Steve Abel

Broader Impacts Champion

Purdue University (retired)

Abel is being honored because of his participation in the pilot ORIC cohort and his leadership in promotion and tenure based on the scholarship of engagement.

Dr. Steve Abel retired in 2023 from his role as Associate Provost for Engagement after nearly a decade of service to Purdue engagement and 40 years of service to Purdue in the areas of student education, faculty leadership development, and mentorship. Under Abel’s direction, Purdue emerged as a national leader in university engagement. Abel was named associate provost for engagement in 2016 after serving as associate vice president for engagement (2014-16) and associate vice provost for faculty affairs (2012-14). Abel previously held positions within the College of Pharmacy, including assistant/associate dean for clinical programs, head of the department of pharmacy practice, and the William S. Bucke Professor of Pharmacy Practice.

With Abel’s support, Purdue engaged in hundreds of impactful partnerships throughout the region, the state, and beyond, with governmental bodies, municipalities, nonprofits and human services agencies, school corporations, small businesses, and more. The Office of Engagement’s Societal Impact Fellows program was ranked in the top ten for the Social Innovator of the Year award at the 2023 Social Innovation Summit. He led Purdue’s participation in the pilot cohort of ARIS’ Program to Enhance Organizational RI Capacity (ORIC) as the institution’s administrative partner.

The number of Purdue faculty members promoted and/or tenured fully or partially on the scholarship of engagement increased exponentially in the past decade. A key driver of this increase was the development of The Guide (PDF) by Abel and Assistant Provost for Engagement Rod Williams, published in 2019 to support faculty in developing promotion documents based on the scholarship of engagement. The Guide has not only been a resource for Purdue faculty but has been requested and utilized to advance the scholarship of engagement by individuals representing 106 universities worldwide.