPC since 2003, rising to senior vice president, chief of Paralympic sport in 2021 and subsequently SVP, chief of Paralympics and internally managed sport in 2022. Her other roles include chief of Paralympic sport; VP/managing director, Paralympics; and team leader, sport performance. In 2018, Ms. Dussliere was appointed president of the Americas Paralympic Committee, becoming the first woman and first U.S. representative to lead the organization.

During her career, Ms. Dussliere has overseen the high-performance planning and support processes and sport development projects for the 28 summer and winter Paralympic sports. She also has directed the day-to-day operations for the teams that serve as the Olympic/Paralympic National Governing Bodies for the USOPC internally managed sports. Ms. Dussliere previously was involved with coaching Paralympic swimming on an international level for over a decade. Prior to her work with the USOC, she spent eight years as a swim coach and administrator for various USA Swimming clubs, including Rocket Aquatics (Syracuse, New York), Kansas City Blazers, Liverpool Jets (Liverpool, New York) and West Coast Aquatics (San Jose, California).

“I am deeply honored and thrilled to return to Purdue in this role,” Ms. Dussliere said. “Purdue University has always held a special place in my heart, and I am eager to contribute to its mission in a meaningful way. The Purdue for Life Foundation has made tremendous strides under Matt Folk’s leadership, and I look forward to building on that momentum. Together, we will continue to engage and inspire our alumni and supporters, driving forward the vision and goals of this extraordinary institution.”

Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. Founded in 1869, Purdue is ranked 43rd in the annual ranking of 2024 U.S. News & World Report. For the class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), Purdue received 59,173 applications and accepted 40,759 (68.9 percent). Purdue for Life Foundation exists to serve and advance Purdue University and was created in 2020, by uniting the Purdue Alumni Association and the University Development Office.

Related: The High Demand for Higher Education Leaders Continues

Funk Associates is an executive search firm specializing in higher education executive recruitment. The firm has recruited chancellors/presidents for two-thirds of all public AAU universities. The firm has also recruited presidents or chancellors to more than one-half of U.S. News & World Report’s recently published “Top 30 National Universities.” Over time, it has conducted more than 425 searches for college and university presidents and chancellors as well as an even greater number of provosts, deans, and various vice presidents.

Recruiting Women and Minorities

The firm has been recognized by the Women’s Network of the American Council on Education (ACE) for its work in recruiting women and minorities to senior levels of higher education. Notably, the search firm has broken the color and/or gender line in president searches at more than 40 institutions around the country, making in one of the most highly sought after search firms across the sector.


Funk Associates Initiates Podcast Series “Voices of Leadership”
Funk Associates announced the premier of its podcast series, “Voices of Leadership”. The podcasts are intended to showcase important leaders in higher education discussing contemporary topics. Dr. Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University, will kick-off the series, with Dr. Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, and Dr. Mung Chiang, president of Purdue University following consecutively at one week intervals. Additional thought-leaders will be scheduled going forward. Listeners are invited to tune into the series on the firm’s new website (www.funkassociates.com) or on the Spotify and Apple podcast platforms. The series is hosted by Bill and Willie Funk. In addition to the podcast series, the firm is announcing its new offering in the recruitment of intercollegiate coaches and athletic directors, and introducing a new website format.


William “Bill” Funk, founder and president, is a widely respected search consultant serving higher education. He has been called the “guru of higher education recruiting” by The Chronicle of Higher Education and is listed as one of the 200 best executive recruiters in the world in The Global 200 Executive Recruiters: An Essential Guide to the Best Recruiters in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America (Jossey-Bass, Inc.). Prior to founding his own firm 16 years ago, Mr. Funk was the national practice leader of the education practice and office managing director of the Dallas office for Korn Ferry International for more than a decade.

Willie Funk has an extensive background recruiting a lengthy list of presidents, provosts and deans and has recently completed searches at Clemson University, University of California – Santa Cruz, University of South Carolina, TCU, Old Dominion University, College of Charleston, University of Kansas, and Radford University, among many others.

Related: Colleges and Universities Rely on Search Firms to Find Leaders in Polarizing Times

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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