The head of the National FFA Organization will be the featured speaker at the 2015 Purdue University Agricultural Alumni Association Fish Fry. W. Dwight Armstrong, chief executive of the Indianapolis-based group that serves 610,240 student members in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, will give the keynote address at the Feb. 7 event. It will be held in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis beginning at 11:30 a.m. EST.
Armstrong has a wide range of experience in agriculture, from growing up on a small farm in Kentucky to serving as a faculty member, an agribusiness executive and now as CEO of one of the world’s largest youth leadership development organizations, noted Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Purdue Agriculture.
“Dr. Armstrong is an engaging and inspirational speaker who has a true passion for agriculture,” Akridge said. “I know our audience will enjoy hearing about his personal experiences in farming, education and agribusiness and as a global leader.”
Armstrong received a master’s degree in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1975 from Purdue.
Armstrong was a leader in the National Future Farmers of America while attending Lyon County (Kentucky) High School. After receiving his advanced degrees at Purdue in animal sciences, Armstrong served on the faculty at North Carolina State University from 1975 to 1982, where he was engaged in teaching, research and extension work in swine nutrition.
Armstrong joined the National FFA Organization as its chief operating officer in 2009 and was later appointed CEO.
Armstrong is a recipient of a Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award from Purdue in 1995 and an Outstanding Agriculture Alumni Award from Murray State University in 2002. He received an honorary doctorate from the Purdue College of Agriculture in 2013.
Doors open on the day of the Fish Fry at 10 a.m. Tickets, priced at $25 each, are available online at www.ag.purdue.edu/agalumni.