Purdue University is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
land-grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
West Lafayette, Indiana
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...
, and the flagship campus of the
Purdue University system
The Purdue University system is a public university system in the U.S. state of Indiana. A land-grant university with nearly 75,000 students across six traditional campuses comprising five institutions, a statewide technology program, extensio ...
. The university was founded in 1869 after
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
businessman
John Purdue
John Purdue (; October 31, 1802 – September 12, 1876) was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University.
Early life
Most details of Purdue's early life were either not recor ...
donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name.
The first classes were held on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students.
It has been ranked as among the best public universities in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
by
major institutional rankings, and is renowned for its
engineering program.
The main campus in West Lafayette offers more than 200 majors for undergraduates, over 70 masters and doctoral programs, and professional degrees in pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and doctor of nursing practice. In addition, Purdue has 18 intercollegiate sports teams and more than 900 student organizations. Purdue is the founding member of the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
and enrolls the largest student body of any individual university campus in Indiana, as well as the ninth-largest
foreign student
International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying.
In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
population of any university in the United States.
Purdue University is a member of the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
and is
classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Purdue faculty, students, alumni and other affiliates have reached many notable and influential positions in business, media, politics, and science. Purdue has been affiliated with 13
Nobel laureates
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ou ...
, 1
Turing Award
The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
laureate, 2
World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nor ...
laureates, 3
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winners, 18
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
medalists, 3
National Medal of Technology and Innovation
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...
recipients, 2
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
recipients, 3
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
recipients, 7 members of
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
, 3
U.S. governors
The following is a list of current governors (or mayor) of U.S. states, territories, and the federal district. In the United States, a governor is the chief executive officer of a state or a territory. As of November 2022, there are 28&nb ...
, and 2 heads of state. Purdue has over 400,000 living alumni. Its alumni have included 26
astronauts
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
, 6 current
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
CEOs, 2
Rhodes Scholars
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, 4
Truman Scholars
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic ...
and 3
Gates Scholars
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the Gates Cambridge Scholarships in 2000 with a $210 million donation to support outstanding graduate students' study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship is one of the most competitiv ...
.
History
![JohnPurdue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/JohnPurdue.jpg)
In 1865, the
Indiana General Assembly
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate. ...
voted to take advantage of the
Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862 and began plans to establish an institution with a focus on agriculture and engineering. Communities throughout the state offered facilities and funding in bids for the location of the new college. Popular proposals included the addition of an agriculture department at
Indiana State University
Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...
, at what is now
Butler University
Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...
. By 1869,
Tippecanoe County Tippecanoe may refer to several places or things in the United States:
* The 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana
* A nickname for William Henry Harrison (U.S. President March 1841–April 1841) from his role in the battle
** Tippecanoe and Tyler t ...
’s offer included $150,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) from Lafayette business leader and philanthropist
John Purdue
John Purdue (; October 31, 1802 – September 12, 1876) was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University.
Early life
Most details of Purdue's early life were either not recor ...
; $50,000 from the county; and of land from local residents.
On May 6, 1869, the General Assembly established the institution in Tippecanoe County as Purdue University, in the name of the principal benefactor. Classes began at Purdue on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students.
Professor
John S. Hougham was Purdue’s first faculty member and served as acting president between the administrations of presidents
Shortridge and White.
A campus of five buildings was completed by the end of 1874. In 1875,
Sarah A. Oren, the State Librarian of Indiana, was appointed Professor of Botany.
Purdue issued its first degree, a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in chemistry, in 1875. The first female student was admitted that autumn.
Emerson E. White
Emerson Elbridge White (January 10, 1829 – October 21, 1902) was an American educator and the third president of Purdue University.
Career Ohio
Emerson White began his teaching career at the age of seventeen when he was both a student and an in ...
, the university’s president from 1876 to 1883, followed a strict interpretation of the Morrill Act. Rather than emulate the classical universities, White believed Purdue should be an "industrial college" and devote its resources toward providing a broad,
liberal education
A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free (Latin: ''liber'') human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment ...
with an emphasis on science, technology, and agriculture. He intended not only to prepare students for industrial work, but also to prepare them to be good citizens and family members.
Part of White's plan to distinguish Purdue from classical universities included a controversial attempt to ban fraternities, which was ultimately overturned by the
Indiana Supreme Court
The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana ...
, leading to White's resignation. The next president,
James H. Smart, is remembered for his call in 1894 to rebuild the original Heavilon Hall "one brick higher" after it had been destroyed by a fire.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the university was organized into schools of agriculture, engineering (mechanical, civil, and electrical), and pharmacy; former U.S. President
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
served on the
board of trustees
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
. Purdue's engineering laboratories included testing facilities for a locomotive, and for a
Corliss steam engine
A Corliss steam engine (or Corliss engine) is a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the American engineer George Henry Corliss of Providence, Rhode Island.
Engines f ...
—one of the most efficient engines of the time. The School of Agriculture shared its research with farmers throughout the state, with its cooperative extension services, and would undergo a period of growth over the following two decades. Programs in education and home economics were soon established, as well as a
short-lived school of medicine. By 1925, Purdue had the largest undergraduate engineering enrollment in the country, a status it would keep for half a century.
President
Edward C. Elliott
Edward Charles Elliott (December 21, 1874 – June 16, 1960) was an American educational researcher and administrator. He was the chancellor of the public university system of Montana from 1916 to 1922 and the president of Purdue University from ...
oversaw a campus building program between the world wars. Inventor, alumnus, and trustee
David E. Ross David Edward Ross (August 25, 1871 – June 28, 1943)Kelly, Fred C. David Ross, Modern Pioneer: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946. Print. was a Purdue University graduate who helped advance the university through his generous donations an ...
coordinated several fundraisers, donated lands to the university, and was instrumental in establishing the Purdue Research Foundation. Ross's gifts and fundraisers supported such projects as
Ross–Ade Stadium
Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...
, the
Memorial Union, a civil engineering surveying camp, and
Purdue University Airport
Purdue University Airport is a public-use airport in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States. Owned by Purdue University, the airport is southwest of the central business district of Lafayette, in West Lafayette. Because of the heavy traff ...
. Purdue Airport was the country's first university-owned airport and the site of the country's first college-credit flight training courses.
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
joined the Purdue faculty in 1935 as a consultant for these flight courses and as a counselor on women's careers. In 1937, the Purdue Research Foundation provided the funds for the
Lockheed Electra 10-E Earhart flew on her attempted round-the-world flight.
Every school and department at the university was involved in some type of military research or training during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During a project on radar receivers, Purdue physicists discovered properties of
germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid in the carbon group that is chemically similar to its group neighbors s ...
that led to the making of the first
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
. The Army and the Navy conducted training programs at Purdue and more than 17,500 students, staff, and alumni served in the armed forces. Purdue set up about a hundred centers throughout Indiana to train skilled workers for defense industries. As veterans returned to the university under the
G.I. Bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
, first-year classes were taught at some of these sites to alleviate the demand for campus space. Four of these sites are now degree-granting regional campuses of the
Purdue University system
The Purdue University system is a public university system in the U.S. state of Indiana. A land-grant university with nearly 75,000 students across six traditional campuses comprising five institutions, a statewide technology program, extensio ...
. On-campus housing became racially desegregated in 1947, following pressure from Purdue President
Frederick L. Hovde
Frederick Lawson Hovde (7 February 1908 – 1 March 1983) was an American chemical engineer, researcher, educator and president of Purdue University.
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Hovde received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Unive ...
and Indiana Governor
Ralph F. Gates
Ralph Fesler Gates (February 24, 1893 - July 28, 1978) was an American politician who served as the 37th governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1945 to 1949. A lawyer and veteran of World War I, he is credited with returning his party to pow ...
.
After the war, Hovde worked to expand the academic opportunities at the university. A decade-long construction program emphasized science and research. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the university established programs in veterinary medicine, industrial management, and nursing, as well as the first computer science department in the United States. Undergraduate humanities courses were strengthened, although Hovde only reluctantly approved of graduate-level study in these areas. Purdue awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1960. The programs in liberal arts and education, formerly administered by the School of Science, were soon split into an independent school.
