Gregory Lardy, professor and head of animal science, and William Nganje, professor and chair of agribusiness and applied economics, have been accepted for the Food Systems Leadership Institute, an executive leadership development program for academia, industry and government.
The institute enhances personal and professional development by emphasizing leadership competencies, skills for organizational change and an interdisciplinary perspective on food systems. The experience prepares scholars for upper-level leadership roles in food system programs.
In the program, scholars work with expert instructors, leadership development coaches, and an upper-level mentor to help increase their leadership abilities.
Nganje joined the NDSU faculty in 1998, was a faculty member at Arizona State University from 2007-13 and returned to NDSU as department chair in 2013. He earned his joint bachelor's and master's degree in agricultural economics at the University of Dschang, Cameroon, and his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lardy joined NDSU in 1997 as the state beef cattle specialist, and become a professor in 2009. He earned his bachelor's degree in animal and range sciences from NDSU, his master's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his doctorate in animal science from the University of Nebraska.
The institute is a two-year program. The first year includes intensive executive education-style residential learning sessions at three university locations. Scholars implement a personal development plan, prepared with the assistance of a professional coach. Interactive distance learning is used between residential sessions. During the second year, participants apply what they have learned to develop and carry out an individual leadership project.
The institute is a program of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, with the initial funding provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. North Carolina State University is the host site with The Ohio State University and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo being residential sites responsible for implementation of the program.
Additional information is available at www.fsli.org.