Julia A. Wickard

Executive Director, Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association
Constituent Liaison

Veterinary Administration
Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine
625 Harrison Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907

wickard@purdue.edu

PVM Leadership | PVM Alumni | Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association (PVAA)

About

Julia A. Wickard serves as the Executive Director of the Purdue Veterinary Medicine Alumni Association and Constituent Liaison. Previously she served as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Indiana.

Wickard also has served as the Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Program Support and the Agricultural Liaison at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for the State of Indiana. In addition, Wickard served as the State Executive Director for FSA in Indiana from 2008-2017.

Before her federal service, Wickard served as the Executive Vice President of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association. She also has worked for Indiana Farm Bureau Inc., the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Inc., and served as Deputy Director in the Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture for seven years. She has worked for two members of Congress in Washington D.C., and she serves on several agricultural and community boards and commissions.

Wickard graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and political science. She received the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association Certificate of Distinction and was selected as a College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumni. She is a graduate of the two-year Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program through AgrIInstitute where she has served as Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

She received the Purdue Women in Agriculture Leadership Award in 2024 and was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Administrator as the Supervisor of the Year, as well. Wickard was a recipient of the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association Certificate of Distinction in 2022. She was awarded as a 2019 Distinguished Alumni from the Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication Department in the College of Agriculture at Purdue University. Wickard received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 2004 from Governor Joseph E. Kernan, and the Beck’s Hybrids “Beyond the Fence” in 2015.

She received numerous national awards during her USDA tenure and was appointed to the Indiana State Fair Board of Directors by Governor Mike Pence in 2015.

Wickard, her husband, Chris, and their two young adult children – Jordyn and Jacob, reside in Hancock County on their 100-year homesteaded family farm where they raise registered Angus cattle, Boer goats and assist in operating the farm with her family. Chris also is a graduate of Purdue, BS agribusiness management in 1993, and their kids are students at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.

Education

1993 - BS | Purdue University, College of Agriculture

Experience

2025–Present | Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine
2022–2025 | USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director
2017–2022 | Indiana Department of Environmental Management Government Affairs Director, Assistant Commissioner and Agricultural Liaison
2009–2017 | USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director
2005–2009 | Executive Vice President Indiana Beef Cattle Association and Indiana Beef Council
2003–2005 | Chief Operating and Marketing Officer, Indiana Farm Bureau Environmental Services, Inc. and Environmental and Natural Resources Director
2001–2003 | Executive Director Indiana Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development
1997–2003 | Deputy Director Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture
1994–1997 | Executive Director Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Inc.
1992–1992 | United States Congress Intern in Representative Lee Hamilton and Dan Burton Offices
1991–1993 | Purdue University Agricultural Communication Service Student Writer
1991–1991 | Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture Summer Intern

Areas of Interest

I love spending time with my family on our homesteaded family farm in eastern Hancock County. We show registered Angus cattle and Boer goats at the state, regional and national levels. We enjoy attending Purdue football games and tailgating with Purdue alumni and friends!

Professional Memberships, Honors, and Awards