Matthew T. Holt receives Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award from Purdue University
Matthew T. Holt, department head and professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been awarded the 2024 Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award from Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.
This prestigious award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated a record of outstanding accomplishments, made significant contributions to their profession or society in general, and exhibit high potential for future professional growth.
Holt received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from Purdue in 1981 and 1983, and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1987. He joined Purdue's faculty in January 2006 as a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and was appointed the Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research.
Since joining Virginia Tech in 2017, Holt has worked to increase enrollment, broaden academic programs, and recruit expert faculty. He also has led efforts to expand the department’s portfolio of research activities and renew its Extension focus.
As a first-generation college student, Holt now advocates for access to higher education.
In 2020, he served as one of Virginia Tech’s two delegates to the McKinsey/Strada-led Taskforce on Higher Education and Opportunity. This pilot project expanded financial support and student success services for Pell-eligible students, many of whom are underrepresented minority or first-generation students.
As a result of his work with the task force, he was asked by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in 2022 to co-lead a campuswide presidential initiative on access and affordability, known as Virginia Tech Advantage. This initiative is a universitywide, multiyear commitment to offer a broad educational experience to undergraduate students from Virginia who have financial need.
Holt said he is “honored and humbled to receive this recognition.”
"It is wonderful to be recognized by my alma mater for a career that I have enjoyed and continue to do so,” he said. “I'm looking forward to impacting higher education, the industry, and the lives of as many students as I can."