The official seal of Purdue was officially inaugurated during the university's centennial in 1969. Consisting of elements from emblems that had been used unofficially since the 1890s, the current seal depicts a
griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
, symbolizing strength, and a three-part shield, representing education, research, and service.
In recent years, Purdue's leaders have continued to support high-tech research and international programs. In 1987, U.S. President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
visited the West Lafayette campus to give a speech about the influence of technological progress on job creation.
In the 1990s, the university added more opportunities to study abroad and expanded its course offerings in world languages and cultures. The first buildings of the Discovery Park interdisciplinary research center were dedicated in 2004.
Purdue launched a Global Policy Research Institute in 2010 to explore the potential impact of technical knowledge on public policy decisions.
On April 27, 2017, Purdue University announced plans to acquire
for-profit college
Proprietary colleges are for-profit colleges and universities. They are operated by their owners or investors, rather than a not-for-profit institution, religious organization, or government. Because they are not funded by tax money, their long ...
Kaplan University
Kaplan University (KU) was a private online for-profit university owned by Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. It was predominantly a distance learning institution, maintaining 14 ground locations across the United States. The ...
and convert it to a public university in the state of Indiana, subject to multiple levels of approval.
That school now operates as
Purdue University Global
Purdue University Global, Inc (PG), formerly Kaplan University, is a public university, public Distance education, online university that operates as a public-benefit nonprofit corporation, public-benefit corporation and is part of the Purdue Un ...
, and aims to serve adult learners.
Integration
Purdue had black graduates by the 1890s, and in 1905 a Black man ran for its track team. But some time in the 1910s the teams became segregated, and remained so until a student protest in 1947. Black students were not allowed to live in the residence halls until the 1940s. Black males were able to live in cooperatives, but Black females were not allowed to live anywhere in West Lafayette. In 1946 the women's dormitories were integrated by an order of the governor of Indiana.
Helen Williams became the first Black faculty member in 1968.
Campuses
Purdue's campus is situated in the small city of
West Lafayette
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...
, near the western bank of the
Wabash River
The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...
, across which sits the larger city of
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
. State Street, which is concurrent with
State Road 26, divides the northern and southern portions of campus. Academic buildings are mostly concentrated on the eastern and southern parts of campus, with residence halls and intramural fields to the west, and athletic facilities to the north. The
Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation
The Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation (GLPTC) is a municipal corporation founded in 1971 that provides bus services in Tippecanoe County, Indiana under the operating name of CityBus. In , the system had a ridership of , or about ...
(CityBus) operates eight campus loop bus routes on which students, faculty, and staff can ride free of charge with Purdue Identification.
Purdue Mall
![EngineeringMall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/EngineeringMall.jpg)
The Purdue Mall is the central quad of Purdue University and was created to connect the academic campus with Ross-Ade Stadium. It is also known as the Engineering Mall due to its proximity to several engineering buildings. The most prominent feature of the Purdue Mall is the -tall concrete
Engineering Fountain
The Purdue Mall Water Sculpture, often referred to as the Engineering Fountain, is a water sculpture and fountain located at the main campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The sculpture is positioned in the heart of campus on th ...
, and also features the
Frederick L. Hovde
Frederick Lawson Hovde (7 February 1908 – 1 March 1983) was an American chemical engineer, researcher, educator and president of Purdue University.
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Hovde received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Unive ...
Hall of Administration, which houses the office of the university president,
Mitchell E. Daniels
Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pre ...
.
The
Purdue Bell Tower
The Purdue Bell Tower is a 160-foot tall bell tower in the center of Purdue University's campus. It was constructed in 1995 through a gift from the class of 1948.
Heavilon Hall Tower
The current Bell Tower's inspiration comes from the bell tow ...
is between the Stadium and Centennial Malls. The Bell Tower is considered an icon of the university and can be found on many Purdue logos and those of the cities of
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
and
West Lafayette
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...
.
Southwest of the Stadium Mall is the
Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music
The Elliott Hall of Music is a theater located on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. With a seating capacity of 6,005, it is one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world, and is 45 seats larger than Radio City Mus ...
, one of the largest
proscenium theaters in the world. Elliott Hall of Music serves as the home of the
Purdue "All-American" Marching Band, Purdue Bands and Orchestras, the
WBAA
WBAA (920 AM) and WBAA-FM (101.3 FM) are two non-commercial educational radio stations licensed to West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, both serving the Lafayette metro area with public radio formats. WBAA's format is exclusively news- ...
studio. Purdue's Student Concert Committee often invites famous entertainers to perform there for an audience of students, faculty, and the public.
West of the Elliott Hall of Music is the Armory Building. The Armory Building was rebuilt in 1918 after a fire and houses the university's ROTC programs and other clubs. In March 2019, university president Mitch Daniels described a proposal to repurpose the Armory Building, suggesting the space may be used for residential dining, retail, or classrooms but later said no changes would be made.
Memorial Mall
![Purdue Student Union](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Purdue_Student_Union.JPG)
The Purdue Memorial Mall, south of the Purdue Mall, is the original section of campus. A popular meeting place for students, the grassy, open Memorial Mall is surrounded by the Stewart Center, Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry, Stanley Coulter Hall, the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, the Recitation Building, University Hall, and Stone Hall. The Memorial Mall also features the Hello Walk.
Near this section of campus is Felix Haas Hall, which was constructed in 1909 as Memorial Gymnasium in memory of the 17 Purdue University football players, coaches, alumni, and fans who perished in the
Purdue Wreck
The Purdue Wreck was a railroad train collision in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, October 31, 1903, between two special trains that killed 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team. Team captain and future Indiana ...
railroad accident on October 31, 1903. The structure was renovated in 1985 to house the Computer Science department. In 2006, it was renamed in honor of retired Provost Felix Haas and began to also house the Statistics department. East of the Memorial Mall is the
Purdue Memorial Union
The Purdue Memorial Union (PMU) is a student union building located on the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. It opened in 1924 as a memorial to the Purdue students who had fought in World War I. The building includes severa ...
, Purdue's
student union
A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
building, and the adjacent Union Club Hotel.
University Hall is the only building remaining from the original six-building campus. Construction began in 1871, when the building was known as "The Main Building". The building was dedicated in 1877 and the project cost $35,000 to complete. University Hall originally housed the office of the president, a chapel, and classrooms, but was remodeled in 1961 to house only the department of history and classrooms used by the School of Liberal Arts. At the request of
John Purdue
John Purdue (; October 31, 1802 – September 12, 1876) was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University.
Early life
Most details of Purdue's early life were either not recor ...
, he was buried in the Memorial Mall, directly across from the main entrance of University Hall.
South Campus
![Purdue Hort Gardens](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Purdue_Hort_Gardens.jpg)
The area south of State Street is home to Purdue's agricultural, fine arts, life sciences, and veterinary buildings. This area also includes the Krannert School of Management,
Horticulture Gardens,
Discovery Park, Lyles Porter Hall and the
Purdue Airport. The Krannert School of Management has been nationally and globally ranked for both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Krannert and Rawls Hall provide state of the art learning facilities to the majority of business classes on campus. Rawls Hall was built in 2006 with the help of a $10 million gift from Jerry S. Rawls, the largest in the management school's history.
Lyles Porter Hall houses interdisciplinary healthcare facilities and classroom space within the College of Health and Human Sciences as well as the West Lafayette branch of the
Indiana University School of Medicine
The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is a major multi-campus medical school in the state of Indiana. There are nine campuses throughout the state; the principal research and medical center is located on the Indiana University–Purdu ...
. Collectively, students and clinical faculty within Nursing, Health and Kinesiology, Nutrition Science, Psychological Sciences, and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences see approximately 3,000 patients a year within this state-of-the-art interdisciplinary healthcare facility. The building features a nursing clinic, specialized preschool, exercise center, consultation space and demonstration kitchen for dietitians in training, clinical psychology facility, audiology and speech-language pathology clinics, cadaver laboratory for physicians in training, and research laboratories.
Purdue University Airport, which opened in 1930 was the first of its kind and remains one of only a few university-owned airports in the nation. Including the Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, which was dedicated in 2009, the facility symbolizes Purdue's storied relationship with aviation.
