Daniels Tackles Skeptics, Prepares for Purdue Job

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has a lesson plan for his next job as Purdue University's president.

It involves meeting with skeptics who question his qualifications, talking to some of the nation's top higher education leaders and taking lots of notes.

The 63-year-old Daniels says he's using vacation days from his job as governor to meet with faculty, staff and students, but he says the visits are designed to learn the job, not to win anyone over.

Daniels' June 21 appointment drew fire from critics uneasy over his lack of experience in academia and his reputation for privatizing services and cutting education funding.

Daniels tells the Journal & Courier the decisions he made as governor were appropriate but shouldn't be used to predict how he'll run Purdue.