Executive Forum with Julie Dussliere, President & Chief Executive Office for Purdue For Life Foundation

The Executive Forum is open to the public, as seating permits, and provides opportunities for the exchange of ideas and discussion of topics and issues facing business and management.

Julie Dussliere is President and CEO of the Purdue for Life Foundation, the organization that inspires lifelong engagement with Purdue University through philanthropy, alumni relations, membership programs, and volunteer involvement. She oversees all aspects of the Foundation’s alumni-facing organizations, including the Purdue Alumni Association, President’s Council, and John Purdue Club, while leading efforts to strengthen engagement, advance fundraising, and deepen connections among Purdue’s global community of alumni and friends.

Prior to joining Purdue for Life, Julie spent more than 20 years with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), serving in a series of increasingly senior leadership roles, including senior vice president, chief of Paralympic sport, and senior vice president, chief of Paralympics and internally managed sports. A nationally and internationally respected leader in Olympic and Paralympic sport, she directed high-performance planning, sport development, and National Governing Body support across Olympic and Paralympic summer and winter sports. She also oversaw the USOPC-managed Olympic and Paralympic National Governing Bodies and led Paralympic strategic planning, international relations, and Games planning, execution, and operations.

Throughout her tenure, Julie served as a key liaison to the USOPC Board of Directors and Paralympic Advisory Council while overseeing a broad portfolio that included athlete and sport development, governance, safe sport compliance, operational excellence, budget and contract management, and the leadership of more than 225 staff members. She championed grassroots Paralympic outreach and athlete identification initiatives nationwide and developed the U.S. Paralympics National Classification strategy, ensuring compliance with international standards. Her leadership contributed to the successful preparation and performance of Team USA at multiple Olympic and Paralympic Games while strengthening relationships with international sport organizations and stakeholders around the world.

Julie has also been a trailblazer in international sport governance. In 2018, she was elected president of the Americas Paralympic Committee (AmPC), becoming the first woman and first U.S. representative to lead the organization. Previously serving as vice president, she later assumed an additional leadership role as AmPC treasurer in 2021.

Before transitioning into executive leadership, Julie spent more than a decade coaching Paralympic swimming at the international level. She was named U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympic Coach of the Year in 2006 and was recognized by the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2015 for her contributions to the sport. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years as a swim coach and administrator with USA Swimming-affiliated clubs.

A proud Purdue alumna, Julie earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian from Purdue University in 1994, where she was a member of the swimming team and received Academic All-Big Ten honors. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Slavic and East European Studies from The Ohio State University and completed the Olympic Sport Leadership Certification program offered through a partnership between the USOPC and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Julie has remained deeply connected to Purdue throughout her career. She received Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts Emerging Voice Award in 2012 and returned as a participant in the university’s Old Masters program in 2020. A lifelong Boilermaker, she has long been an active member of the Purdue Alumni Association, President’s Council, and John Purdue Club.

She continues to serve the Olympic and Paralympic movements through volunteer leadership roles, including as a member of the Board of Directors of U.S. Masters Swimming, Head of Classification for World Para Swimming, and a member of the International Paralympic Committee’s Paralympic Games Committee.