New Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning

To:  Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors, and Heads of Schools, Divisions, Departments and Offices

From: Jay Akridge, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity

Date:  December 1, 2020

Re:  New Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning 

I am pleased to inform you that Jenna Rickus has been named vice provost for teaching and learning, effective Dec. 1. As many of you know, Jenna, who had been associate vice provost for teaching and learning since 2017, stepped into the interim role last spring when Frank Dooley was named chancellor of Purdue University Global.

An award-winning professor of agricultural and biological engineering and biomedical engineering, Rickus was named a University Faculty Scholar in 2016. Her research developed new technologies to treat, understand and detect brain cancer, diabetes and foodborne illness. She is an alumna of Purdue (BS ABE ’95, BS BCHM ’95) and spent time in industry as an engineer before receiving her Ph.D. in neuroscience and neuroengineering at UCLA.

During her 18 years as a faculty member at Purdue, she has invested significantly in building, growing and strengthening academic programs, classroom teaching and transformational experiences for students.

I want to thank all of the members of the search committee, chaired by Nancy Marchand-Martella, the Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of Education, College of Education, for their excellent work.

Please join me in congratulating Jenna on her new position!