Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies News

Purdue Archives and Special Collections to honor diversity champion with exhibit

August 24th, 2010

Purdue Libraries’ Division of Archives & Special Collections has opened an exhibit to celebrate the life and contributions of the former Business Opportunity Program director who helped enhance diversity at the Krannert School of Management.

“Purdue’s Bellwether of Diversity: The Life & Legacy of Dr. Cornell Bell” will be on display in the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center through Dec. 22. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each weekday, and the exhibit is free and open to the public.

Bell, who died in March 2009 at age 84, led the Business Opportunity Program from 1969-2006. He spent his Purdue career recruiting and mentoring students. In his 37 years as director, he recruited hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students to the West Lafayette campus and also worked with the Graduate Management Admission Council nationally to increase diversity in business schools throughout the nation.

The exhibit will feature photographs and degree certificates from Bell’s early teaching years in Gary, Ind., brochures and articles explaining his accomplishments in the Purdue program, and letters and photographs from former students.

“Dr. Bell was personally involved and greatly dedicated in helping provide opportunities to hundreds of students through the Business Opportunity Program,” said Shauna Borger, digital collections coordinator and the exhibit’s curator. “He worked tirelessly, writing recommendations and counseling hundreds of students. The exhibit showcases letters and photographs from former students in the program, which demonstrate the devotion they had to their mentor. We want to celebrate his life because he touched so many lives. People who knew him will be really interested, too.”

Bell received several state and Purdue awards for his service, most recently including an honorary doctorate of management from the university in 2007 in recognition of his contributions to higher education and society. Former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh named Bell a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1996. He also received the Harold T. Amrine Visionary Award in 1994 and the Indiana Bell Award in 1991. He received the Purdue Alumni Association’s Special Boilermaker Award in 1987 and the M. Beverley Stone Non-Academic Counseling Award in 1990.

Bell attended Indiana University, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1947 and his master’s degree in 1952. He earned a doctorate in education from Purdue in 1972 and worked as a chemist for Stauffer Chemical Co., taught science at Pulaski School in Gary, Ind., and served as guidance counselor, assistant principal and principal at Gary’s Froebel School and Tolleston High School before coming to Purdue.

Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Source: Shauna Borger, 765-496-7851, borger@purdu.edu

Original posting: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/100824BorgerExhibit.html