This article is from the Journal & Courier jconline.com:
By MIKEL LIVINGSTON • mlivingsto@jconline.com • September 21, 2010
Gilbert Rochon, a senior research scientist at the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing and director of the Terrestrial Observatory at Purdue, will assume the office on Nov. 1, 2010 . He also is the associate vice president for collaborative research and engagement at Purdue. He will be the sixth president at Tuskegee, a historically black college in Tuskegee, Ala., with an enrollment of 2,994. He was named to the post on Friday.
Rochon has a bachelor's degree in English from Xavier University of New Orleans, another historically black college. He also has a
master's from the Yale University School of Medicine and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rochon said that while he enjoyed his time at Purdue, he is looking forward to opportunities presented by the new position.
Question: How do you feel about your selection as Tuskegee president?
Answer: I'm very excited at the prospect of being able to make a serious contribution to such a venerable institution. Particularly because I come from ... a historically black college myself. I'm very much aware of what a crucial role (it) has played with respect for preparing students for graduate school. Particularly, I was excited by the prospect of a linkage between so many things between my own
professional training and experience, and opportunities at Tuskegee.
Q: Tell me about your research at Purdue.
A: We are in our fifth year of a U.S. Geological Survey grant to manage Indiana View, which is a consortium of 11 universities, three (non-governmental organizations) and the Indiana State Geological Survey for the purpose of sharing spatial data, multi-temporal data as well as multi-spectral data among universities. We're in the process of trying to get Tuskegee, as well, into that initiative.
Q: How would you describe your time at Purdue?
A: I've really enjoyed my time at Purdue. It's varied during my experience and given me the opportunity to interact with various parts of university. It really has allowed me to develop an appreciation for interdisciplinary research even more so than when I arrived. Purdue has really provided a forum for me to grow both in depth and in breadth. I treasure the experience. My wife also works here, teaching television production and developing and producing two shows, so it will be difficult for us to disengage after the eight-plus years we've been here.
But what I'm hopeful for and fully anticipate is this transition will provide a golden opportunity for Purdue and Tuskegee to form a strategic relationship.
Q: What are your goals for Tuskegee University?
A: I think it may be premature to be too specific because I've only been to the campus once. I'll be returning for a few days in October to attend the board of trustees meeting for the first time. Living in West Lafayette initially then in Crawfordsville and now in Lafayette, I really feel a part of the community. I see the relationships that Purdue has with the community, which is an amicable one, and I am hopeful and fully confident that at Tuskegee I can play an urban planner role in assisting in the revitalization of the region and community.
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From the Exponent Online online@purdueexponent.org
Purdue researcher to assume role as Tuskegee president
By Ashley Mikutis
Assistant Campus Editor
Publication Date: 09/24/10
A researcher who will assume the role of Tuskegee University’s president plans to take the knowledge and experience acquired at Purdue and apply it to his new position.
Gilbert Rochon, a senior research scientist at the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing and director of the Purdue Terrestrial Observatory, said his position at Purdue has allowed him to use his diverse interdisciplinary background and gain understanding of university operations, which he hopes to take with him to Tuskegee.
“Firstly, one needs to be inventive in developing capital fundraising campaigns,” Gilbert Rochon said. “Dr. Martin Jischke’s successful $1.7 billion campaign contained valuable best management practices that would need to be right-size scaled and carefully adapted to be successful within the specific context, constraints and opportunities for Tuskegee University.
“Secondly, Purdue had developed discovery and research parks which are highly interdisciplinary; we need to effectively break silo barriers because complex problems require complex solutions.
“Thirdly, in order to be effective on an interdisciplinary basis, one needs to have students exposed to high performance computing. In the 21st century, it is crucial to virtually every academic department that students and faculty have access to and benefit from state of the science cyber-infrastructure and high-performance computing.”
Gilbert Rochon also mentioned he wanted to bring an increased sense of community involvement to Tuskegee like what he has seen Purdue carry out over the years.
“Purdue has developed amicable town-grown relations and contributes to the economic vitality of the city and the region,” he said. “Since Tuskegee is the largest employer in its setting, it will be important for me as president – particularly given my doctoral training in urban and regional planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and subsequent professional experience – to collaborate with the local, city, state and regional leadership in sustainable development initiatives, emphasizing poverty eradication, job and career development, educational pipeline enhancement, environmental sustainability and intergenerationally prudent management of natural resources.”
Rochon received a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University, a master’s degree in public health from Yale University School of Medicine and a doctorate in Urban and Regional Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He came to Purdue after having held several positions in the education, health and research fields.
Gilbert Rochon’s wife, Patricia Rochon, an assistant clinical professor of communication, will leave Purdue to become the first lady of Tuskegee University. While at Purdue, she has created the courses in which students develop the weekly televised news magazine “Fast Track.”
Patricia Rochon said she is excited for her husband to join Tuskegee’s learning community since the university has held a significant role in history.
“Very few people have had the opportunity to carry the banner raised by Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver,” Patricia Rochon wrote in an e-mail.
Although Patricia Rochon will join her husband at Tuskegee at the end of the semester, she said she has been happy for the opportunity to have been associated with a university that has been close to her heart from an early age and hopes the students at Purdue continue to flourish and grow.
“I will truly miss the communication department, which has been so supportive in the years I have been here, and the students here at Purdue who create a very special kind of energy and made my job a daily joy,” she wrote.
Patricia Rochon said plans already are being discussed regarding the “Fast Track” program in order to provide a smooth transition when she leaves.
Gilbert Rochon said he will meet with the provost and several deans before he leaves Purdue to begin the process of establishing a connection between Purdue and Tuskegee since both universities have a history of agricultural extension.
“The first agriculture extension offers in the U.S. came from Tuskegee,” Gilbert Rochon said. “Moreover, both schools have a major academic emphasis on engineering and the sciences from the undergraduate curricula through the doctoral level, including Ph.D. programs in material science engineering and in integrative biosciences at Tuskegee.
“Both schools could benefit from greater diversity and from increased third-party funded, mutually beneficial collaborative research. Accordingly, Purdue and Tuskegee are natural partners.”
Gilbert Rochon will assume his role as Tuskegee president Nov. 1.
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Dr. Gilbert L. Rochon the Sixth President of Tuskegee University - Effective November 1, 2010