West Campus
The western portion of campus consists of student housing, dining, and recreation facilities. Students can play club and
intramural sports
Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
at the Córdova Recreational Sports Center, the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center (named for former Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving Captain and longtime Vice President & Athletics Director), and the intramural playing fields in this area. The Córdova Recreational Sports Center, built in 1957, is the first building in the nation created solely to serve university student recreational needs. As a replacement for the previously separate women's and men's gymnasiums, it was originally called the "Co-recreational Gymnasium". Despite several expansions and official name changes, it has been nicknamed "the Co-rec" ever since.
Stadium Avenue
Much of the northern part of campus sits on land purchased for the university by industrialist David E. Ross and author and humorist
George Ade
George Ade (February 9, 1866 – May 16, 1944) was an American writer, syndicated newspaper columnist, and playwright who gained national notoriety at the turn of the 20th century with his "Stories of the Streets and of the Town", a column that ...
in the 1920s. Many of Purdue's athletic facilities are there, including
Ross–Ade Stadium
Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...
(
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
),
Mackey Arena
Mackey Arena is located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Part of the Purdue University campus, it is home to the university's basketball teams, and occasionally hosts home games for the volleyball and wrestling teams. The arena opened in 1967 as a repl ...
(basketball), and
Lambert Fieldhouse
Lambert Fieldhouse is an athletic facility on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It was built in 1937 on land bought by David Ross and George Ade (the namesakes of nearby Ross–Ade Stadium) as a replacement for Memoria ...
(indoor track and field). This area also includes the
Slayter Center of Performing Arts
The Slayter Center of Performing Arts is located on the main campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States. It is an outdoor concert bandshell completed in 1964 and dedicated May 1, 1965. The facility was a gift from Games ...
and Cary Quadrangle, one of the largest all-male housing units in the country.
Ross is one of three people buried on Purdue's campus, the others being John Purdue and former First Lady of Purdue, Jane Beering. Ross's and Beering's grave sites are in a garden atop Slayter Hill just to the west of the Slayter bandshell. Beering's husband, former Purdue President
Steven Beering
Steven Claus Beering (August 20, 1932 – April 3, 2020) served as president of Purdue University from 1983 to 2000. Previously, he was dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine for nine years.
During his leadership, Purdue's main campus ...
, will eventually join her atop the hill.
Baseball's
Alexander Field and other athletic facilities are a mile west of the stadium, at the newer Northwest Athletic Complex.
Organization and administration
The
university president
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
, appointed by the
board of trustees
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
, is the
chief administrative officer
A chief administrative officer (CAO) is a top-tier executive who supervises the daily operations of an organization and is ultimately responsible for its performance.
Government and non-profit
A CAO is responsible for administrative management of ...
of the university. The office of the president oversees admission and registration, student conduct and counseling, the administration and scheduling of classes and space, the administration of student athletics and organized extracurricular activities, the libraries, the appointment of the faculty and conditions of their employment, the appointment of all non-faculty employees and the conditions of employment, the general organization of the university, and the planning and administration of the university budget.
The Board of Trustees directly appoints other major officers of the university including a
provost who serves as the chief academic officer for the university, several vice presidents with oversight over specific university operations, and the regional campus chancellors.
Academics
Admissions
Undergraduate
The 2022 annual ranking of ''
U.S. News & World Report'' categorizes Purdue University-West Lafayette as "more selective". For the Class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), Purdue received 59,173 applications and accepted 40,759 (68.9%). Of those accepted, 10,157 enrolled, a
yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 24.9%. Purdue's freshman
retention rate
The term "retention rate" is used in a variety of fields, including marketing, investing, education, in the workplace and in clinical trials. Maintaining retention in each of these fields often results in a positive outcome for the overall organiza ...
is 92%, with 81.5% going on to graduate within six years.
The university started test-optional admissions with the Fall 2021 incoming class in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has extended this through Fall 2023. Of the 62% of the incoming freshman class who submitted
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1190-1430.
Of the 31% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted
ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 26 and 33.
Purdue University is a college-sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 88 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 127 freshman students were
National Merit Scholars.
Academic divisions
Purdue offers both
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...
and
graduate programs in over 211
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
areas of study, and is well known for its competitive engineering curricula. The university has also been integral in America's
history of aviation
The history of aviation extends for more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation such as kites and attempts at tower jumping to supersonic and hypersonic flight by powered, heavier-than-air jets.
Kite flying in Chin ...
, having established the first
college credit
A credit is the recognition for having taken a course at school or university, used as measure if enough hours have been made for graduation.
University credits United States Credit hours
In a college or university in the United States, student ...
offered in
flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills.
Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
; the first four-year bachelor's degree in aviation; and the first university airport:
Purdue University Airport
Purdue University Airport is a public-use airport in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States. Owned by Purdue University, the airport is southwest of the central business district of Lafayette, in West Lafayette. Because of the heavy traff ...
. Purdue's aviation technology and aeronautical engineering programs remain among the most competitive aviation-specific programs in the world. In the mid-20th century, Purdue's aviation program expanded to encompass advanced
spaceflight
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...
technology, giving rise to Purdue's nicknames ''Cradle of Astronauts'' and ''Mother of Astronauts''.
26 Purdue graduates have become astronauts, including
Gus Grissom
Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer, pilot in the United States Air Force, and member of the Mercury Seven selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) as Project Mercur ...
, one of the original
Mercury Seven
The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these seve ...
astronauts;
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
, who was the first person to walk on the moon; and
Eugene Cernan
Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to ...
, who was the last person to walk on the moon.
The English department at Purdue launched the first
Online Writing Lab (OWL), in 1994. Many colleges and universities use the Purdue OWL website as an
academic writing
Academic writing or scholarly writing is nonfiction produced as part of academic work, including reports on empirical fieldwork or research in facilities for the natural sciences or social sciences, monographs in which scholars analyze cultur ...
reference source for proper word usage, punctuation, grammar, and style.
Purdue is organized into 10 colleges and schools. On July 1, 2010, the College of Health and Human Sciences was formed, through combining existing academic units, including the School of Nursing, the School of Health Sciences, the College of Consumer and Family Sciences, and non-humanities majors psychology and hearing and speech pathology from the College of Liberal Arts.
College of Agriculture
The university's College of Agriculture supports the university's agricultural, food, life, and natural resource science programs. The college also supports the university's charge as a
land-grant university
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...
to support agriculture throughout the state; its
agricultural extension program plays a key role in this.
College of Education
The College of Education offers
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...
degrees in
elementary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or firs ...
,
social studies education, science education and
special education
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
, and
graduate degrees
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The organization and struc ...
in these and many other specialty areas of
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
. It has two departments: (a) Curriculum and Instruction and (b) Educational Studies.
College of Engineering
The Purdue University College of Engineering was established in 1874 with programs in Civil and Mechanical Engineering. The college now offers
BS,
MS, and
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
degrees in more than a dozen disciplines. Purdue's engineering program has also educated 24 of America's
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
s, including
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
and
Eugene Cernan
Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to ...
who were the first and last astronauts to have walked on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, respectively, and
Gus Grissom
Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer, pilot in the United States Air Force, and member of the Mercury Seven selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) as Project Mercur ...
, a member of the
Mercury Seven
The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these seve ...
. Many of Purdue's engineering disciplines are recognized as top-ten programs in the U.S. The college as a whole is currently ranked 4th in the U.S. of all doctorate-granting engineering schools by ''
U.S. News & World Report''.
Exploratory Studies
The university's Exploratory Studies program supports undergraduate students who enter the university without having a declared major. It was founded as a pilot program in 1995 and made a permanent program in 1999.
College of Health and Human Sciences
The College of Health and Human Sciences was established in 2010 and is the newest college. It offers
BS,
MS and
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
degrees in all 10 of its academic units.
College of Liberal Arts
Purdue's College of Liberal Arts contains the arts,
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
and
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
programs at the university.
Liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
courses have been taught at Purdue since its founding in 1874. The School of Science, Education, and Humanities was formed in 1953. In 1963, the School of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education was established, although
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degrees had begun to be conferred as early as 1959. In 1989, the School of Liberal Arts was created to encompass Purdue's arts,
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
, and
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
programs, while
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
programs were split off into the newly formed School of Education. The School of Liberal Arts was renamed the College of Liberal Arts in 2005.
