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In his new role as vice provost for engagement, Victor Lechtenberg is leading Purdue's effort to improve the Indiana economy. Lechtenberg (center) and Purdue President Martin C. Jischke (right) meet with community leaders in Warsaw, Ind. Creating community partnerships to improve economic development is one of Lechtenberg's top engagement priorities. (Photo by David Umberger) |
Lechtenberg to lead engagement initiatives
Victor Lechtenberg's career has covered a lot of ground at Purdue University. He came to the university in 1967 to study agronomy, one of the many graduate students to enter the College of Agriculture that fall. Thirty-seven years later, he's still here.
The years in between have been both busy and productive, his rise through the teaching and administrative ranks of Purdue Agriculture culminating when he was named dean in 1994. Under his leadership, the undergraduate curriculum improved, with increased emphasis on student research, service learning and study abroad. Growth in research programs has been significant and strategic, with sponsored-program activities at a record level. Purdue Extension has become a driving force in economic development through value-added products and services in agriculture and support of rural communities.
After a decade at the administrative helm of Purdue's oldest school, Lechtenberg has taken over one of the newest offices on campus. In June, Purdue President Martin C. Jischke named Lechtenberg vice provost for engagement, a position created in 2001 in an expanded effort to use university resources to address economic development and other issues affecting the state's prosperity and quality of life, such as countering “brain drain,” workforce development and helping Indiana companies implement new technologies.
It's a position tailored for Lechtenberg, given his experience as dean of agriculture. “Through Purdue Extension and an array of other programs, the College of Agriculture has a long history of service to the people and the state of Indiana,” Jischke says. “During his career at Purdue, Vic won the respect of faculty, staff, alumni and public officials. He's a dynamic leader who wants to make a difference, and, in his new role, he will help look for more ways to reach out and make a positive impact on communities and lives.”
Lechtenberg is looking forward to the challenge. During his tenure as dean, he worked on many parallel programs in the College of Agriculture. “I'm doing a lot of what I was doing before, just on a university-wide basis,” he says. “Purdue's engagement mission focuses on using all of the university's resources to serve Indiana.”
Purdue Agriculture is honoring the former dean and his wife for their many years of service with the Victor and Grayce Lechtenberg Student Leadership Fund, which will support leadership development and activities of undergraduate students.
Randy Woodson, associate dean of agriculture and director of the Office of Agricultural Research Programs, served as interim dean while the national search was underway.
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