Interim dean of agriculture brings experience to the task

Story by Maureen Manier

January 5, 2023

At the end of 2022, Purdue’s President Mung Chiang announced that Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, had accepted the position of Executive Vice President for Research for Purdue University. Effective January 9, Ken Foster, professor of agricultural economics, will be serving as the Interim Dean of Purdue University’s College of Agriculture. Foster is a graduate of Purdue University and earned his master’s degree from the University of Georgia and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis.

During his 32-year career at Purdue, Foster has demonstrated remarkable leadership. He held the position of associate head and graduate program director before serving as head of the Department of Agricultural Economics for nine years. Among many other responsibilities, his role as Department Head involved extensive outreach to stakeholders in the agricultural, energy, community development, government policy and natural resources arenas. Foster also led the establishment of the Center for Commercial Agriculture and the department rose to fourth in the world in the Agricultural Economics and Policy area according to the Center for World University Rankings.

After stepping down as head, Foster served as President’s Fellow for Colombia-Purdue Partnerships in 2018-2019. He served as interim head of the Department of Food Science for a year and a half beginning in 2020. During that time, he collaborated with colleagues to envision and secure seed funding for the Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI).

Purdue Provost Patrick Wolfe will soon announce the appointment of the committee that will conduct a national search for the College of Agriculture’s new dean.

Featured Stories

Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio over looking the city

From curiosity to connection: Kylie Bedel’s study abroad adventure in Brazil

For Kylie Bedel, an agribusiness management and animal sciences student from Evansville, Indiana,...

Graduate Student Spotlight: Sierra Garrett

Graduate student Sierra Garrett combines poultry research with community outreach and education.

All roads lead home: One student’s unexpected path to Purdue

It was two weeks away from the start of Harrison Reeves’ first semester at Purdue...

Simerdeep Kaur sits at a lab bench wearing black gloves, a black lab coat, and safety glasses as she places a vial in a blue light up box

Purdue researchers show common bacterial assay is unreliable

As food recalls become more prevalent, more families toss more lettuce and deli meat into the...

Managing Conservation Plantings Series Provides Science-Based Recommendations for Landowners, Managers

The Managing Conservation Plantings series provides landowners and managers with science-based...

Purdue Animal Sciences deepens global reach through visiting scholars program

Visiting scholars contribute to cutting-edge livestock research and global collaboration at Purdue.