Krannert School of Management
The Krannert School of Management offers management courses and programs at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels.
College of Pharmacy
The university's College of Pharmacy was established in 1884 and is the 3rd oldest state-funded
school of pharmacy
The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a bachelor of ...
in the United States. The school offers two undergraduate programs leading to the BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) and the Doctor of Pharmacy (
Pharm.D.
A Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD; New Latin: ''Pharmaciae Doctor'') is a professional doctorate in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a doctoral degree to practice the profession of pharmacy or to become a clinical pharmacist. In many countries th ...
) professional degree. Graduate programs leading to MS and PhD degrees are offered in three departments (Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, and Pharmacy Practice). Additionally, the school offers several non-degree certificate programs and post-graduate continuing education activities.
Purdue Polytechnic Institute
The Purdue Polytechnic Institute, formerly known as the College of Technology, offers
bachelor's
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...
,
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. and
PhD degrees PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. alb ...
in a wide range of technology-related disciplines. With over 30,000 living
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
, it is one of the largest technology schools in the United States. In addition to the main school in West Lafayette, Purdue Polytechnic operates nine satellite campuses in
Anderson
Anderson or Andersson may refer to:
Companies
* Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910
* Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car
* Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer
* Anderson Ra ...
,
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
,
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
,
Kokomo,
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
,
New Albany,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
,
Vincennes
Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...
, and
South Bend
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
. These locations offer certificate, associate, and/or bachelor's degrees, some of which are
ABET
The ABET (incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering ...
-accredited technical degrees.
The Polytechnic Institute also maintains three high school campuses (two in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
and one in
South Bend
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
) that focus on
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...
and feature hands-on project-based learning.
College of Science
The university's College of Science houses the university's science departments: Biological Sciences; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences; Mathematics; Physics & Astronomy; and Statistics. The science
courses offered by the college account for about one-fourth of Purdue's one million student
credit hour
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...
s.
College of Veterinary Medicine
The College of Veterinary Medicine is accredited by the
AVMA to offer the
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
degree, associate's and bachelor's degrees in
veterinary technology
Paraveterinary worker is the professional of veterinary science that performs procedures autonomously or semi autonomously, as part of a veterinary assistance system. The job role varies throughout the world, and common titles include veterinary n ...
,
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. and
PhD degrees PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. alb ...
, and residency programs leading to specialty board certification. Within the state of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is the only veterinary school, while the
Indiana University School of Medicine
The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is a major multi-campus medical school in the state of Indiana. There are nine campuses throughout the state; the principal research and medical center is located on the Indiana University–Purdu ...
is one of only two
medical schools
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...
(the other being
Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine
The Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine is the medical school of Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the first osteopathic medical school to open at a Roman Catholic university.
Founded in 2010, the college is accred ...
). The two schools frequently collaborate on
medical research
Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...
projects.
Honors College
Purdue's Honors College supports an
honors program
Honors colleges and honors programs are special accommodation constituent programs at public and private universities – and also public two-year institutions of higher learning – that include, among other things, supplemental or alternative ...
for undergraduate students at the university.
The Graduate School
The university's Graduate School supports
graduate student
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
s at the university.
Purdue Online
Through Purdue Online, the administrative unit charged with planning and enabling the effort, Purdue has a growing online presence, in addition to
Purdue Global, offering more than 200 programs through the university's four accredited institutions (Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne in Indiana and Purdue Global) including master's degree programs. Purdue Online, the unified online education initiative approved by Purdue President Mitch Daniels and the Purdue Board of Trustees in December 2018, is intended to radically expand these offerings by developing a "coordinated, unified system-wide portfolio of online course and degree offerings for students of all types." Students manage their Purdue University admin account using the BrightSpace Purdue Student Portal.
Research
The university expended $622.814 million in support of research system-wide in 2017, using funds received from the state and federal governments, industry, foundations, and individual donors. The faculty and more than 400 research laboratories put Purdue University among the leading research institutions. Purdue University is considered by the
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Adva ...
to have "very high research activity". Purdue also was rated the nation's fourth best place to work in academia, according to rankings released in November 2007 by ''
The Scientist'' magazine. Purdue's researchers provide insight, knowledge, assistance, and solutions in many crucial areas. These include, but are not limited to Agriculture; Business and Economy; Education; Engineering; Environment; Healthcare; Individuals, Society, Culture; Manufacturing; Science; Technology; Veterinary Medicine.
The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), a global research consortium focused on
global economic governance challenges (trade, climate, resource use) is also coordinated by the university. Purdue University generated a record $438 million in sponsored research funding during the 2009–10 fiscal year with participation from
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...
, and the U.S. departments of
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
Defense
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense industr ...
,
Energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
, and
Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
.
Purdue University was ranked fourth in Engineering research expenditures amongst all the colleges in the United States in 2017, with a research expenditure budget of 244.8 million.
Purdue University established the
Discovery Park to bring innovation through multidisciplinary action. In all of the eleven centers of Discovery Park, ranging from entrepreneurship to energy and advanced manufacturing, research projects reflect a large economic impact and address global challenges. Purdue University's
nanotechnology
Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...
research program, built around the new Birck Nanotechnology Center in Discovery Park, ranks among the best in the nation.
The
Purdue Research Park
The Purdue Research Parks are a network of four research parks located in Indiana, United States. The flagship West Lafayette park is located less than north of Purdue University's West Lafayette campus, and is the largest university-affiliated ...
which opened in 1961
was developed by Purdue Research Foundation which is a private, nonprofit foundation created to assist Purdue. The park is focused on companies operating in the arenas of life sciences, homeland security, engineering, advanced manufacturing and information technology. It provides an interactive environment for experienced Purdue researchers and for private business and high-tech industry.
It currently employs more than 3,000 people in 155 companies, including 90 technology-based firms.
The Purdue Research Park was ranked first by the Association of University Research Parks in 2004.
Purdue's library system consists of fifteen locations throughout the campus, including an archives and special collections research center, an undergraduate library, and several subject-specific libraries. More than three million volumes, including one million electronic books, are held at these locations. The Library houses the
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
Collection, a collection of notes and letters belonging to Earhart and her husband
George Putnam along with records related to her disappearance and subsequent search efforts. An administrative unit of Purdue University Libraries,
Purdue University Press
Purdue University Press, founded in 1960, is a university press that is part of Purdue University. It is a unit of Purdue University Libraries.
History
An administrative unit of Purdue University Libraries, Purdue University Press has its roots ...
has its roots in the 1960 founding of Purdue University Studies by President Frederick Hovde on a $12,000 grant from the Purdue Research Foundation. This was the result of a committee appointed by President Hovde after the Department of English lamented the lack of publishing venues in the humanities. Since the 1990s, the range of books published by the Press has grown to reflect the work from other colleges at Purdue University especially in the areas of agriculture, health, and engineering. Purdue University Press publishes print and ebook monograph series in a range of subject areas from literary and cultural studies to the study of the human-animal bond. In 1993 Purdue University Press was admitted to membership of the
Association of American University Presses
The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is an association of mostly, but not exclusively, North American university presses. It is based in New York City. Until December 2017, it was known as the Association of American University Presses ...
. Purdue University Press publishes around 25 books a year and 20 learned journals in print, in print & online, and online-only formats in collaboration with Purdue University Libraries.
Sustainability
Purdue's Sustainability Council, composed of university administrators and professors, meets monthly to discuss environmental issues and sustainability initiatives at Purdue.
The university's first
LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
Certified building was an addition to the Mechanical Engineering Building, which was completed in Fall 2011.
The school is also in the process of developing an arboretum on campus.
In addition, a system has been set up to display live data detailing current energy production at the campus utility plant.
The school holds an annual "Green Week" each fall, an effort to engage the Purdue community with issues relating to environmental sustainability.
Rankings
In its 2022 edition, ''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Purdue University the 7th most innovative national university, tied for the 18th best public university in the United States, tied for 51st overall, and 127th best global university.
''U.S. News & World Report'' also rated Purdue tied for 36th in "Best Undergraduate Teaching, 81st in "Best Value Schools", tied for 326th in "Top Performers on Social Mobility", and the undergraduate engineering program tied for 9th at schools whose highest degree is a doctorate.
