WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — Two Indiana CEOs will kick off the annual Presidential Lecture series at Purdue University, sitting down with President Mung Chiang in the fall.

Mel Raines, CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Fever and operates Gainbridge Fieldhouse, will be the first guest in the series on Thursday, Oct. 2, a Purdue news release said. On Nov. 6, Wabash CEO Brent Yeagy, a Purdue alum, will join Chiang as a second guest in the series.

“The goal of Purdue’s Presidential Lecture Series is to invite the best and brightest leaders in industry and academia in our state and nation to our dynamic campus, and this fall’s lineup is no exception,” Chiang said in the release. “We look forward to having interesting discussions with the top executives for Indiana’s incredibly successful professional basketball teams and a locally based public company that is taking transportation manufacturing and logistics to new levels.”

In her 11th year with Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Raines has more than 30 years of operations, legislative, political, corporate and public affairs experience, the release said. Prior to joining the Pacers, she was chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks of Indiana, overseeing three offices as well as all legislative, constituent services and communications staff.

Since June 2018, Yeagy has been responsible for Wabash’s strategic direction and operations in his role as president and CEO, the release said. Before his current appointment, Yeagy served as president and chief operating officer at Wabash from 2016-18. He joined Wabash in 2003 and has held several positions, including vice president of manufacturing, vice president and general manager of commercial trailer products, and senior vice president-group president of Wabash’s commercial trailer products.

Yeagy holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering science and a master’s degree in safety engineering from Purdue, the release said, and an MBA in business management from Anderson University. He has also attended executive programs at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Specific times and locations for the events, which are free and open to the public, will be announced later this fall.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Pacers CEO, Wabash CEO to headline Purdue Presidential Lecture Series