Mitch Daniels Fast Facts

Personal: Birth date: April 7, 1949

Birth place: Monongahela, Pennsylvania

Birth name: Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr.

Father: Mitchell Daniels Sr., a drug company salesman

Mother: Dorothy Mae (Wilkes) Daniels

Marriage: Cheri (Herman) Daniels (1997-present and May 20, 1978-1994, divorced)

Children: Margaret; Meredith; Melissa; Meagan

Education: Princeton University, B.A., 1971; Georgetown University, J.D., 1979

Religion: Presbyterian

Other Facts: Daniels is a motorcycle enthusiast and rides a Harley Davidson.

Daniels has worked in the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

He is known for being fiscally responsible, balancing Indiana's budget in his first term, cutting expenditures wherever possible and having a surplus over multiple years.

Timeline: 1971-1976 - Serves as aide and later adviser to Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar.

1977-1983 - Serves as Chief of Staff to Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana).

1983-1984 - Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

1985-1987 - Serves as senior adviser to President Ronald Reagan.

1987-1990 - Chief Executive Officer, Hudson Institute.

1990-2001 - Executive at Eli Lilly.

2001-2003 - Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

2004 - Is elected the 49th governor of Indiana.

January 10, 2005-January 14, 2013 - Two-term Republican governor of Indiana.

May 22, 2011 - Announces he will not be running for president in 2012.

June 21, 2012 - Purdue University announces Daniels has been unanimously elected to be the school's next president.

January 15, 2013 - Daniels starts his position as president of Purdue University.

January 27, 2015 - Daniels writes a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, "How Student Debt Harms the Economy." He writes that there is "evidence that it's not just consumer spending that these debts are denting, but also economic dynamism."