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Purdue University Purdue Agriculture in Focus Purdue Agriculture _
Purdue Agriculture in Focus Purdue Agriculture in Focus _

April 2007

From the Dean

Colleagues,

This is one of my favorite times of the year because I get lots of chances to brag about the terrific people in Purdue Agriculture!  You’ll read about them in this month’s Purdue Agriculture in Focus.  Let me take this opportunity to publicly congratulate the faculty and staff who earned promotions this year and everyone who  was recognized with University and College awards.  It’s the hard work and success of Purdue Agriculture people that make our progress possible, and I’m thrilled to celebrate your accomplishments.

I’d also like to thank everyone who worked so hard to pull off another great Spring Fest last weekend.  While the weather was a bit rough on Saturday, the crowds were quite respectable, and we had a great turnout on Sunday!  I’m so grateful to Danica Kirkpatrick for her leadership on this event and to all her colleagues in each of the departments for their efforts to make this a great weekend to show off Purdue.   

Cheers,

Randy

News around Purdue Agriculture

Congratulations to the faculty and administrative and professional staff members who have been advanced in rank beginning with the next fiscal year.

Faculty

From Associate to Professor:
T. Channing Arndt, Agricultural Economics
Christopher A. Bidwell, Animal Sciences
Zhixiang Chen, Botany & Plant Pathology
Jane R. Frankenberger, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Sandra S. Rossie, Biochemistry
Brian A. Talbert, Youth Development & Ag Education
Kim L. Wilson, Horticulture & Landscape Architecture

From Assistant to Associate:
Shorna R. Broussard, Forestry & Natural Resources
Kevin D. Gibson, Botany & Plant Pathology
Tesfaye Mengiste, Botany & Plant Pathology
John Scott Radcliffe, Animal Sciences
Bradley L. Reuhs, Food Science
Christine A. Wilson, Agricultural Economics

Adjunct Promotions:
Douglas R. Smith, Adjunct Associate Professor, Agronomy
Stephen B. Goodwin, Adjunct Professor, Botany & Plant Pathology

A/P Staff Promotions
Rank 6
Judith K. Atkinson            Agricultural Business Office
Jerry J. Fankhauser        Agricultural Research Programs
Darrel J. Johnson            Animal Sciences
Karyn S. Rodkey             Biochemistry
Daniel S. Egel                 Botany & Plant Pathology
John G. Baugh                Dean’s Office
Steve A. Gauger             Food Science
Theresa M. Baker           Forestry & Natural Resources
Elizabeth T. Maynard      Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
Leo A. Reed                   Office of the Indiana State Chemist
Jon D. Leuck                   Purdue Agricultural Centers
Steven K. McKinley         Youth Development and Agricultural Education

Rank 5
Scott E. Brand                 Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Crystal R. Hughes           Agricultural Communications Service
Kevin L. Smith                 Agricultural Communications Service
Susan A. Steeves           Agricultural Communications Service
Luanna D. DeMay           Agricultural Economics
Sherry L. Oland              Agricultural Research Programs
Corey K. Gerber             Agronomy
John M. Cavaletto           Botany & Plant Pathology
Pamela S. Mow               Botany & Plant Pathology
Christopher M. Pierce     Entomology
Chia-Ping Huang            Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
Anna L. Whipkey            Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
Jeffrey L. Hardy              Office of the Indiana State Chemist
Thomas L. Smith            Office of the Indiana State Chemist
Delvin B. Groves            Office of the Indiana State Chemist

Rank 4
Militza Carrero-Colon    Agronomy
Kelly J. Delp                  Agronomy
Jennifer S. Crodian       Animal Sciences
Andrew S. Miller            Biochemistry
Danica C. Kirkpatrick    Dean’s Office
Cheryl L. Bluett             Entomology
Deidre J. Bush              Food Science
Kiya A. Smith                Food Science
Natalie L. Federer        Youth Development and Agricultural Education

Ag faculty, staff and students recognized for excellence

The Agricultural Council once again sponsored the spring awards reception on April 15, where Purdue Agriculture honored its own.  Those who received awards are:

Christine A. Wilson, Agricultural Economics: Richard L. Kohls Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher
Mark Balschweid, YDAE: David C. Pfendler Outstanding Undergraduate Counselor
Kenneth Foster, Agricultural Economics, Outstanding Graduate Educator
Tracie Egger, Office of Academic Programs: Outstanding Service to Students

Outstanding Agriculture Students:

Erin Kischuk, Outstanding Freshman
Ryan Crane, Outstanding Sophomore
Dustin Potts, Outstanding Junior
Rachel Cumberbatch, Outstanding Senior
Rachel Cumberbatch was also honored at the University Honors Convocation with the Flora Roberts Award, the university’s highest award to a female student.

