WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Tickets are on sale for the annual Krannert Leadership Speaker Series dinner, which raises money for scholarships.

Elaine Chao, labor secretary in President George W. Bush’s administration, will be the keynote speaker at the Oct. 1 event, the ninth in the series.

Elaine Chao, labor secretary in G. W. Bush administration, will keynote the October 1 Krannert Leadership Speaker Series dinner.

The series has raised more than $125,000 in scholarship money for undergraduate and graduate students in the Krannert School of Management.

Chao, labor secretary for the eight years of the Bush administration, was the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve in a president’s cabinet.

She focused her tenure on increasing the competitiveness of the work force in the 21st century workplace. The U.S. Department of Labor updated regulations to provide millions of low-wage, white-collar workers with strengthened overtime protection. In 2002, the department led the effort to resolve a West Coast ports dispute that was costing up to $1 billion a day. In 2003, union financial disclosure regulations were updated to give rank-and-file members more information about how dues are spent. In 2006, the Pension Protection Act was signed into law, benefiting 44 million Americans who are under defined benefit plans. In 2008, the department updated the Family and Medical Leave Act to give military families job-protected rights to care for wounded service men and women.

Chao previously held positions in government and the private sector, among them director of the Peace Corps, deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, president and CEO of United Way of America, and distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Chao, who immigrated to the United States at age 8, has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College. She is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. in Purdue Memorial Union. Deadline for reserving tickets is Sept. 11. For information and to reserve tickets, contact Tim Newton, Krannert director of external relations, at 765-496-7271 or e-mail tnewton@purdue.edu

Sponsors for the leadership series are Boston Scientific, Saint-Gobain Containers, Air Products, Accenture, WellPoint, Lafayette Printing, Grow Indiana Media Ventures and Purdue alumni.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Those interested in learning how to become an effective coach in the workplace are encouraged to sign up for a new certificate in leadership coaching offered by the Purdue Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision.

To earn a certificate, participants must attend the two-day kickoff meeting, then take part in 20 90-minute Web seminars on topics such as turbo listening, return on investment, mobilizing the organization, personal coaching styles and learning the language of coaching.

The five-month program begins June 24 and 25 at Purdue’s Dauch Alumni Center with a kickoff meeting that will give participants a chance to meet all the leaders involved. Most of the certificate program will be conducted via phone or Internet.

The 60-hour program, which will conclude in late November, is designed to prepare professionals to qualify for associate-level certification with the International Coach Federation, said Jane Creswell, director of the certificate program and managing director of the Purdue Organizational Leadership Development Lab.

The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

Creswell is a master certified coach through the federation and was an internal coach at IBM before starting her own coaching consulting firm, Internal Impact.

“With managers today constantly being asked to do more with less, coaching skills are vital,” said Creswell, author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Coaching for Excellence.” “Coaching focuses on how to work with every employee in the organization to realize untapped potential to solve problems and increase efficiency. Anyone in an organization can benefit from coaching training.”

To earn a certificate, participants must attend the two-day kickoff meeting, then take part in 20 90-minute Web seminars on topics such as turbo listening, return on investment, mobilizing the organization, personal coaching styles and learning the language of coaching. Those in the program also will be required to take part in Web sessions conducted by guest speakers who are professionals in the coaching industry. Each session will be offered twice in an effort to accommodate each participant’s schedule.

In addition, participants will be divided into small groups, and each group will work with an instructor to listen to recorded coaching sessions and critique them against criteria set forth by the International Coach Federation. Participants also will have one-on-one feedback sessions over the phone with a certified coach who will offer personalized advice.

Those who complete all the requirements will earn a certificate in leadership coaching and will be qualified to apply for certification through the International Coach Federation.

The June 24-25 session is open to those who aren’t interested in completing the rest of the program.

To sign up, or for questions about registration, contact Beth Scharf at Purdue Conferences at bcscharf@purdue.edu. For questions about the program content, contact Creswell at 765-494-7711, jcreswell@purdue.edu.

The application deadline is June 13. Additional information, as well as a link to the registration, is online at http://www.leaderlab.tech.purdue.edu/Overview.html