Purdue News
Purdue News
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May 20, 2004 Purdue ag economics honors four distinguished alumniWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics presented APEX Awards to four individuals with strong ties to the department for significant contributions to their profession. "We are really proud of our award recipients and hope they continue to advance and inspire others in the field," said Sally Thompson, head of the department. Recipients of the inaugural APEX Award are Steve Bishop, of Villa Hills, Ky.; Tom Funk, of Ontario, Canada; Noralyn Marshall, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Ted Merrell, of Kokomo, Ind. • Steve Bishop, having earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Purdue, began his career at Proctor and Gamble (P&G) in 1986. He briefly left P&G and worked as vice president of marketing for a Christian music group, Sparrow Records/EMI, in Nashville, Tenn. He later returned to P&G in the position of U.S. marketing director, first for dish products, then home care products, and finally, laundry products. In 1999, he took an assignment as general manager for global strategic planning and design for the division in Brussels. He now serves as vice president for the North American Fabric Care Division and oversees all aspects of product supply, marketing and product development for the largest division of P&G, with annual sales of more than $4 billion. • Tom Funk received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in agricultural economics at Purdue. He is the creator and founding director of the University of Guelph's MBA in agribusiness program. Funk, a professor of marketing, is a top-rated instructor with students and agribusiness professionals who attend programs at Guelph and also at Purdue. He has been closely involved in the agribusiness programs offered through the Center for Food and Agricultural Business. His research on farmers' buying behavior has been the basis for dozens of North American companies' marketing strategies for more than 20 years and has made him the leading authority on marketing to farmers in North America. Funk is currently chairman of the board of the AdCulture group, a marketing communications group, and a member of the board of directors for the Innovation Centre in Waterloo, Ontario. • Noralyn Marshall earned her bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Davis and a master's degree in economics from Purdue in 1967. She was the first female to earn a doctorate in the Department of Agricultural Economics in 1972. Marshall worked for the Bank of America from 1973 to 1994 and served as head of country risk analysis for Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, among other positions. After serving as vice president and head of research for the investment banking and U.S. divisions, she took a job as vice president and senior sovereign economist with Scotia Capital Markets in 1995. She currently works for Maria Fiorini Ramiriz, a source of objective, timely and accurate forecasts of economic activity, short-term movements in the bond and money markets, longer-term trends in interest rates, and monetary and fiscal policy developments. She provides market commentary for fixed income and foreign exchange traders and clients. Marshall is past president of New York's Downtown Economist Club and the New York Association of Business Economists. • Ted Merrell, after receiving his associate's degree in ag economics from Purdue in 1982, returned home and established Merrell Brothers with his brother. The business originally started as a multisite hog finishing business. Today the company specializes in the development and management of beneficial biosolids reuse programs for municipalities, industries and livestock operations and is one of the largest land application companies in the Midwest. The company employs 50 people in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Providing services to more than 250 towns and cities, Merrell Brothers provides recycling alternatives for waste by-products in several agricultural markets. Merrell is a member of the Indiana Water Environmental Association, the Water Environment Federations and the Great Lakes By-Products Management Executive Board and has served as chairman for the Residuals Committee for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Writer: Julie Douglas, (765) 494-8402, douglajk@purdue.edu Source: Sally Thompson, (765) 494-4191, sallyt@purdue.edu Ag Communications: (765) 494-8396; Beth Forbes, (765) 494-2722forbes@purdue.edu
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