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Campus life
Student body
8,562 students from 126 countries around the world attended Purdue University in 2012. In 2012–13, 19,689 out of a total of 39,256 students enrolled were Indiana residents. , the racial diversity of the US-resident undergraduate student body was 5.7% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 4.4% Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
, and 4.0% black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
or African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
. Of the undergraduate students, 42.6% were female. Domestic minorities constitute a total of 10.8% in the graduate student body population of which 37.3% are female. Twenty-two percent of the student body is international, representing 126 countries. In graduate and professional student population, non-Indiana residents occupy an overwhelming majority, about 75%. Almost all undergraduates and about 70% of the graduate student population attend full-time. The school's selectivity for admissions is "more selective" by USNWR
''U.S. News & World Report'' (USNWR) is an American media company that publishes news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. It was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and international-focused ...
: approximately 49% of applicants are admitted.
Housing
About one-third of the single undergraduate students on the West Lafayette campus live in university-owned buildings. The rest live in fraternities, sororities, cooperatives, or private off-campus housing. There are 11,844 spaces available for undergraduate students, graduate students, and student families who choose to live on campus. Sixteen percent of the undergraduate student body are members of the 40 fraternities and 20 sororities on campus.
Purdue University operates seventeen separate residence hall
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
s for its undergraduate and graduate students, including Cary Quadrangle, Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; Presumption of death, declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first women in aviation, female aviator to fly solo acro ...
Hall, First Street Towers, Frieda Parker Hall, Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
Hall, Hawkins Hall, Hillenbrand Hall, Hilltop Apartments, Honors College and Residences, McCutcheon Hall, Meredith Hall, Meredith South Hall, Owen Hall, Purdue Village, Shreve Hall, Tarkington Tarkington may refer to:
* Tarkington (automobile), an American automobile
* Tarkington (surname), a surname of English origin
* Tarkington or Tarkington Prairie, Texas, an unincorporated community in Texas
** Tarkington Independent School Distr ...
Hall, Wiley
Wiley may refer to:
Locations
* Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town
*Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S.
* Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany
People
* Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer
* Wiley Mill ...
Hall, Winifred Parker Hall, and the 5 Windsor Halls: Duhme, Shealy, Warren, Wood, and Vawter. Of the residence halls, Cary, McCutcheon, Wiley, and Tarkington are male-only while Windsor, Meredith South Hall, and Meredith Hall are female-only; the rest of them are co-ed
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
.
There are 12 cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
houses at Purdue (five men's houses and seven women's houses). The men's houses include Circle Pines, Fairway, Marwood, Chauncey, and Gemini. The women's houses include Ann Tweedale, Glenwood, Twin Pines, Maclure, Stewart, Devonshire, and Shoemaker. All cooperative houses are governed under the Purdue Cooperative Council which is led by Purdue University students who live in these houses. The cooperative system allows for a much lower cost of living than other types of housing, averaging $2900 annually with all-inclusive monthly rent ranging from $250–$625 varying by house. The members take an active role in sharing chores and cooking all meals themselves, as opposed to hiring out cleaning and cooking staff.
Purdue University hosts one of the nation's largest Greek community, with approximately 6,000 students participating in one of the roughly 40 men's fraternities or 30 women's sororities. Several of Purdue's most distinguished graduates are members of fraternities and sororities. Purdue's Greek system is very strong and works together in various aspects, including the Inter-Fraternity Council, Panhellenic, and many very successful philanthropies. Every chapter has national philanthropy dedicated to a certain cause that many chapters also participate in. Besides philanthropy, Purdue Greeks are involved all over campus, including College Mentors for Kids, Purdue University Dance Marathon, Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue Student Government, and other activities.
Activities and events
Students at Purdue participate in more than 900 student organizations that cover a variety of interests. Some of the notable clubs founded by Purdue students include the Purdue Reamer Club
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
(a school spirit organization that cares for the Boilermaker Special
The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue ...
mascot and raises funds for scholarships) and two clubs that eventually became nationwide organizations: the National Society of Black Engineers
The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is a society that was founded in 1975 at Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is one of the largest student-run organizations in the United States, with core activities centered o ...
and the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest
The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is a contest in which students ages 8-18 build devices to complete a simple task in a minimum of twenty steps and a maximum of seventy five, in the style of American cartoonist Rube Goldberg. The contest is held b ...
.
Several campus-wide programs are planned by the Purdue Alumni Student Experience (part of the Alumni Association), Purdue Student Union Board, Purdue Student Government (PSG), or the Purdue Graduate Student Government (PGSG). PSG and PGSG are made up of representatives from each of the university's academic colleges and give recommendations to the faculty, administration, and sometimes to the state legislature.
Annual campus events include Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue University Dance Marathon, Spring Fest, and Grand Prix. Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) is Purdue's new-student orientation program. BGR, which takes place before each fall semester, was formed to ease the transition to college for incoming students and to help them get acquainted with successful college life. Boiler Gold Rush activities include speaker presentations from various academic, cultural, safety and professional organizations on campus, campus tours led by Team Leaders, academic 'meet the schools' picnic and interest sessions, late-night events at the Purdue Memorial Union, Recreational Sports Center and local stores, and a sports pep rally. Purdue University Dance Marathon (PUDM) is an 18-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping, dance marathon that takes place each fall in the Cordova Recreation center. Each year over 2,000 students participate and the event raises over $1 million annually for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. PUDM is also one of the largest collegiate Dance Marathons in the country. Spring Fest is an annual carnival with entertaining exhibits from many academic departments. A highlight of the weekend is the Entomology Department's Bug Bowl, where the sport of cricket spitting Cricket-spitting is a sport wherein contestants place a dead cricket in their mouth, and then spit it as far as they can. The contestant who can spit the cricket the farthest is declared the winner.
Cricket-spitting was developed in 1996 by entomol ...
was invented in 1997. The Purdue Grand Prix
The Purdue Grand Prix is a go-kart race that has been held annually on Purdue University's West Lafayette, Indiana campus since 1958. A primary function of the event is to raise money for scholarships for Purdue students under the aegis of the ...
, a 50-mile, 160-lap go-kart race is "The Greatest Spectacle in College Racing" and wraps up Gala Week each year. All 33 participating karts are made from scratch by student teams. The event has been raising money for student scholarships since it began in 1958.
Religious life
Purdue has a number of religious organizations on and near the campus. St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church serves the Catholic community at Purdue and the surrounding community. There is also a non-denominational Christian
Nondenominational Christianity (or non-denominational Christianity) consists of churches which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligning with a specific Christian d ...
church, Campus House, which is affiliated with the popular coffee-shop Greyhouse Coffee. The Purdue Hillel Foundation
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, also known as Hillel International or Hillel, is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally. Hillel is represented at more than 550 colle ...
and Chabad at Purdue are the university's Jewish campus organizations. The Islamic Society of Greater Lafayette has an Islamic center serving the needs of the Muslim community on campus.
Media
The ''Purdue Exponent
The ''Purdue Exponent'' is an independent student newspaper that serves Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is published on Mondays and Thursdays during university semesters by the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, and is Indiana ...
'', an independent student newspaper
A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...
, has the largest circulation of any Indiana college newspaper, with a daily circulation of 17,500 copies during the spring and fall semesters. From 1889 to 2008 Purdue published a yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
called the ''Debris''.
WBAA
WBAA (920 AM) and WBAA-FM (101.3 FM) are two non-commercial educational radio stations licensed to West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, both serving the Lafayette metro area with public radio formats. WBAA's format is exclusively news- ...
is a professional radio station operation owned by and licensed to Purdue University. The station operates three noncommercial stations: WBAA News, WBAA Classical, and WBAA Jazz. The stations can be heard on AM920, 101.3 FM, and 105.9 FM. WBAA also broadcasts on HD Radio and digital platforms including wbaa.org and the WBAA app. Its studios are in the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music
The Elliott Hall of Music is a theater located on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. With a seating capacity of 6,005, it is one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world, and is 45 seats larger than Radio City Mus ...
on the Purdue campus, and the transmitters are in Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...
