President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Oct. 24) awarded the National Medal of Science to Gebisa Ejeta, Distinguished Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics and International Agriculture, executive director of the Purdue Center for Global Food Security and Purdue University Presidential Fellow for Food Security and Sustainable Global Development. The award is the highest recognition the nation bestows upon scientists.
Since January, Provost Patrick Wolfe, Executive Vice President for Research Karen Plaut and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Chris Ruhl have regularly shared key investments and initiatives that support, incentivize and reward scholarly impact and research excellence at Purdue. As Purdue approaches the final months of 2023, they provide the latest updates on those initiatives and share some additional news, including some outstanding achievements of Purdue faculty and staff.
Purdue faculty dedicate countless hours to exploring the frontiers of their respective fields, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and contributing to the ever-evolving landscape of academia. To celebrate our faculty’s excellence in scholarship, Purdue Today’s new weekly book series will highlight faculty expertise across a diversity of subjects and disciplines. Today’s feature focuses on Stanislaw Zak, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his book, “An Introduction to Optimization: With Applications to Machine Learning, 5th Edition.” Related: A
new list of recently published Purdue authors is now available online.
TIME’s annual list of best inventions features two Purdue-developed innovations. One is a sensor that civil engineering professor Luna Lu and her team have designed to reduce construction and traffic on concrete-paved highways. The other Purdue invention on the list is
ultrawhite paint created in the lab of mechanical engineering professor Xiulin Ruan. The paint is so reflective that it may cut air conditioning use for buildings, cars or planes.
Purdue’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging will present a free showing of the play “The Price of Progress: The Indiana Avenue Story” at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. The two-act play highlights the heritage of a downtown Indianapolis community called “The Harlem of the Midwest” for its thriving culture of Black-owned businesses, performing arts, educational influences and a jazz legacy — from bebop to hip-hop — that attracted the most renowned musicians of the 20th century.
The PurdueVotes Coalition and Purdue University’s ID Card Operations/Support will assist Purdue students needing a vote-ready physical identification to participate in the municipal election in November and the primary and the general elections next year.
I want to recognize the creative work of Purdue Global’s success coaches. They bring a wealth of information to the Purdue Global community and our students. Their energy shines through in their passion to support our students. I am continually impressed with their skills, resourcefulness and creative ideas. Keep up the great work! — Tessa Holst (Purdue Global)