Joly named interim head of horticulture and landscape architecture
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Robert Joly, professor of plant physiology, has been appointed interim head of the Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.Joly will lead the department while a search is under way for a permanent successor to former head Ed Ashworth, who was named the new dean of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture at the University of Maine.
Joly, who has studied how plants adapt to the effects of environmental stress, will head a department with research ranging from basic molecular biology to crop improvement and the development of new crops and plant products. The department, part of the College of Agriculture, offers five majors with 30 faculty, 297 undergraduate students and 39 graduate students.
“Joly is recognized nationally as a great teacher and researcher.” said Randy Woodson, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. “I know that he will supply strong leadership to a department that is already recognized as one of the best in the country.”
The undergraduate program in landscape architecture ranked second in the nation this year, according to DesignIntelligence, a publication for design professionals. The program provides a unique practical education component in which each student works one year in the landscape architecture industry before graduation.
The department also operates the Purdue Master Gardner Program, which provides horticultural education and assistance to adults across Indiana who provide gardening instruction and activities in their local communities.
Joly’s numerous teaching awards include Charles B. Murphy Award from Purdue, the Outstanding Undergraduate Educator Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a founding fellow of the Purdue Teaching Academy.
A member of the Purdue faculty since 1985, Joly earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of New Hampshire and a doctorate in plant physiology from Oregon State University.
Writer: Beth Forbes, (765) 494-2722, forbes@purdue.edu
Sources: Robert Joly, (765) 494-6997, joly@purdue.edu
Randy Woodson, (765) 494- 8392. woodson@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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