WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — Karen Plaut, Dean of the Glenn W. Sample College of Agriculture at Purdue University, has appointed Rama Radhakrishna to head the Department of Agricultural Science Education and Communications.

“Rama brings great strength to Purdue Agriculture and ASEC,” said Prout. Departments will be assured of building partnerships across the university and state.”

After earning a PhD in Agriculture and Extension Education from Pennsylvania State University, Radhakrishna undertook a three-year research study at the University that focused on the effects of smoking on children. Following this study, Radhakrishna taught at Clemson University and most recently in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education at Pennsylvania State University. He also served as Associate Dean of Graduate Education at the Faculty of Agriculture.

Radhakrishna’s area of ​​expertise is the development and evaluation of extension programs and she looks forward to identifying areas for cooperation and integration at the Agricultural College. He wants to identify cutting-edge research and teaching opportunities within the Purdue School of Agriculture while addressing statewide issues.

“Integration has been a theme of my entire career and here at Purdue there is a great opportunity to do that,” Radhakrishna said. “I am very driven by results and results. One of the things I believe in is that when we think about discovery and innovation, it happens at the intersection of disciplines. We have to make it happen in order to tackle the problem and produce positive results.”

During the fall semester, Radhakrishna said she will be doing extensive listening to learn more about the university. He emphasized the need to understand the division’s strengths and opportunities for improvement. This is the key to achieving the goals set for ASEC’s success.

Writer: Gillian Ellison, 765-494-0948, ellison1@purdue.edu

sauce: Rama Radhakrishna, rbradhak@purdue.edu

Agricultural communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Head of Department, mmanier@purdue.edu

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