Three Agriculture students received Charles O. McGaughey Leadership Awards at the University Honors Convocation:

Anne Marie Diener
Chelsea Quinn Mohler
Amy Lynn Penner

 
TEAMwork earns award

Purdue’s Agricultural Innovation and Commercialization Center (AICC)/New Ventures Team is the winner of the 2007 Purdue Agriculture Team Award. The AICC/New Ventures team supports evaluation and development of new business ventures through workshops and conferences, individual consultations, a branded set of publications on effective business planning, and INVenture, a web-based interactive business planning tool.  The team includes campus faculty and staff and county-based Extension field staff, and is supported by applied research in agricultural economics, food science and agricultural and biological engineering.  The program has stimulated and supported entrepreneurial activity across Indiana and the U.S.   The TEAM award will be presented on May 10 at 2:00 p.m. in the Deans Auditorium in Pfendler Hall.

 
Purdue to host national scientific conference

Purdue will host a national conference on agricultural genomics on September 10-12, 2007. The conference will feature invited presentations by recognized leaders in agricultural genomics from across the Land Grant University landscape. The purpose of the meeting will be to share information, explore collaborations, and identify future research needs. This promises to be a rare opportunity to exchange scientific expertise and experiences between genomics researchers, and stimulate new discussions with applied researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers that do not normally interact with the genomics community.

More information: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/conference/index.html

 
Help keep Agriculture healthy!

The College of Agriculture needs another Wellness Ambassador.  As a Wellness Ambassador with Purdue WorkLife Programs, you can make a significant impact on your colleagues with a minimum time commitment, develop and implement creative ways to communicate wellness information, receive firsthand information on wellness resources, and network with people from other areas of campus.  If you are interested, contact Jamie Loizzo at jloizzo@purdue.edu.  

ABE faculty to author textbook

Jenna Rickus, Marshall Porterfield, and Joseph Irudayaraj are under contract with Cambridge University Press to write a textbook entitled "The Engineering of Biological Sensing." The book will be part of the Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering series and will be targeted as a textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate level biological, biomedical and interdisciplinary engineering courses as well as a resource for researchers working in the field.

Sally Thompson honored for mentoring women

Prof. Sally Thompson, head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, is this year’s winner of Violet Haas Award from Purdue’s Council on the Status of Women. The award honors an individual, program or department that has made an outstanding effort toward the advancement of women at the university. The achievement can include improvement in hiring and promotion practices, educational opportunities, salaries or generally enhancing a positive professional climate for women.

Full story: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007a/070411ClarkHaas.html

 
James Morris to lecture on world hunger

As part of the community wide focus on hunger on Apr 19, the Office of Academic Programs is co-sponsoring a lecture by James T. Morris, recently retired Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, on April 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Deans Auditorium in Pfendler Hall.  As head of WFP, Mr Morris oversees the world's largest food aid organization, which last year fed 104 million people in 81 countries with new contributions totalling US$2.6 billion. WFP reaches out to hungry people who cannot help themselves -- victims of war and natural disasters, families affected by HIV/AIDS and orphans who have lost their parents to the pandemic, and school children in poor communities.

 
Newest Ag Ambassadors selected

Congratulations to our new Ag Ambassadors!  These 13 new Ambassadors were chosen from among 48 applicants.  As always the competition was very strong and we look forward to working with these new members in the upcoming years.

