Last evening I returned from a whirlwind trip to Purdue University, where I was deeply honored to deliver a Distinguished Engineering Lecture entitled: "Agricultural Supply Chain Networks: Trade, Policies, Food Security, and Resilience."
My lecture took place on March 26, 2026, and my travel from Amherst, MA to West Lafayette, Indiana as well as back was wonderful via shuttles and two legged flights each way via American Airlines. Many thanks to the selfless, unpaid still, TSA workers at Bradley International Airport and at the Indianapolis Airport.
I'd like to thank the Purdue University College of Engineering and the Purdue University Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering for the outstanding hospitality extended to me. It was a great honor and pleasure to be introduced by Associate Dean Nikhilesh Chawla. The Distinguished Engineering Lecture took place in the stunning atrium of the Armstrong Building, named after its alumnus, the astronaut Neil Armstrong. The format was very intellectually engaging with a panel afterwards on: "Bridging Engineering and Agriculture: Innovations for Resilient Supply Chains," with fellow panelists: Purdue University Professors Maksym Chepeliev, Sivaranjani Seetharaman, and Yu She, expertly moderated by Professor Hua Cai. It was very special to be presented by James J. Solberg Head of the Edwardson School Professor Young-Jun Son with a beautiful engraved glass award afterwards.
A big highlight, after the lively panel discussions, was to meet Associate Vice Provost and Dean of the John Martinson Honors College Professor Felisa (Preciado) Higgins and two undergraduate students from Panama! In my Distinguished Lecture, I spoke about various disruptions to agricultural supply chains (and there are many), as well as trade policies, and resilience, and noted, of course, impacts of the recent drought affecting the Panama Canal as well as wars on Ukraine and in the Middle East. Also, two undergraduate students from Jordan came up to me and presented me with a type-written project plan on Agricultural Supply Networks for their country! Fellow panelist Maksym Chepeliev was born in Ukraine and his sister is now studying at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). It is such a small world - I continue to serve on the Board of Directors of KSE and on its International Academic Board.
Everything surrounding my visit was organized beautifully with great attention to detail. I am very grateful to the exceptional staff members: Leza Dellinger and Cole Stonebraker for making my visit so comfortable and well-planned.
I thoroughly enjoyed the delicious welcome dinner with Professors Susan Hunter, David Johnson (who recently returned from Singapore), and Yuehwern Yih and terrific conversations; breakfast with fellow panelists and moderator; a catered lunch, plus closing dinner at a fabulous Japanese restaurant with exceptional host James J. Solberg Head Professor Young-Jun Son and faculty: Professors Reem Khir, Miaolan Xie, Sivaranjani Seetharaman, and Liwei Jiang. We had extra excitement at that dinner because of a tornado siren warning and lots of lightning. The positive excitement continued when Purdue beat Texas in the Sweet Sixteen basketball tournament.
Other highlights included a tour of the Gateway Lab, thanks to David Kish, PE, and two excellent undergraduate students, one of whom was named Kai and was from LA, and the other one, whose name I did not catch, was from Tennessee.
I'm very grateful to Engineering Dean Arvind Raman for taking the time to meet with me and to show me, from his stunning outdoor office suite balcony, a "replica" trail of Armstrong's lunar footprints marking: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Thanks also to Professors Srinivasan Chandrasekar and Nan Kong for the friendly, engaging conversations. Amazingly, Dr. Kong remembered me when I gave a talk at the University of Pittsburgh through the INFORMS Speakers Program, when he was a graduate student there!
The meeting with Dr. Chandresakar took place in a boardroom with paintings of Professor Yuehwern Yih, who was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. Dr. Yih is a name not only in engineering but also in ballroom dancing! She is now a Chair of the USA Dance National DanceSport Championships, taking place in Pittsburgh.
Many thanks for the extraordinary experience!
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