The View Ahead – Fall 2017

As many of you know, Jay Akridge was recently named Purdue’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity, and I moved into the role of interim dean of the College of Agriculture. I have been with the college since 2010, serving previously as senior associate dean for research and faculty affairs. I am honored to have this opportunity to work with our faculty, staff, and students to continue to move the College of Agriculture forward.

I am enjoying meeting many of our alumni and stakeholders this fall, and I hear often that they are enjoying our new magazine, Envision. We thought long and hard about the most appropriate title before settling on a forward-looking word that says much about what we aspire to do in Purdue Agriculture. We envision successful and fulfilling opportunities for our students. We envision groundbreaking, world-leading research. We envision the impact our faculty, staff , students, and alumni have in their communities and around the world, strengthening lives and livelihoods.

You’ll read about some of that groundbreaking research in this issue: our drive to be at the forefront of the field of digital agriculture. We’re using the latest technology to harvest and analyze massive amounts of data that will transform both research and industry, as well as what our students are learning. We hope you enjoy keeping up with Purdue Agriculture. As always, please let us know what you think—we value your opinion!

Karen Plaut, PhD
Interim Dean, College of Agriculture