AMES, Iowa – The Executive Vice President of DuPont, Jim Collins, will present the 2016 William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture Oct. 5 at Iowa State University.
He will present, “Growth Comes When You Least Expect It” at 7 p.m. in the Richard and Joan Stark Lecture Hall room 1148 in the Gerdin Business Building. The event is free and open to the public.
Collins began working at DuPont Manufacturing in 1984 as an engineer and worked in a variety of roles until he became a sales representative and project manager in agriculture sales and marketing in 1993. He held global roles for the next several years advancing from vice president and general manager to president of DuPont Crop Protection. Most recently, he was named executive vice president for the DuPont agriculture segment: DuPont Pioneer and Crop Protection.
As a leader in the agriculture industry, Collins is active in professional and community organizations. He serves on the board of directors for CropLife International, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Christian Brothers University and the U.S. China Business Council.
He graduated from Christian Brothers College in Memphis, Tennessee, with a degree in chemical engineering and has an MBA from the University of Delaware. He serves on the advisory board for the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and the board of trustees for of the Hagley Museum and Library.
William K. Deal, an Iowa State alum with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education, established the lecture series to help prepare future leaders and innovators in agriculture. The lecture is organized by the Department of Agricultural Education and Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and co-sponsored by the Committee on Lectures funded by the Government of the Student Body.