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In the athletic arena, Purdue and IU are fierce
competitors, whether it's the annual gridiron battle for
the Old Oaken Bucket or Big Ten bragging rights on the famed
hardwood of Mackey Arena and Assembly Hall. While the citizens
of our state take pride in the athletic prowess of both universities,
they may not think of them as anything but rivals. But the
relationship between the two universities goes much deeper
than the sports report and it's one of collaboration, not
competition.
State officials have recognized the potential
of partnerships among Indiana's public and private universities,
supporting numerous joint projects through the 21st Century
Growth and Technology Fund, which finances university research
and business incentives to create and retain jobs in high-tech
fields. One such project teams the Purdue schools of Agriculture
and Veterinary Medicine with the IU School of Medicine for
comparative medicine research in the treatment and prevention
of animal and human diseases (see "Common
ground").
This is not the first time that we've partnered
with our neighbors to the south. Purdue's Center for Enhancing
Foods to Protect Health, a research center to improve the
health attributes of food, is another joint effort with IU.
Our cooperative network extends well beyond
the borders of our state, spanning the United States and
circling the globe. For example, the Five State Beef Initiative
is a regional effort that brings Purdue together with land-grant
institutions in contiguous states—Illinois, Kentucky,
Michigan and Ohio—to improve the profitability of the
cattle industry. At the international level, Purdue Agriculture
is engaged in the U.S. Agency for International Development's
Collaborative Research Program, working with scientists in
22 countries around the world.
There are many advantages to research among
institutions and disciplines. These mutual endeavors not
only combine intellectual and financial resources but avoid
duplication of efforts. Collaboration also allows for broader-based
solutions on issues like animal waste and food safety, which
are the same whether they occur in Iowa, Indiana or North
Carolina. And adding multiple disciplines, as with the comparative
medicine project, lets us extend the scope of a research
area, whether it's with a university in another hemisphere
or our Hoosier neighbors.
Victor L. Lechtenberg
Dean of Agriculture
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