05-12-2025
“Figure out what your superpower is. That will make you more confident as you step out into the workplace. What is it that I bring to a role that no one else does?”
That’s one piece of advice for students Cara Putman shared in a recent This is Purdue podcast episode hosted by Kate Young. Putman is an associate clinical professor of law, communication and ethics at the Mitch Daniels School of Business, and she serves as director of the Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Business. Selected by Poets & Quants as one of the Top 50 Undergraduate Professors of 2021, she recently received the Charles B. Murphy Award, Purdue’s highest undergraduate teaching honor.
The podcast covered a wide range of topics, beginning with Putman’s graduation from high school at age 16, college at 20, and law school at 27. A practicing attorney in Lafayette, she joined the Daniels School faculty as a lecturer in 2007. She says she is passionate about Purdue and the land-grant mission it serves, and she is equally ardent about getting students interested in business at an early age.
“We want to help students understand there are great opportunities in business if you are good at math,” says Putman. “At Purdue, we are at the crossroads of technology and business. But we need to talk to students in 7th- and 8th-grade about how important math will be to their success.”
In addition to her award-winning work in the classroom and with the Brock-Wilson Center, Putman — who also has authored more than 40 books — has developed a new core ethics course for first-year students. She says it’s crucial that they have experience throughout their college careers in talking about ethics and putting them into practice, which should better prepare them when they enter the workforce and are faced with hard choices.
“First, we have students write down their non-negotiable values so they can find their why,” she said. “Also, at Purdue we follow the Chicago Principles so students are exposed to differing viewpoints. If we can’t have difficult conversations, we won’t be able to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
“And I tell students that they should have a six-month emergency fund. Be willing to walk away if you are asked to do things that are unethical or illegal. Don’t be in a position where you feel like you can’t leave a bad situation.”