. WBAA is the longest continuously-operating radio station in Indiana, having been licensed on April 4, 1922. WBAA is a NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
member station. Despite some public disapproval, in 2022, Purdue sold WBAA
WBAA (920 AM) and WBAA-FM (101.3 FM) are two non-commercial educational radio stations licensed to West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, both serving the Lafayette metro area with public radio formats. WBAA's format is exclusively news- ...
to WFYI-FM
WFYI-FM (90.1 MHz) is a Public Radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is operated by Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Broadcasting, a public broadcasting community licensee which also operates the area's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) ...
. Purdue received $700,000 in underwriting credit while agreeing to provide an investment of $250,000 annually for two years to WFYI to offset initial operating costs.
There are also a few campus radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...
stations on campus. Currently, three radio stations operate from residence halls
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
, broadcasting via internet only; WCCR from Cary Quadrangle (not to be confused with the current WCCR FM or WCCR-LP stations in other states), WILY from Wiley Hall, and WHHR from Harrison Hall.
W9YB is the callsign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
of the Amateur Radio Club
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
at Purdue University. W9YB is the longest standing club on campus and also holds the self-declared title of having one of the largest and most active collegiate amateur radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...
stations in the country. W9YB actively participates in emergency management
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
for the Tippecanoe County Tippecanoe may refer to several places or things in the United States:
* The 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana
* A nickname for William Henry Harrison (U.S. President March 1841–April 1841) from his role in the battle
** Tippecanoe and Tyler t ...
area and maintains ready status with its members in skills to assist. W9YB is among the longest standing amateur radio clubs in the United States, with the current callsign dating back to 1932 and the previous callsign 9YB dating back to 1920.
The "Movie Tribute Show" was created in a small television studio (now known as the Erik Mygrant Studio) on campus in 1999.
Athletics
On October 26, 1891, a newspaper in Crawfordsville, Indiana, called Purdue's football team the "Boiler Makers" when writing about their trouncing of Wabash College
Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...
. Lafayette newspapers soon picked up the name, and in October 1892, ''The Purdue Exponent'', Purdue's student newspaper, gave it the stamp of approval. In the early days of Purdue football, the team was called other names as well, including "haymakers," "railsplitters," "sluggers," and "cornfield sailors." This heritage is reflected in Purdue's official mascot: the Boilermaker Special
The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue ...
(a truck-like vehicle that resembles a locomotive) and the athletic mascot Purdue Pete
Purdue Pete is a mascot of Purdue University. Despite his on-field presence at Purdue sporting events, Pete is only the athletic mascot of the university, and the official mascot of Purdue University is the Boilermaker Special.
History
Purdue P ...
(a muscular hammer-wielding boilermaker
A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
). The school colors of old gold
Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow, generally on the darker side of this range.
The first recorded use of ''old gold'' as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact ...
and black were selected by Purdue's first football team in 1887 to resemble the orange and black of Princeton's then-successful team. The best known fight song is "Hail Purdue!
"Hail Purdue!" is the official fight song of Purdue University. The lyrics were written in about 1912 by James R. Morrison (class of 1915), and set to music by Edward S. Wotawa (class of 1912). The completed song was published in 1913, initially ...
".
Purdue has one of the few college athletic programs not funded by student fees or subsidized by the university. It is home to 18 Division I/I-A NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
teams including football, basketball, cross country, tennis, wrestling, golf, volleyball, ice hockey ( ACHA), and others. Purdue is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, and played a central role in its creation. Traditional rivals include Big Ten colleagues the Indiana Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...
(see Indiana–Purdue rivalry
The Indiana–Purdue rivalry is a rivalry between the Indiana University Bloomington Hoosiers and the Purdue University Boilermakers, the two flagship public universities in the state of Indiana. It is regarded as one of the most intense colle ...
), the Illinois Fighting Illini
The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.
The University operates a number of athletic faci ...
, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...
from the Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
(football program independent, however).
Purdue's baseball facility was named in honor of two alumni, Anna Margaret Ross Alexander
Anna Margaret Ross Alexander (1913–1995) was a philanthropist, who organized the first mental health fund drive in Marion County, Indiana. She was elected to the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners in 1966 during the desegregation and inte ...
and her husband, John Arthur Alexander, when the new stadium was dedicated in 2013.
Football
The Boilermaker football team represents Purdue University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
(FBS). Ryan Walters is Purdue's current head coach, the 37th in the program's history. Purdue plays its home games at Ross-Ade Stadium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers compete in the Big Ten Conference as a member of the West Division. With a 592–515–48 record, Purdue has the 49th most victories among NCAA FBS programs. Purdue was originally classified as a Major College school in the 1937 season until 1972. Purdue received Division I classification in 1973, becoming a Division I-A program from 1978 to 2006 and an FBS program from 2006 to the present. The Boilermakers have registered 64 winning seasons in their history, with 19 of those seasons resulting in eight victories or more, 10 seasons resulting in at least nine wins, and just one season with ten victories or more. Of those successful campaigns, Purdue has produced five unbeaten seasons in its history, going 4–0 in 1891, 8–0 in 1892, 8–0 in 1929, 7–0–1 in 1932 and 9–0 in 1943. The Boilermakers have won a total of 12 conference championships in their history, including four Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles and eight Big Ten Conference titles. The program is also notable for being one of only two universities – the other being the University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
– to produce three Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
-winning quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
s.
Found on a farm in southern Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, the Old Oaken Bucket
The Old Oaken Bucket is a traveling trophy awarded in American college football as part of the rivalry between the Indiana Hoosiers football team of Indiana University and Purdue Boilermakers football team of Purdue University. It was first awa ...
is one of the oldest American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
trophies. The winner of Purdue's annual game against the Indiana University Hoosiers gets to keep the trophy until the next face-off and add a bronze "P" or "I" link to its chain. The first competition in 1925 led to a 0–0 tie, resulting in the first link on the chain being an "IP." , Purdue leads the series 74–42–6.
During "Breakfast Club", best described as a cross between a pep rally and a Halloween party, students and even some alumni dress up in costumes, from traditional Halloween garb to creative hand-made costumes, as they bar-hop before Boilermaker home football games. The Breakfast Club plays a significant role during the football season and is informally a part of Purdue tradition. Many Boilermaker fans are dedicated; getting up at 5:00 a.m. on Saturdays and lining up at the bars on Chauncey Hill and the levee by 6:00 a.m. on game days. The Breakfast Club tradition also takes place the day of the annual Purdue Grand Prix
The Purdue Grand Prix is a go-kart race that has been held annually on Purdue University's West Lafayette, Indiana campus since 1958. A primary function of the event is to raise money for scholarships for Purdue students under the aegis of the ...
race in April.
Basketball
The Purdue Boilermakers basketball
The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...
team competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. In 2005, Matt Painter
Matthew Curtis Painter (born August 27, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is currently the men's basketball coach at Purdue University, having held that position since 2005. Before Purdue, Painter held coaching positions ...
became the head coach in West Lafayette. Painter took over the head coaching job from the winningest coach in school history, Gene Keady
Lloyd Eugene Keady (born May 21, 1936) is an American basketball coach. He is best known for his 25 years serving as the head men's basketball coach at Purdue University in Indiana. In his tenure leading the Boilermakers from 1980 to 2005, he went ...
, becoming the second former Boilermaker basketball player to take the lead role. Purdue basketball won its 24th Big Ten Conference Championship in 2019. This mark leads the conference, as Indiana University is second with 22. The Boilermakers have reached two NCAA Tournament Final Fours and won a non-NCAA recognized National Championship for the 1932 season, awarded several years later by the Helms Athletic Foundation. It has sent more than 30 players to the NBA including two overall No. 1 picks in the NBA draft. Purdue shares a traditional rivalry with in-state foe Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
and holds a 120–89 series lead. The Boilermaker men's and women's basketball teams have won more Big Ten Championships than any other conference school, with 31 regular-season conference titles and 10 Big Ten Tournament titles. Purdue men's basketball has an all-time winning record against all Big Ten schools except Ohio State, who hold a 90–88 overall record against the Boilermakers.
People
Faculty
The original faculty of six in 1874 has grown to 2,563 tenured and tenure-track faculty in the Purdue Statewide System by Fall 2007 totals. The number of faculty and staff members system-wide is 18,872. The current faculty includes scholars such as Arden L. Bement Jr. (director of the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
), R. Graham Cooks
Robert Graham Cooks is the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the Aston Laboratories for Mass Spectrometry at Purdue University. He is an ISI Highly Cited Chemist, with over 1,000 publications and an H-index of 134.
