Longtime University administrator wins Inaugural Morrill Award

May 3, 2012

Victor Lechtenberg, special assistant to the president and director of the Center for Regional Development, received the Inaugural Morrill Award during the Faculty Awards Convocation on April 26. (Photo by John Underwood)

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Victor Lechtenberg -- a longtime administrator in the Office of Engagement -- received the University-wide Inaugural Morrill Award during the Faculty Awards Convocation on April 26.

The award was tied to the 2012 Morrill Awards, a new annual award that honors faculty members who have excelled as teachers, researchers and scholars, and in engagement missions. Lechtenberg, who is special assistant to the president and director of the Center for Regional Development, has led a 41-year career that embodies the award's spirit of excellence and synergy among those disciplines.

Beverly Davenport Sypher, vice provost for faculty affairs, says, "Vic Lechtenberg has devoted his entire career to improving the quality of life for the people of Indiana and beyond. We could not give the first Morrill Award without holding up the exemplar Vic represents."

Lechtenberg joined the Purdue faculty in 1971 as a professor of agronomy. He taught crop science and conducted research on forage and biomass crops until 1982. From 1982 to 1993, Lechtenberg served as associate director of agricultural research programs and as executive associate dean of agriculture. He was dean of the College of Agriculture from 1993 to 2004.

From 2004 to 2011, Lechtenberg served as vice provost for engagement. He was interim provost from 2007 to 2008, and from 2008 to 2009 was interim vice president for governmental relations.

The 2012 Morrill Award winners were R. Graham Cooks, the Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry; Mark Lundstrom, the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Eugene Spafford, professor of computer science; and Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, professor of human development and family studies.

More information about the 2012 Morrill Award winners can be found here.

Each 2012 Morrill Award was accompanied by a $30,000 prize, which may be used as discretionary funds or as salary supplements.