Bold Support for the Liberal Arts
develop a revenue-sharing platform for music labels and
artists on digital downloads from social networking sites.
Now he shares his love of the arts, interest in technology,
and experience in human resources in his professional
and volunteer roles as a corporate and philanthropic board
director and angel investor. On the tenth anniversary of
the Rueffs’ gift, Rusty Rueff shares more about the vision
behind it and the unique opportunities he sees for liberal
arts at Purdue.
As a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council, it’s not
just the visual and performing arts that he values, but the
liberal arts as a whole. After working in human resources
in the tech industry, he knows how valuable critical
thinking and creativity are in any field. “I think the liberal
arts open up that side,” he explains, “so that engineers,
mathematicians, and scientists don’t end up becoming
one-dimensional.”
Just as exciting to Rueff are the possibilities for the
liberal arts at an institution long associated with the STEM
(science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines.
“Our liberal arts students get a chance to be exposed to
things that not only broaden their minds, but give them
a way to dive deep into areas that they wouldn’t be able
to dive into prior. For example, if Purdue is the cradle of
astronauts, and space exploration and space travel are a
part of our DNA and history, then we should also be the
university that’s preeminent in the study of the ethics of
space travel. So in sociology and philosophy, we should be
thinking about, ‘What are the ethics of sending men and
One of the next intersections he sees between the
liberal arts and STEM disciplines is in designing products
like Internet-connected cars and home monitoring systems
with data science in mind. Where should a Bluetooth or
Internet connection go, and how can we best make the
ased on some of his favorite childhood memories,
you could say that Rusty Rueff’s career in the arts
began earlier than most. He studied ballet for
10 years starting at age five, dancing for two years in The
Nutcracker at the Louisville Ballet. He also loved attending
performances at Actors Theatre of Louisville, though he
remembers being scared to death after seeing Dracula when
he was only seven.
Thanks to his parents, Rueff was exposed to the visual
and performing arts at a very early age. He continued to act
in productions throughout high school and in his first two
years at Hanover College. When he transferred to Purdue,
however, he noticed that he had to make more of an effort
to enjoy the arts. There were Convocations performances
passing through, but student theatre was in the basement,
and there was very little visual art on campus. He realized
then the importance of being exposed to the arts at a young
age and having easy access to them in college.
Flash forward 20 years, and thanks to a $5 million
commitment, the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual
and Performing Arts became a reality. The Rueffs’ gift
supports the creative endeavors of faculty, learning
opportunities for students, and arts engagement—
including in the Rueff Galleries, where members of the
community can see works by students, faculty, and visiting
artists. “I’ve always felt that we’ve got to bring the arts
as close as we can to a younger generation. I felt that this
was an area that I could invest in at Purdue and make a
difference in a way that nobody else was,” he says.
Rueff, who earned his bachelor’s degree in radio and TV
in 1984 and a master’s degree in counseling in 1986, began
his career as an on-air radio personality and quickly moved
into high-level positions in human resources at companies
like United Technologies, PepsiCo, and Electronic Arts.
He later served as CEO of SNOCAP, the first company to
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