Educatio ...
, Douglas Comer
Douglas Earl Comer is a professor of computer science at Purdue University, where he teaches courses on operating systems and computer networks. He has written numerous research papers and textbooks, and currently heads several networking resear ...
, Louis de Branges de Bourcia (who proved the Bieberbach conjecture In complex analysis, de Branges's theorem, or the Bieberbach conjecture, is a theorem that gives a necessary condition on a holomorphic function in order for it to map the open unit disk of the complex plane injectively to the complex plane. It was ...
), Victor Raskin
Victor Raskin (born April 17, 1944) is a distinguished professor of linguistics at Purdue University. He is the author of ''Semantic Mechanisms of Humor'' and ''Ontological Semantics'' and founding editor (now editor-at-large) of ''Humor'', the jo ...
, David Sanders, Leah Jamieson
Leah H. Jamieson (born August 27, 1949, in Trenton, NJ, USA) is an American engineering educator, currently the Ransburg Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. Jamieson was a founder of the Engineer ...
, James L. Mohler (who has written several manuals of computer graphics), and Samuel S. Wagstaff Jr. (inventor of the Wagstaff prime
In number theory, a Wagstaff prime is a prime number of the form
:
where ''p'' is an odd prime. Wagstaff primes are named after the mathematician Samuel S. Wagstaff Jr.; the prime pages credit François Morain for naming them in a lecture at the ...
).
Purdue's tenured faculty comprises sixty Academic Deans, Associate Deans, and Assistant Deans; 63 Academic Department Heads; 753 Professors; 547 Associate Professors; and 447 Assistant Professors. Purdue employs 892 non-tenure-track faculty, Lecturers, and Postdoctoral Researchers at its West Lafayette campus. Purdue employs another 691 tenured and 1,021 Non-Tenure Track Faculty, Lecturers, and Postdoctoral Researchers at its Regional Campuses and Statewide Technology unit.
Two faculty members (chemists Herbert C. Brown
Herbert Charles Brown (May 22, 1912 – December 19, 2004) was an American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes.
Life and career
Brown was born Herbert Brovarnik in London, to Ukrainian Jewis ...
and Ei-ichi Negishi
was a Japanese chemist who was best known for his discovery of the Negishi coupling. He spent most of his career at Purdue University in the United States, where he was the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor and the director of the Negis ...
) have been awarded Nobel Prizes while at Purdue. In all, 13 Nobel Prizes in five fields have been associated with Purdue including students, researchers, and current and previous faculty. Other notable faculty of the past have included Golden Gate Bridge designer Charles Alton Ellis
Charles Alton Ellis (18761949) was a professor, structural engineer and mathematician who was chiefly responsible for the structural design of the Golden Gate Bridge. Because of a dispute with Joseph Strauss, he was not recognized for his work wh ...
, efficiency expert Lillian Gilbreth, food safety advocate Harvey Wiley
Harvey Washington Wiley (October 18, 1844 – June 30, 1930) was an American chemist who fought for the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and subsequently worked at the Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories. He was ...
, aviator Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
, president of the National Association of Mathematicians
The National Association of Mathematicians is a professional association for mathematicians in the US, especially African Americans and other minorities. It was founded in 1969. Edray Goins
Edray Herber Goins (born June 29, 1972, Los Angeles) is an American mathematician. He specializes in number theory and algebraic geometry. His interests include Selmer groups for elliptic curves using class groups of number fields, Belyi maps ...
, radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932) was a Canadian-born inventor, who did a majority of his work in the United States and also claimed U.S. citizenship through his American-born father. During his life he received hundre ...
, and Yeram S. Touloukian, founder of the Thermophysical Properties Research Center.
Alumni
Purdue alumni have achieved recognition in a range of areas, particularly in the science, engineering, and aviation industries. The university's alumni pool collectively holds over 15,000 United States patents.
Purdue alumni include 25 astronauts, including Gus Grissom
Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer, pilot in the United States Air Force, and member of the Mercury Seven selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) as Project Mercur ...
, America's second man in space and first to fly in NASA's Gemini program, Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
, the first to walk on the Moon, and Eugene Cernan
Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to ...
, the last astronaut to do so. Over one-third of all of NASA's crewed space missions have had at least one Purdue graduate as a crew member.
In science, Purdue has also produced Nobel Prize–winning physicists in Edward Mills Purcell
Edward Mills Purcell (August 30, 1912 – March 7, 1997) was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery (published 1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. Nuclear magne ...
and Ben Roy Mottelson
Ben Roy Mottelson (9 July 1926 – 13 May 2022) was an American-Danish nuclear physicist. He won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the non-spherical geometry of atomic nuclei.
Early life
Mottelson was born in Chicago, Illinois on ...
, as well as Nobel Prize–winning chemist Akira Suzuki. Other noted Purdue alumni in science include pioneer of robotics and remote control technology Thomas B. Sheridan
Thomas B. Sheridan (born December 23, 1929) is American professor of mechanical engineering and Applied Psychology Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a pioneer of robotics and remote control technology.
Early life and e ...
; Debian
Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
founder Ian Murdock
Ian Ashley Murdock (April28, 1973 – December 28, 2015) was an American software engineer, known for being the founder of the Debian project and Progeny Linux Systems, a commercial Linux company.
Life and career
Although Murdock's parents were ...
; Chinese physicist Deng Jiaxian
Deng Jiaxian (; June 25, 1924 – July 29, 1986) was a Chinese nuclear physicist and academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was a leading organizer and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon programs.
Biography
Deng was bo ...
, a founding father and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon programs; mathematician Yitang Zhang
Yitang Zhang (; born February 5, 1955) is a Chinese American mathematician primarily working on number theory and a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 2015.
Previously working at the University of New ...
; chemist Lawrence Rocks
The Lawrence Rocks are a group of two rocky islets, 6.8 ha and 1.5 ha in area, with an associated reef, 2.4 km south-east of Point Danger in western Victoria, Australia, and about 6 km south-east of the city of Portland. ...
; biochemist Edwin T. Mertz
Edwin Theodore Mertz (December 6, 1909 – February 1, 1999) was an American chemist and biochemist.
Mertz was noted for co-discovery of high-lysine corn which significantly increased protein levels in corn and beans.
Life and career
* 1909 ...
, credited with the discovery of high-protein corn and beans; Indian chemist CNR Rao
Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao Bharat Ratna, BR, (born 30 June 1934), is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state chemistry, solid-state and structural chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 84 universities from around th ...
, who has been awarded the Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...
, the highest civilian award in India; engineer Mohamed Atalla
Mohamed M. Atalla ( ar, محمد عطاالله; August 4, 1924 – December 30, 2009) was an Egyptian-American engineer, physicist, cryptographer, inventor and entrepreneur. He was a semiconductor pioneer who made important contributions to ...
who invented the MOS transistor
The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a type of field-effect transistor (FET), most commonly fabricated by the controlled oxidation of silicon. It has an insulated gate, the voltage of which d ...
; physical organic chemist and advocate for women and minorities in science Nina Roscher
Nina Matheny Roscher (1938—2001) was an American chemist and advocate for women and minorities in science. She also researched the history of women in chemistry, publishing the book ''Women Chemists'' (1995). She served as professor and chair o ...
, who received the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences (1996) and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (1998); and Professor Reuben J. Olembo, a geneticist and environmentalist who went on to become the deputy executive director of UNEP
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
and a UN Assistant Secretary-General
An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under- ...
, and who was recognised by Purdue in 1994 with a Distinguished Alumni Award for Agriculture.
In business and economics, Purdue alumni include Stephen Bechtel, Jr.
Stephen Davison Bechtel Jr. (May 10, 1925 – March 15, 2021) was an American billionaire, businessman, civil engineer, and co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation. He was the son of Stephen Davison Bechtel Sr. and grandson of Warren A. Bechtel, w ...
, owner of Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...
Corporation; Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker
Jeffrey M. Lacker (born September 27, 1955) is an American economist and was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond until April 4, 2017. He is now a Distinguished Professor in thDepartment of Economicsat the Virginia Commonwealth Unive ...
