Bo Beaulieu

MS 1975, Sociology; PhD 1977 Sociology 

Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD), West Lafayette, IN

Dr. Bo Beaulieu is director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development and served as Assistant Director of the Purdue Extension Community Development program from 2013 through July 2019. He has played a played a major role in the launch of a number of innovative national research and Extension programs across the nation including the National e-Commerce Extension Project, the Stronger Economies Together (SET) program in partnership with USDA Rural Development, and the Food Assistance Research Program in collaboration with the USDA Economic Research Service. More recently, Dr. Beaulieu secured funding for PCRD, in partnership with the University of Kentucky, to spearhead the Rural Economic Development Initiative in the North Central and Southern regions of the U.S. as part of funding from USDA Rural Development. Since joining Purdue in 2013, he gave leadership to the development and implementation of the Hometown Collaboration Initiative, the launch of the Rural Indiana Stats website, and the Rural Opportunity Zones Initiative, all in partnership with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

Dr. Beaulieu is the recipient of a number of key awards in recent years. In 2014, he received the Distinguished Rural Sociologist Award given by the Rural Sociological Society, the Secretary of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack) Honors Award, and was inducted in the George Washington Carver Hall of Fame for Public Engagement at Tuskegee University. In 2016, the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals honored him with the Distinguished Career Award.

Bo received his M.S. degree and Ph.D. degree in Sociology with a specialty in community development, both from Purdue University. He is also professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and a past president of the Rural Sociological Society and the Community Development Society.