Mitch Daniels Elected Next Purdue President Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana was unanimously voted the next president of Purdue University by the board of trustees on Thursday, making official what had been reported by a number of local and national news outlets this week. Mr. Daniels, a Republican who cannot run for a third term because of term limits, will start as the university's 12th president in January. "No institution of any kind means more to Indiana today or tomorrow as Purdue University," Mr. Daniels said in a statement released by the university. "Its research gives rise to the innovative new goods, services and companies on which American and Hoosier prosperity must be built," he added. I can conceive of no other assignment in which a person has the chance to contribute more to building the kind of Indiana of which we dream. Purdue, about an hour northwest of Indianapolis, enrolls around 75,000 students on its West Lafayette and regional campuses, and employs more than 18,000 people statewide. The university's president, France A. Córdova, announced last July that she would be leaving this summer. Speculation that Mr. Daniels, a fiscal conservative popular within his party, would be trading a political career for the world of academia began on Tuesday, after unnamed sources close to the governor and the university confirmed that university trustees would be considering him as the next president on Thursday morning. Mr. Daniels" office and university officials declined to comment before the vote. Now able to speak openly about the decision, the university is promoting its new leader as one that will boost its reputation. "Gov. Mitch Daniels will continue to raise the global profile of Purdue," Keith Krach, the university's chairman, said in a statement. He's committed to the success of our land-grant institution, he's an advocate for economic progress through innovative research and he's made Indiana the state to watch for the last several years. Mr. Daniels declined to run for president last year, citing family concerns. His new post at Purdue also appears to put an end to speculation that Mitt Romney was considering him as a potential vice presidential pick. "Effective immediately, I will recuse myself from any partisan political activities or commentary," said Mr. Daniels after the trustee vote, according to written remarks. But out of the political spotlight for good? "As governor of Indiana and prior to his time as an elected official, Mitch Daniels has been instrumental to the Republican Party," said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, "and he will continue to be a leader for conservative principles."