Jay Akridge is the Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University. In this role, he is responsible for administering academic programs in the College of Agriculture, the Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station, the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service and a number of state regulatory services, including the State Chemist’s Office, the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and the Indiana Wine-Grape Council.

In addition, he is director of the MS-MBA dual degree program in food and agribusiness management, a partnership with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He remains active in Purdue’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business, working with food and agribusiness managers in the center’s professional development programs and conducting research on agribusiness management and marketing issues.

Jay was named a University Faculty Scholar in 2000. In 1996, he received the Charles Murphy Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching — Purdue’s highest teaching award. Jay was added to the Purdue University Book of Great Teachers in 2003 and was also awarded the USDA Food and Ag Science Excellence in Teaching Award that year. Jay served as interim vice provost for engagement at Purdue in 2007–08.

Jay’s research has examined the buying behavior of commercial agricultural producers, innovations in marketing strategies by agribusiness firms, and adoption of precision agricultural technologies by crop input retailers. He has worked with agribusiness managers in the areas of strategy, finance and marketing in more than 20 countries including Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Kenya and Cameroon.

Jay received his doctorate in agricultural economics in 1986 from Purdue University specializing in marketing and finance. His master’s degree in agricultural economics with an emphasis in agribusiness management and finance is also from Purdue. Jay earned his bachelor’s degree — a double major in agriculture and business administration — in 1982 from Murray State University in Murray, Ky.

A native Kentuckian, his family owns and operates a third-generation retail farm supply store in Fredonia, Ky. Jay worked in the family business through high school and college and remains involved in the management of the firm. He and his wife, Michelle, have two children, Sean and Samantha.