Outside Event: November Presidential Lecture Series
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The top executive at Lafayette-based transportation manufacturer Wabash will headline Purdue University’s next Presidential Lecture Series event for a conversation on how industry and higher education can collectively advance innovation in manufacturing.
Brent Yeagy, a Purdue alum who has been Wabash CEO since 2018, will join Purdue President Mung Chiang for the PLS event at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Convergence Center (101 Foundry Drive). The event, titled “From Lab to Market: Unlocking Innovation Through Partnership,” is free and open to the public but a ticket is required. For tickets and more information, go here.
“A leader in creating the ‘Smart Crossroads of America,’ Brent Yeagy is a proven pioneer and Purdue alum who is taking Wabash to new levels in an extremely competitive global manufacturing landscape,” Chiang said. “What an honor it is to welcome him as our next PLS guest who represents a major Indiana company and a Purdue industry partner as we discuss ways that industry and higher education can deepen their collaborations to create jobs, workforce and innovation together.”
Yeagy is a manufacturing leader with more than 30 years of experience in the automotive and commercial transportation industries. As president and CEO of Wabash, a publicly traded company and leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions, he is responsible for setting the company’s strategic direction and overseeing its operations across North America.
Before his current appointment, Yeagy served as president and chief operating officer at Wabash from 2016-18. He joined Wabash in 2003 and has held a number of positions with increasing responsibility, including vice president of manufacturing, vice president and general manager of commercial trailer products, and senior vice president-group president of Wabash’s commercial trailer products.
Prior to joining Wabash, Yeagy held human resources, environmental engineering and safety management positions at Delco Remy International from 1999-2003. He also held various plant engineering roles at Rexnord Corp. from 1995-99 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1991-94.
Yeagy holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering science (1994) and a master’s degree in safety engineering (1998) from Purdue, and an MBA in business management from Anderson University. He has also attended executive programs at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and participated in the Navy’s Officer Candidate School. Yeagy serves on the boards for the National Association of Manufacturers and the Transportation and Supply Chain Institute at the University of Denver.