 The first in his family to earn a college degree, Fred Clipsch credits the College of Technology, now the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, and his ROTC experience is at Purdue, for much of his success as an entrepreneur and as a champion for education reform. And my name is Fred Clipsch. I graduated from Purdue in 1964. I retired seven years ago as chairman and CEO and majority owner of Clipsch Audio Technologies. My father worked at International Harvester as a tool grinder, did not graduate from high school and was now insisting that I graduate from high school, but then I go to college. So my dad paid for one semester, the first semester of school, but then I had to pay for the remaining three and a half years and I did that by working full-time. So as a result, I wasn't really involved in many university activities except the ROTC program. And I was involved in the ROTC program at high school and then ultimately with Purdue University. And interestingly, when I graduated from Purdue, I graduated and I was also commissioned in the Air Force as a second lieutenant. There's no question that having a college degree, especially back in 1964, was important. So coming to Purdue and having Purdue help me become an effective student was a game changer, a life changer. I spent the last 20 years being involved in the education reform movement in Indiana specifically, but actually across the country. And my goal is to help public education do a better job of providing a quality education to every child in regards to where they live or what their parental income is. So education has been a theme of mine all the way from the very beginning with Purdue and that giant leap forward now to doing that on the philanthropy side of the house. Thanks to Purdue, we have literally shared my time at Purdue, now my children and grandchildren, and their educations at Purdue. But all of our activities were built around Purdue athletics, Purdue education. Purdue has been a big part of our family from the very, very beginning. A major footprint in our life is Purdue University, and the education not only I received, but all my children and the rest of my family. And it all started at Purdue for me. That was Fred Clipsch. Look for more stories at Purdue.edu slash footprints.