Sky's the Limit: Purdue Grad Students Join Prestigious National Faculty Workshop at UC Berkeley

4 Boilermakers Selected for Elite Faculty Preparation Workshop

Purdue University continues to make waves in graduate engineering, with 4 outstanding representatives chosen for the prestigious 2025 NextProf Nexus workshop at UC Berkeley. Out of 19 Purdue applicants—spanning postdocs, graduate students, and a recent PhD alumna—these 4 individuals now join a national group of roughly 60 emerging scholars, meaning Purdue constitutes around 7% of this year's select cohort.

Purdue’s 2025 NextProf Nexus Fellows

  • Emily Garcia – Industrial Engineering
  • Juan Meza-Galvan – Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Azizi Penn – Engineering Education
  • Cameron Villarreal – Biomedical Engineering

Their inclusion in this high-caliber event highlights both Purdue’s long-standing commitment to graduate excellence and its pivotal role in shaping the future of academic engineering leadership.

What Is NextProf Nexus?

NextProf Nexus is a widely respected initiative co-led by UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, and Georgia Tech. The annual workshop rapidly immerses doctoral candidates, postdocs, and early-career scientists in the rigors and opportunities of academic faculty careers.

Participants take part in:

  • Intensive workshops on faculty searches and the academic job market
  • Guidance on effective research and teaching statements
  • Networking with leaders and mentors in engineering academia
  • Training on building impactful research portfolios

The program is designed to demystify the faculty pathway.

Purdue’s Talent Takes the Spotlight

That four Boilermakers were chosen out of a highly competitive national pool underscores the strength of Purdue’s graduate engineering community. Their selection ensures that Purdue voices are at the forefront of key discussions shaping the trajectory of the nation’s engineering professoriate.

The NextProf Experience: Transformative Impact

NextProf Nexus is known for launching promising scholars into successful faculty careers. Alumni repeatedly share that it offers unmatched mentorship, critical career insights, and a network that lasts well beyond the workshop itself.