Purdue University’s Office of Engagement has announced the 2020-21 Scholarship of Engagement fellows – a list which includes Dr. Deepti Pillai, clinical assistant professor of diagnostic microbiology in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology. Dr. Pillai is one of a total of 14 faculty members in either clinical or tenure tracks from Purdue’s West Lafayette, Northwest, and Fort Wayne campuses selected for the program. Eight of the fellows are from the West Lafayette campus, two are at Purdue Northwest, and four are from Purdue Fort Wayne.
Dr. Pillai and the other 2020-2021 Scholarship of Engagement fellows will work with a panel of senior faculty mentors from across the Purdue system who have a history of successful scholarship of engagement. The purpose of the program is to promote faculty development of scholarship of engagement throughout the Purdue system in support of the promotion and tenure process.
During their fellowship, participants will be responsible for identifying, planning and completing a project with societal benefit and scholarly output. They will work with the Office of Engagement’s team of mentors to develop appropriate goals and are required to attend a set of workshops to advance their understanding of engagement and service learning.
Dr. Pillai is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (bacteriology). She earned her BVSc and MVSc veterinary degrees at Nagpur Veterinary College in India before doing graduate work at Kansas State University where she earned her PhD in 2011. Her areas of interest include antimicrobial resistance and identifying critical bacterial targets as vaccines candidates.
More information about the Scholarship of Engagement fellows program and fellows is available on the Office of Engagement website. Click here to view a news release that lists all of the newly named fellows.