; and popcorn specialist Orville Redenbacher
Orville Clarence Redenbacher (July 16, 1907 – September 19, 1995) was an American food scientist and businessman most often associated with the brand of popcorn that bears his name which is now owned by ConAgra. ''The New York Times'' descri ...
. In 2010, Bloomberg also revealed Purdue was one of the universities in America with the most undergraduate alumni serving as chief executive officers of S&P 500
The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...
firms. They are Gregory Wasson
Gregory David Wasson (born October 19, 1958) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and president of Wasson Enterprise, a family-based investment office, the executive chairman of Innventure, co-founder of CoolerScreens, and the former ...
, president/CEO of Walgreens
Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, an ...
; Mark Miller, chairman/president/CEO of Stericycle
Stericycle is a compliance company that specializes in collecting and disposing regulated substances, such as medical waste and sharps, pharmaceuticals, hazardous waste, and providing services for recalled and expired goods. It also provides re ...
; Charles Davidson, former chairman/CEO of Noble Energy
Noble Energy, Inc. was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. In October 2020, the company was acquired by Chevron Corporation.
The company was known as Noble Affiliates, Inc. until 2002.
As of December ...
; Samuel Allen, chairman /president/CEO of Deere & Company
Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy e ...
; Don Thompson, president/COO of McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
; and John C. Martin (businessman)
John Charles Martin (May 7, 1951 – March 30, 2021) was an American billionaire businessman, and the former executive chairman (2016–2018) and CEO (1996–2016) of the American biotechnology company Gilead Sciences. He joined Gilead Sciences ...
, chairman/CEO of Gilead Sciences, Inc.
In government and culture, Purdue alumni include Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
–winners Booth Tarkington
Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitze ...
and John T. McCutcheon, as well as Ginger Thompson, former New York Times reporter currently with ProPublica; Akinwumi Adesina
Akinwumi "Akin" Adesina is a Nigerian economist, who is currently serving as the President of the African Development Bank. He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Until his appointment as Minister in 2010 ...
, former Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
n minister of Agriculture and Rural development and current President of the African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...
; Essam Sharaf
Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf ( ar, عصام عبد العزيز شرف, ; born 1952) is an Egyptian academic who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2005.
Early li ...
, former Egyptian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Egypt () is the head of the Egyptian government. A direct translation of the Arabic-language title is "Minister-President of Egypt" and "President of the Government". The Arabic title can also be translated as "President of ...
; Tom Moore, theater and television director; James Thomson, CEO of Rand Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
; Brian Lamb
Brian Patrick Lamb (; born October 9, 1941) is an American journalist. He is the founder, executive chairman, and the now-retired CEO of C-SPAN, an American cable network that provides coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Sen ...
, founder and CEO of C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
; Harry G. Leslie
Harry Guyer Leslie (April 6, 1878December 10, 1937) was an American politician and Indiana Republican Party member, speaker of the state house and the 33rd governor of the state. His term as governor was marked by the start of the Great Depressi ...
, former Governor of Indiana; Kirk Fordice
Daniel Kirkwood "Kirk" Fordice Jr. () (February 10, 1934 – September 7, 2004), was an American politician and businessman who served as the 61st Governor of Mississippi from 1992 to 2000. He was the first Republican governor of the state ...
, former Governor of Mississippi; Earl Butz
Earl Lauer "Rusty" Butz (July 3, 1909 – February 2, 2008) was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. His policies favored large-scale corporate farming an ...
, former United States Secretary of Agriculture
The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments.
The department includes several organi ...
; Birch Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the Indiana ...
, former United States Senator; Herman Cain
Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...
, 2012 Presidential Candidate; David McKinley
David Bennett McKinley (born March 28, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from ...
, current West Virginia Congressman; Sun Li-jen
Sun Li-jen (; December 8, 1900November 19, 1990) was a Chinese Nationalist (KMT) general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achie ...
, former Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
general; Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu
Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu is an Indian politician and a Member of parliament to the 17th Lok Sabha from Srikakulam Lok Sabha constituency, Andhra Pradesh. He won the Indian general election, 2014 and 2019 as a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candid ...
, Indian Parliament member; Dulquer Salmaan
Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...
, Indian film actor; Blake Ragsdale Van Leer
Blake Ragsdale Van Leer (August 16, 1893 – January 23, 1956) was an engineer and university professor who served as the fifth president of Georgia Institute of Technology from 1944 until his death in 1956.
Early life and education
Van Leer was ...
, former Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
president; Anthony W. Miller
Anthony Wilder "Tony" Miller was the United States Deputy Secretary of Education, confirmed on July 24, 2009 to replace Raymond Simon, who resigned from office on January 20, 2009. Miller was a co-founder at The Vistria Group, LLC and is current ...
, former United States Deputy Secretary of Education
The deputy secretary of education oversees and manages the development of policies in the United States Department of Education. The deputy secretary focuses primarily on K–12 education policy, such as No Child Left Behind, the High School Initi ...
; and Hugo F. Sonnenschein, former University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
president. Richard O. Klemm, former CEO of Food Warming Equipment and Illinois state legislator, also graduated from Purdue University.
In sports, Purdue has produced basketball coach John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
; basketball Hall of Famers Stretch Murphy
Charles Carroll "Stretch" Murphy (April 10, 1907 – August 17, 1992) was an American basketball player.
He played competitive basketball at Marion High School (1922–26), located in Marion, Indiana. The All-State player led his school ...
, Piggy Lambert, and Rick Mount
Richard Carl Mount (born January 5, 1947) is a former American basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated''.
Early life
Rick Mount's fath ...
; NBA Champions Paul Hoffman, Herm Gilliam
Herman L. Gilliam Jr. (May 5, 1946 – April 16, 2005) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
College career
Herm Gilliam attended Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. He p ...
, Frank Kendrick
Frank Edward Kendrick (born September 11, 1950) is an American retired professional basketball player from Indianapolis, Indiana who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
College career
As an All-American selection playing at In ...
, Jerry Sichting
Jerry Lee Sichting (born November 29, 1956) is an American basketball coach and retired player of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
High school career
Jerry Sichting, the , point guard from Martinsville, Indiana, attended Martinsv ...
, Glenn Robinson
Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dog" and "The Chosen One", he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atl ...
, and Brian Cardinal
Brian Lee Cardinal (born May 2, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 456 games in the NBA between 2000 and 2012, and won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Before his NBA career, he was one o ...
; and NBA All-Stars Glenn Robinson
Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dog" and "The Chosen One", he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atl ...
, Brad Miller, Terry Dischinger
Terry Gilbert Dischinger (born November 21, 1940) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dischinger was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1963 NBA Rookie of the Year, after averaging 28 points per gam ...
, and Joe Barry Carroll
Joe Barry Carroll (born July 24, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After retiring from basketball, he became a wealth advisor, philanthropist, artist, a ...
. Purdue has three NFL Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
–winning quarterbacks in Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...
, Bob Griese
Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gries ...
, and Len Dawson
Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Aft ...
. Additionally, a total of 19 Purdue alumni have been on a Super Bowl–winning team . Purdue also produced Super Bowl IV
Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking eff ...
winning coach Hank Stram
Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (N ...
. Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
winner Ryan Newman graduated from Purdue with a bachelor's degree in vehicle structure engineering.
Three Purdue alumni have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
, the highest civilian award of the United States: Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
, Brian Lamb
Brian Patrick Lamb (; born October 9, 1941) is an American journalist. He is the founder, executive chairman, and the now-retired CEO of C-SPAN, an American cable network that provides coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Sen ...
, and John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
.
The Dauch Alumni Center acts as a showcase for the university's alumni. The center houses the offices of the Purdue Alumni Association and University Development. It is a destination and gathering area for the Purdue Alumni Association's 69,000 members and more than 410,000 living alumni.
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
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Purdue Athletics website
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1869 establishments in Indiana
Air traffic controller schools
Buildings and structures in Tippecanoe County, Indiana
Education in Tippecanoe County, Indiana
Educational institutions established in 1869
Forestry education
Land-grant universities and colleges
Tourist attractions in Tippecanoe County, Indiana
Public universities and colleges in Indiana
West Lafayette, Indiana
Flagship universities in the United States
West Lafayette
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...