Skip to main content

IU McKinney School of Law launching agriculture law program with Purdue University

For Immediate Release Oct 9, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS and WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, in cooperation with Purdue University, is launching a program in agriculture law. Amy Cornell, a 2006 graduate of IU McKinney and a graduate of Purdue University, has been retained as a consultant and will assemble a steering committee to build the program.

Amy Cornell
Amy Cornell.Photo by Liz Kaye, IU Communications

“I am excited about the opportunity to build programming in the area of agriculture law,” said IU McKinney Dean Andrew R. Klein. “We are well-positioned to do so, given our location in the heart of the Midwest and the strong support we have received from Indiana’s leaders in the legislature. I look forward to collaborating with our colleagues at the Purdue University College of Agriculture, and I am delighted that Amy Cornell will lead our efforts.”

Karen Plaut, interim dean of the Purdue University College of Agriculture, said that this collaboration will meet a critical need: “The area of agriculture law requires a distinctive set of skills as well as in-depth knowledge about what is occurring in industry, research and fields across our state, country and the world,” she said. “We look forward to this collaboration to build a program that utilizes the impressive strengths of IU McKinney and Purdue Agriculture.”

“As a farmer’s daughter, I’m passionate about making sure that farmers and agribusinesses have the trained counsel they need to grow and expand their family businesses,” Cornell said. “I’m a person who delights in the diversity and complexity of agriculture law, and I look forward to working with the steering committee to design a program that will draw talent to Indiana.”

Cornell has an extensive background in agriculture law and earned a master’s of law in agricultural and food law from the University of Arkansas School of Law. She is a member of the American Agricultural Law Association and served as policy advisor and counsel for Indiana Farm Bureau before joining the government relations and strategic communications firm Bose Public Affairs Group. Cornell has served there since 2016, is of counsel in the firm’s agribusiness group and was named vice president in September. She was recently chosen by her peers to serve on the board of the Governmental Affairs Society of Indiana, a group dedicated to promoting the highest degree of professional and ethical conduct when working with government entities.

A steering committee will meet over the course of the next two years to determine the needs of the agriculture market, what needs aren’t being met, and what employers and students are asking for, Cornell said. The program will be designed based on those factors.

Media Contact

IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Elizabeth Allington

More stories