Cameron Mann, Cloverdale, received the 2017 Flora Roberts Award. It’s presented to the top female student in all of Purdue University and is based on a number of factors, including scholastic achievement and leadership qualities exhibited while a student at Purdue.

Mann shouldn’t be a stranger to anyone. She was the 2012-13 Indiana FFA president, and also served a two-year term as a Purdue student trustee. She was named Purdue Homecoming Queen in 2016.

Mann was a senior in the Purdue Ag Communication capstone class in the fall of 2016, and was one of the student writers whose stories appeared on this website and in print in Indiana Prairie Farmer.

“We were very excited and proud of what Cameron accomplished,” says Jay Akridge, dean of the Purdue College of Agriculture. Akridge will serve as interim Purdue provost beginning this summer.

Mann is by no means the first College of Agriculture student to win this award. The award to the top male student at Purdue each year is called the G.A. Ross Award.

“Fourteen of the past 34 winners of these awards combined have been College of Agriculture students,” Akridge says. “It’s a record we’re very proud of.”

What’s the secret to why nearly half of all winners in the past 17 years came from the College of Agriculture? “There really isn’t a secret,” Akridge says. “One thing that helps us is that we attract top students who have developed tremendous leadership training through FFA before they get to campus.

“The other thing is that we try to provide our students with as many leadership experiences as possible in the College of Agriculture. It’s exciting to watch these passionate young leaders develop. We’ve got any number of undergraduate students right now who are outstanding leaders and very good students.”