The College of Agriculture recently announced and/or filled five endowed professorships, including the Patterson Chair. The funding for four of the chairs enables the college to establish four additional chairs by tapping into $22.5 million in matching funds from Indianapolis businessman William E. Bindley and his wife, Mary Ann.

The Bindley Chair Challenge agreed to match other gifts and pledges to create 15 endowed chairs at $1.5 million each throughout the university. The College of Agriculture was eligible for four of those Bindley challenge chairs, and Ag was the first Purdue school or college to claim its full allotment.

“Establishment of these named positions is a tremendous advantage for recruiting and retaining top-notch researchers,” says Randy Woodson, dean of Purdue Agriculture.

The latest news about other College of Agriculture endowed chairs:

• The James and Lois Ackerman Professor of Agricultural Economics – Jay T. Akridge, director of the Purdue Center for Food and Agricultural Business. Another chair will be created through the Bindley challenge.

• The William R. Scholle Endowed Chair in Food Processing – Philip Nelson, professor of food science. Another chair will be created through the Bindley challenge.

• The O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Endowed Chair in Urban Entomology – This chair is funded through the foundation founded by and named for the late head of the pest control company. A researcher will be named in the future. Another chair will be created through the Bindley challenge.

• The Indiana Soybean Board Professor in Soybean Utilization Research – Bernard Tao,

an agricultural and biological engineering professor. Another chair will be created through the Bindley challenge.