Retiring, IPB University’s Department of Agribusiness Holds a Soft Launch for the Book on the 40-Year Career Journey of Dr Nunung Kusnadi

To honor the retirement of one of its finest educators, the Department of Agribusiness at IPB University soft launched a book titled “40 Years of Career Journey of Dr Ir Nunung Kusnadi, MS.

Dr Nunung, a senior lecturer in the Department of Agribusiness at IPB University, has displayed exceptional dedication to supporting education and the development of agribusiness in Indonesia. He was born in Purwakarta, West Java on September 8th, 1958.

Fondly known as Pak Nunung, he graduated from the Department of Agricultural Socio Economic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture at IPB in 1982. His expertise in this field continued to evolve. Culminating in the completion of his master’s degree in Agricultural Economics at IPB in 1990 and his doctoral studies in the same program in 2005. He also participated in a short course on “Business Dynamics” held in the Netherlands in 2007.

Dr Nunung commenced his career as a teaching assistant at IPB’s Faculty of Agriculture in 1982 and has dedicated 40 years of service to the university. Throughout his journey, he held various crucial positions, including serving as the Secretary of the Agribusiness Laboratory at IPB’s Faculty of Agriculture in 1990. From 2005 to 2013, he served as the Secretary of the Diploma III Agribusiness Management Program (D3 MAB) at IPB. During that period, he was entrusted with the role of becoming the first Chair of the Department of Agribusiness at IPB University since its establishment.

His academic contributions were acknowledged with the Faculty of Agriculture’s Outstanding Lecturer Award (Dosen Teladan III) in 1996. Furthermore, in 2003, Dr Nunung received the Satyalancana Karya Satya 30 Tahun award from the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Not limited to teaching, Dr Nunung also engaged in research and collaborative projects with stakeholders in the industrial and business sectors, such as the Multi-Year Agreement Project with the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) from 2008 to 2011. He was a Project Leader in projects like the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity Development in Higher Education (NICHE), highlighting his role as a leader and innovator in agribusiness development in Indonesia.

In the field of education, Dr Nunung Kusnadi taught numerous courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, with a primary focus on farming enterprises and quantitative methods. Throughout his service, he mentored and graduated more than 150 undergraduate students, 200 master’s students, and 18 doctoral candidates. His contribution to the compilation of reference books and academic writing guidelines was invaluable to IPB University students.

In the realm of research, Dr Nunung Kusnadi has served as the principal investigator and a team member in various studies funded by the government and other institutions. Over 130 of his scientific articles have been published in various national and international journals.

Furthermore, Dr. Nunung was a part-time evaluator for the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 in the field of plantations. He also dedicated his expertise as a crop variety evaluator for the Ministry of Agriculture.

At the national level, he actively participated in professional organizations, including the Indonesian Association of Agricultural Economists (Perhepi) and the Indonesian Agribusiness Association (AAI). His involvement in these professional activities significantly contributed to the development of agribusiness in Indonesia. (NA/Rz) (IAAS/DSR)