Kristin Schoettmer – Agribusiness Management

Amy Lockwood – Entomology

Jim Hardy – Sales and Marketing

LeAnn Hall – Biochemistry

Ashley Feil – Food Science

Bruce Cooley – Ag Econ and ABE

Samantha Sisk – Ag Communications

Ashley Hudson – Plant Genetics and Breeding

John Carnahan – Farm Management

Alicia Batta – Ag Education

Tyler Cotterman – Ag Econ and Ag Comm

Grace Chun – Animal Science

Seth Harden – Ag Systems Management

First Leadership Development Certificate students complete program

Seventeen College of Agriculture Leadership Development Certificate participants will receive their Leadership Certificates on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at a reception and ceremony at 4:00 p.m. in the Pfendler Gallery.  LDCP participants and their coaches are:

Jeremy Armstrong, Coach: Robert Taylor

Matthew Blasdell, Coach: Luanna DeMay

Janette Bosler, Coach: Scott Downey

Katey Brattain, Coach: Clint Rusk

Katie Darr, Coach: Robert Taylor

Jacqueline Drury, Coach: Jennifer Dennis

Kristen Emsweller, Coach: Colleen Brady

Summer Fagg, Coach: Tracie Egger

CJ Fleenor, Coach: Craig Beyrouty

Kara Hartman, Coach: Scott Downey

Bo Hu, Coach: Mary Pilat

Jamie Lanier, Coach: Jane Alexander

Ruth Pinto, Coach: Dale Whittaker

Jackie Searcy, Coach: Janet Ayres

Lauren Snyder, Coach: Jerry Peters

Mark Watson, Coach: Bernie Dahl

Di Wu, Coach: Klein Ileleji

 
Discovery Lectures to focus on healthcare delivery

The next program in the Discovery Lecture Series will be presented on April 23.  Dr. Stephen Shortell, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, will present his talk at 1:30 p.m. in the North Ballroom, Purdue Memorial Union.  His title is:  “Marriage of Medicine and Management:  Sustaining Improvements in Delivery, Quality, Cost and Outcomes.”  And 2) Dr. Karen Davis, President of the Commonwealth Fund, will present her talk at 3:00 p.m. also in the North Ballroom.  Her title is:  “Achieving the Best:  The Road to Improving National Performance of Health Care Delivery.” 

For more information and to register, please visit:  www.purdue.edu/dp/dls/rche  

Kudos

Jim Clemens, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, was selected as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow for 2007-2009.

ABE students Elizabeth Casey & Janie McClurkin each received a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are at the early stages of their graduate study.

Prof. Layi Adeola, Animal Sciences, will be the first recipient of the Maple Leaf Farms Research Award.  The award is to be awarded at the Poultry Sciences Association (PSA) annual banquet in July 2007.  This is a new award at PSA and is given to stimulate and reward research with ducks and improve the knowledge base of science as applied to commercial duck production. 

Congratulations to all the award winners in the 2007 Undergraduate Research and Poster Symposium.

Complete list:  http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/in_focus/2007/April2007/ 2007_URPS_AWARD_WINNERS.pdf.  

Funding Opportunities

Click here to see all the latest opportunities for research funding:  http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/in_focus/2007/April2007/Grants_Tracker.htm    

Mark your calendar

Purdue University Multicultural and Gender Forums have been scheduled for 2007.  All faculty and staff who have not yet attended are encouraged to do so.  You must have attended a Multicultural forum in order to attend a Gender forum. 
Schedule:  http://www.science.purdue.edu/DiversityForums/dates.html

April 28:  Earth Day Indiana Celebration in Indianapolis.  Purdue Agriculture will have a presence at this event. Contact Danica Kirkpatrick at 494-9113 for more information.

May 2-3: Pioneering Biotechnology Forum at the Bindley Bioscience Center. Contact Kathy Beaver at kbeaver@purdue.edu for more information.

May 13: Purdue Agriculture Commencement Exercises at 9:30 a.m. in the Elliott Hall of Music.  Purdue Agriculture Commencement Reception to follow in the Ross-Ade Pavilion from 11:30 a.m.– 1:30 p.m.  RSVP required. Contact Donya Lester at 494-8593 for more information.

May 31:  Retirement reception for Anna Wilson from the Biochemistry Department.  A celebration of Anna’s 35 years at Purdue and 32 with the Biochemistry Department will take place from 2:00–4:00 p.m. in BCHM 101. Contact Kristi Trimble at 494-1636 for more information.