Dr. Bernie Engel has been at the helm now of the Purdue College of Agriculture for just over a month, taking his new position as the Glenn W. Sample Dean on July 15th.
Engel has been a Purdue faculty member for 35 years, so he’s seen firsthand the dramatic rise in popularity and prestige the Purdue College of Ag has received in recent years. Most notably, the college rose to number 3 in the United States and number 5 in the world according to the QS World University Rankings.
“Part of the secret to being number three nationally, number five in the world, is having equally strong partners in engineering and in many, many other locations on campus. So, it’s full speed ahead with all things research right now. You’ve probably noticed that with the new leadership for Purdue, a very different emphasis maybe than in the past. That doesn’t mean that students are not important, but we’re going to spend a lot of time thinking about research.”
Engel most recently served as senior associate dean of agricultural research for the college. When we caught up at the State Fair, he took a moment to brag on the College of Agriculture and its researchers.
“106.1. It sounds like an FM station, but that’s also the dollars, in millions, that the College of Agriculture researchers secured this past year. Why is that important? Well, to do all the great things that you see coming out of Purdue ag research, we need resources. The state provides base resources, the university provides some base resources, but our federal partners, our industrial partners, and others who are part of that $106.1 million make a huge difference in what we can do and the impact we have.”
Hear my full interview with Engel on his priorities for the Purdue College of Ag below.
