Governor reappoints trustees to Purdue board; appoints next student trustee

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has reappointed three current members, on three-year terms, to the Purdue University Board of Trustees and appointed the next student trustee on the standard two-year term for student trustees.

Lawrence “Sonny” Beck, Malcolm DeKryger and Shawn Taylor were reappointed, and Reagan Koester will serve as the student trustee.

Koester of Wadesville, Indiana, is an undergraduate student in the College of Agriculture studying agribusiness with a concentration in agribusiness management. Among her myriad campus activities, she served as president and central committee directing co-chair of the Purdue University Rising Professionals and serves as a board member of the Student Organization Grant Allocation. Koester is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority and on the Student Life Advisory Board. She also serves on the Ag Week Task Force and as an ambassador for the Department of Agricultural Economics Envoy.

Koester served as a state ambassador for Indiana 4-H. In 2023 she was one of 12 students selected by the American Soybean Association to lobby on Capitol Hill, representing National Ag Voices of the Future. She was also named the 2023 Posey County Lilly Scholar in addition to being recognized as a National Coca-Cola Scholar. Koester was the College of Agriculture’s recipient of both the outstanding freshman and sophomore awards.

Professionally, Koester has gained industry experience through internships with John Deere in its marketing department and Corteva Agriscience as a stakeholder engagement intern.

To serve her community and those in need across the state, Koester has founded three charities: Ping Pong for Poverty, Hug Packs, and Glam and Grit for Foster Teens.

As the student representative to the Board of Trustees, Koester will serve on the board’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee and Physical Facilities Committee and has an equal vote on all actions taken by the board.

Beck was first appointed to the board in 2013. He is the CEO of Beck’s Superior Hybrids in Atlanta, Indiana, where his business philosophy emphasizes quality, service and the importance of agronomic research to the future well-being of the American farmer. Beck is a Purdue alumnus, having earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in agricultural economics. He serves on the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

DeKryger is one of three alumni trustees, having first been elected in 2016. He is president and co-owner of Belstra Milling Co., an independent livestock feed manufacturer located in DeMotte, Indiana, and the general contractor and manager of The Pig Adventure, a working hog farm at Fair Oaks Farms that educates visitors on the pork industry. DeKryger earned a master’s degree from Purdue’s College of Agriculture in 1983.

Taylor was first appointed to the board in 2022. He has diverse business experience with expertise in finance and the restaurant industry as an owner and board member of Noodles & Company. Previously, he became one of Taco Bell’s largest franchisees with 33 stores. Taylor was a limited partner of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball franchise from 2010-17 and subsequently served as advisor to the chairman for five years. A Purdue alumnus, Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting with distinction in 1982.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.