Soybean Board and Purdue commit to value-added research

By BETH FORBES

The Indiana Soybean Board will partner with Purdue’s School of Agriculture to fund a professorship dedicated to researching new uses for soybeans.

The Indiana Soybean Board Professor in Soybean Utilization Research will help create value-added products from soybeans through the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. The Soybean Board has committed $1.5 million for the endowment, to be paid in installments over the next 10 years. Purdue will then establish an additional faculty position dedicated to soybean research.

“Our mission is clear — find new ways to make soybean producers more profitable,” says Matt Langdon, research committee chairman of the Indiana Soybean Board. “Bottom line, we are investing in the future of our industry by supporting a research position that will increase the demand for soybeans.”

Purdue President Martin C. Jischke says: “The Indiana Soybean Board is showing true vision. They are taking control of their destiny and ensuring that the interests of their industry will be met now and in the future. This is an excellent example of how business interests partnered with an academic institution provide unique opportunities to expand our knowledge and create new economic endeavors that benefit the state.”

Victor Lechtenberg, dean of Purdue Agriculture, says the faculty in those positions also will be leaders.

“This opportunity will provide soybean producers with a continual source for research that directly benefits them, and these faculty positions also will provide leadership in academics and outreach related to soybean uses,” Lechtenberg says. “The timing of the ISB gift also is such that we can give them a two-for-one benefit.”

The second faculty position will be funded through the Bindley Chair Challenge.

William Bindley, chairman and CEO of Bindley Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm located in Indianapolis and Naples, Fla., gave $52 million to the university in 2002. Included in the gift was $22.5 million for the Bindley Chair Challenge, which provides matching funds for 15 endowed chairs at $1.5 million each across the university.

The Indiana Soybean Board supports programs for soybean promotion, research, consumer, producer and industry information, and market development activities.

The Soybean Board gift is part of the seven-year Campaign for Purdue, which began in 2000 and has raised $800 million of its $1.3 billion goal. Campaign fund-raising supports the objectives of Purdue’s strategic plan, which include efforts to increase funds for student scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, programs and centers, and facilities and equipment.

Contact the Soybean Board at info@indianasoybeanboard.com