The Purdue Center for Economic Education boasts an illustrious history. The center’s formation can be traced to 1966 and founding director Dennis Weidenaar, who focused his efforts at the national level on the training of social studies education professors and the development of some of the first training programs on using microcomputers to teach economics.
In 1949, the Joint Council on Economic Education, the predecessor to the Council for Economic Education (CEE), is founded. The CEE is the leading organization in the United States that focuses on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school. The network of councils and centers working with the CEE is the only economic education group affiliated with the American Economic Association (AEA).
The Indiana Council for Economic Education (ICEE) is formed in Continuing Education, with Professor Olin Davis acting as the first director. The Purdue Economic Education Advisory Board is established in Continuing Education and begins offering teacher workshops in the summer of 1954.
In 1957, Lawrence Senesh is hired by Purdue Economics to serve as the first professor of economic education in the nation.
In 1958, the School of Industrial Management is formed from the Department of Economics in the School of Science, Education, and Humanities and the Department of Industrial Management and Transportation in the Schools of Engineering.
The Krannert Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Purdue's first named school, is established in 1962 with a $2.73 million endowment from Herman C. and Ellnora Decker Krannert.
In 1964, Robert Horton, a retired partner from Goldman Sachs, is hired by Purdue University to work in the area of economic education, drawing an annual salary of $1.
PCEE is formed in 1966 as one of the earliest centers for economic education in the nation, with Dennis Weidenaar named as director. Weidenaar focuses on national efforts by offering training programs on economic education for social studies education professors, employee education programs, some of the first training programs on using microcomputers to teach economics, and other national initiatives.
In 1971, Robert Horton leads a National Sciences Foundation-sponsored program for junior college teachers, a year after being awarded emeritus rank by Purdue University.
Business school professor Pete Harrington becomes the director of the Indiana Council (ICEE) and establishes centers at other universities and colleges across the state of Indiana.
The Robert V. Horton-Goldman Sachs Endowment is established for K-12 economic education efforts in 1980, with funds provided by many of his former colleagues after his death.
Mike Watts is hired to Purdue's Economics faculty and becomes the associate director of the Indiana Council (ICEE). In 1984, Purdue names Mike Watts as the new PCEE director. During Watts’ tenure, he oversees a significant expansion of nationally recognized research activity as well as the introduction of several outreach programs to local teachers in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties. These two areas of emphasis are reflected in the PCEE constitution formed the following year.
A gift, and eventual endowment, is provided for work in economic education in memory of Helen Horton, wife of Robert Horton, in 1990.
Dennis Weidenaar, the previous PCEE director, becomes the fifth dean of the business school.
In 1997, Phil VanFossen, a professor of education, becomes the associate director of PCEE.
Having served as the Indiana Council director from 1997 – 2011, Harlan Day graciously offers in 2015 to manage the center's outreach programs on an interim basis and thus becomes the third director of PCEE until a new director, David Perkis, is hired in 2016. PCEE celebrates 50 years as a nationally acclaimed center.
An endowment is established in the name of former school Dean Dennis J. Weidenaar by his widow, Kristin Weidenaar, to support the PCEE's annual Classroom Business Enterprise Showcase event, now named in Dr. Weidenaar's honor. Timothy Moore, a faculty member in the economics department, serves as PCEE's director..
Dr. Kelly Blanchard is named the director of the Purdue Center for Economic Education in 2020, and in 2022 moves to her new role as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at the Daniels School of Business. Dr. Melanie Fox, a clinical assistant professor in the department of economics, is appointed as the seventh director of PCEE. In Fall 2025, Fox moved to the role of director of undergraduate programs for the Economics Department. Dr. Erin Yetter joined Purdue and became director of PCEE. Dr. Ryan Umbeck, a clinical assistant professor of economics took over as the interim director of PCEE in the Spring of 2026.
