REGISTER

PANELISTS

Jay T. Akridge, Ph.D.
Trustee Chair in Teaching and Learning Excellence and a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University

Jay Akridge is the trustee chair in teaching and learning excellence and a professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University. He teaches classes on leadership and agribusiness management and conducts research on human talent issues and technology adoption in agribusiness. Jay is co-author (with David Hummels) of the Substack Finding Equilibrium which focuses on the future of higher education. He served from 2017-2022 as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity at Purdue. Jay previously served for 9+ years as the Glenn W. Sample dean of agriculture and chaired the APLU policy board of directors for the Board on Agriculture Assembly while dean. He also served as director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Business and interim vice provost for engagement at Purdue. Jay is the recipient of the Charles Murphy Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching, is listed in Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers, and was named a university faculty scholar in 2000. He held the James and Lois Ackerman professorship in agricultural economics before moving into administration. Jay received his master’s and doctorate in agricultural economics from Purdue and his bachelor’s degree from Murray State University.

MODERATOR

Colleen Flaherty
Senior Editor for Special Content at Inside Higher Ed

Colleen Flaherty, Senior Editor for Special Content, previously served as Student Voice Editor for Inside Higher Ed. Prior to joining the publication in 2012, Colleen was military editor at the Killeen Daily Herald, outside Fort Hood, Texas. Before that, she covered government and land use issues for the Greenwich Time and Hersam Acorn Newspapers in her home state of Connecticut. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a degree in English literature, Colleen taught English and English as a second language in public schools in the Bronx, New York. She earned her M.S.Ed. from City University of New York Lehman College as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows program.

David Hummels, Ph.D.
Marshall and Susan Larsen Distinguished Professor of Economics, Dean Emeritus at the Daniels School of Business at Purdue University and Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research

David Hummels is the Marshall and Susan Larsen distinguished professor of economics, and the dean emeritus, at the Daniels School of Business at Purdue. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Professor Hummels teaches courses in international economics, international business, and the economics of growth and innovation, and has won multiple teaching awards at the graduate and undergraduate level. His research focuses on a broad range of issues in international economics, including business dynamism; offshoring; product differentiation; barriers to trade and trade facilitation. More recently his work has focused on labor markets, including the effects of offshoring, executive compensation, the intersection between worker health and productivity, and the economics of higher education. Professor Hummels has worked as a consultant for and visiting scholar at a wide variety of central banks, development banks and policy institutes around the world.