Julia Wickard, a longtime agricultural leader in Indiana, was appointed as the college\u2019s new constituent liaison and executive director of the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association, effective Feb. 24. Wickard, of Greenfield, Indiana, previously served as the state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. Her new position represents a homecoming for the Purdue alumna, who earned her BA degree in agricultural communications and political science.
Wickard has more than 30 years of executive management experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Before her most recent position with the USDA, Wickard served in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management as assistant commissioner and agricultural liaison as well as director of government affairs. She also worked more than seven years as executive vice president of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association\/Indiana Beef Council, and served as environmental and natural resources director and chief operating and marketing officer for Indiana Farm Bureau Environmental Services, Inc. In addition, she worked for the state of Indiana first as environmental and natural resources director in the Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture, and then as executive director of the Indiana Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development.
\u201cJulia has a strong record of significant experience, effective leadership and constructive networking within the agricultural sector, and her knowledge and expertise will be instrumental in our efforts to strengthen and expand our college\u2019s relationships with stakeholders, agencies and organizations across the state,\u201d said PVM Dean Bret Marsh. \u201cOur college has a vital role to play in Purdue\u2019s strategic One Health Initiative as well as the university\u2019s growing presence and partnerships in Indianapolis. We are excited to have Julia on our team to guide and ensure our success in these opportunities to enhance our college\u2019s connectedness to our alumni, clientele, research partners, animal agriculture and the veterinary medical profession.\u201d
Wickard\u2019s appointment comes on the heels of Purdue\u2019s recent announcement of the launch of Victories and Heroes: Your Campaign for Purdue. The five-year, $4 billion fundraising campaign is the largest in the university\u2019s history. \u201cThis is a pivotal point in the history of Purdue and our College of Veterinary Medicine,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cWe have a unique opportunity to showcase the importance and impact of our college and our alumni, faculty, staff and students. As we work together with partners and allied organizations, there is great potential to enhance the recognition of, and appreciation for, our college\u2019s contributions to animal and human health and well-being in our state and beyond.\u201d
As a member of the dean\u2019s leadership cabinet, Wickard\u2019s responsibilities will include serving as the college\u2019s liaison to local, state and national organizations including the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association, Indiana State Board of Animal Health, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana commodity organizations, Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana AgrIInstitute, National FFA Organization and 4-H, and the USDA and its agencies. As the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association executive director, she will provide strategic leadership for college alumni activities and work to increase alumni engagement with the college.
Wickard said she is excited by the new opportunity. \u201cServing in this capacity reflects my passion for agriculture and the professionals, especially veterinarians, who help people in rural communities,\u201d Wickard said. \u201cPurdue Veterinary Medicine has a vital role to play in strengthening connections among veterinary medicine, agriculture and the public, especially in light of the service Purdue University provides as the state\u2019s land-grant institution. I look forward to working with Dean Marsh \u2013 a colleague I\u2019ve known for a long time \u2013 to expand the college\u2019s engagement with alumni and collaborations with the agricultural sector.\u201d
A 10-year 4-H member and FFA alumna, Wickard is founder and owner of Wickard Livestock, along with her husband, Chris, and jointly manages McClarnon Stock Farm with her mother and sister, both in Greenfield, Indiana. \u201cAlways coming home at night to my family farm with Angus cattle and Boer goats keeps me grounded in what is important,\u201d Wickard said.
Wickard has received numerous awards including the Purdue University Women in Agriculture Leadership Award, the Purdue University Distinguished Agricultural Alumni Award, the Purdue Spirit of Extension Award, the Indiana State Poultry Association Outstanding Service Award for Emergency Preparedness Planning and Indiana\u2019s Sagamore of the Wabash Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Julia Wickard, a longtime agricultural leader in Indiana, was appointed as the college\u2019s new constituent liaison and executive director of the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association, effective Feb. 24. Wickard, of Greenfield, Indiana, previously served as the state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency . Her new position represents a homecoming for the Purdue alumna, who earned her BA degree in agricultural communications and political science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,17,29],"tags":[56,213,598,25],"class_list":["post-30506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-in-the-news","category-our-people","tag-homepage","tag-in-the-news","tag-our-people","tag-top-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30506"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30579,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30506\/revisions\/30579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}