Hardin influences generations
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Photo by Tom Campbell
Indiana Lt. Gov. Joseph Kerman (left) presented Lowell Hardin
with a Sagamore of the Wabash award on April 27. Hardin recieved
the state's hightest honor for his lifelong dedication to agriculture.
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By Andrea Campbell
At age 85, professor emeritus Lowell S. Hardin, BS '39, has been working
for Purdue University on and off for 60 years, and he still isn't ready
to call it quits.
"I have no plans to recede into my rocking chair and watch the
world go by," says Hardin. "As long as I am in good health
and feel welcome here, I'll probably take up a bit of office space."
Hardin has been taking up office space at Purdue and putting it to
good use since 1943. He was head of the Department of Agricultural Economics
from 1953 until 1965, when he took a leave to work at the Ford Foundation.
He helped the foundation set up an agricultural development program
in Latin America to increase food production for the hungry. That was
his first full-time involvement in international agriculture.
When his year with the Latin American program ended, Hardin had to
decide whether to move back to Indiana or to continue working for the
Ford Foundation. His wife, Mary, persuaded him to stay.
"My efforts to persuade him to stay with the Ford Foundation were
a result of a
heartwarming and successful first year in this challenge," Mary
says. "We have always enjoyed getting to know international friends,
so here was an opportunity."
In 1981, Hardin retired from the Ford Foundation and returned to Purdue
as emeritus professor of economics and assistant director of International
Programs in Agriculture (IPIA).
By maintaining an office at Purdue, Hardin is able to share with his
colleagues and with students the knowledge he has gained from his travels
to more than 50 countries. He also maintains the friendships he has
made around the world.
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