Millionaire’s Club Award - Kevin McNamara & John Sanders

Each year Ag Research Programs recognizes faculty members in the College of Agriculture who have been awarded a grant of more than $1 million during the previous fiscal year.  The names of the recipients are engraved on the Millionaire’s Club perpetual plaque in the Agricultural Administration Building main hallway. 

 

Principal Investigator:  Kevin McNamara
Co-Investigators:      James Lowenberg-Deboer
Title:  “Advancing Afghan Agriculture Alliance”
Sponsor:  Agency for International Development
Award Amount:  $1,246,857 *

The Funds continue support for the Advancing Afghan Agriculture Alliance (A4), a USAID supported project for redevelopment of the university level agricultural education in Afghanistan. The Alliance has 13 Afghan faculty in the US studying for MS degrees and 58 in India. The project has 5 long-term project staff in Afghanistan as well as short term support from Purdue and US Davis faculty working on staff development, students education, and development of applied agriculture and lab facilities.   

 

Principal Investigator:  James Lowenberg-Deboer
Co-Investigators:      Bruce Hamaker, John Sanders, Mitchell Tuinstra
Title:  “INSTORMIL Mali Associate Award-Transfer for Sorghum and Millet Production, Processing and Marketing Technologies in Mali-Training Component”
Sponsor:  Agency for International Development
Award Amount:  $1,000,001

We at Purdue received the $1,000,001 from INTSORMIL to handle the Mali Training Program (the last component John mentions below). It is being managed out of IPIA.  The Training is for identified researchers from IER, the national agricultural research institute, and includes long term training (5 MS students: 2 in Purdue AGEC with John Sanders, 1 Purdue FS with Bruce Hamaker and 2 KSU Agronomy with Vara Prasad and Scott Staggenborg) and short term training (3 researchers – 2 Agronomy; 1 AgEc).  The long term training plan includes a 6-month intensive English Language Training component to improve the students’ English proficiency so they are able to pass the TOELF for graduate school enrollment.    This English program is provided through the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication at IUPUI.   Currently 4 of the 5 students are at IUPUI in the English Language Program with plans to start Graduate School January 2010.  The last student will arrive in January 2010 to start his English Language Training at Kansas State and then will also be admitted there for his Masters in Agronomy in the Fall of 2010.