Troy Runge grew up around silos. As the new director of agricultural and life science research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he’s hoping to tear some down.
An academic with a background in two of Wisconsin’s biggest industries, Runge wants to create opportunities for collaboration within the institution and foster collaboration with partners in the private sector.
“I don’t see business as all that different from science,” Runge says. “What we do (in academia) has much more freedom, but at the end of the day we’re all trying to solve problems. We’re trying to make the world better.”
A first-generation college student, Runge grew up on a dairy farm and spent a decade and a half in the paper industry before joining the university, where he is a professor of biological systems engineering.
Runge took over on April 1 as the associate dean of research for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, or CALS, where he oversees a $166 million research portfolio that includes food systems, human health, ecosystems, climate change and economic development.
Read more: https://news.wisc.edu/runge-sees-bioenergy-hub-as-model-for-doing-big-research/