Purdue University

Purdue University is a public land-grant university system within the state of Indiana. Purdue?s main academic campus is located in the city of West Lafayette, on the banks of the Wabash River. Satellite campuses are located in Hammond, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Westville, and other cities. Purdue also has three campuses affiliated with Indiana University, and Purdue?s School of Technology has seven satellite locations throughout Indiana. With 18,209 acres (74 km²) and over 68,000 students, Purdue is one of the largest university systems in the United States. The main campus has over 30,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students. The university is particularly noted for its engineering, agriculture, and business programs, which consistently rank among the best in the country. Purdue is also home to the state of Indiana's school of veterinary medicine, and a number of research facilities, including Discovery Park.

History

Founding and early years

On July 2nd of 1862 President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act into law, offering public lands to any state that would establish and maintain a college for the purpose of teaching agriculture and mechanics. In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly took advantage of this offer, and began plans to establish such an institution. The state of Indiana received a gift of $150,000 from John Purdue, a Lafayette business leader and philanthropist, along with $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, and 150 acres (.6 km²) of land from Lafayette residents in support of the project. In 1869, it was decided that the college would be founded near the city of Lafayette and established as Purdue University, in the name of the institution?s principal benefactor.

Related Topics:
1862 - President Lincoln - Morrill Act - 1865 - Indiana General Assembly - John Purdue - Philanthropist - Tippecanoe County - 1869 - Lafayette

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Classes first began at Purdue in the fall of 1874 with three buildings, six instructors, and 39 students. Purdue issued its first degree, a Bachelor?s of Science in Chemistry, in 1875. The first female students were admitted to the university in the fall of the same year. By 1883 enrollment had increased beyond 350, and by the turn of the twentieth century Purdue had begun a period of active expansion: scholarship standards were raised, courses were expanded, and equipment was improved.

Related Topics:
1874 - Chemistry - 1875 - 1883 - Twentieth century

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Aviation

Although the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics was not formally established until 1945, Purdue and the greater Lafayette community have a long history in the field of aviation. Since the earliest days of the University, students, faculty, and staff have played major, and often instrumental, roles in the history of aerospace.

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In 1910, Dr. Cicero Veal, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, organized the Purdue Aero Club. In the summer of 1911 the club hosted Aviation Day, the Lafayette community's first aircraft demonstration. The event, sponsored by Purdue alumni, attracted an estimated 17,000 onlookers and enthusiasts, and was the first of many such exhibitions at Purdue.

Related Topics:
1910 - Mechanical engineering - 1911

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J. Clifford Turpin, from the class of 1908, was the first Purdue graduate to become an aviator, and received flight instruction from Orville Wright himself. In 1919 George W. Haskins became the first alumnus to land an aircraft on campus. He arrived from Dayton, Ohio with a proposal to establish a School of Aviation Engineering at Purdue. Although it would be several years before a separate school would be established, Purdue did begin offering technical electives in aeronautical engineering within the School of Mechanical Engineering in 1921.

Related Topics:
1908 - Orville Wright - 1919 - Dayton, Ohio - Aeronautical engineering - 1921

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In 1930 Purdue became the first university in the country to offer college credit for flight training, and later became the first to open its own airport. Famed aviator Amelia Earhart came to Purdue in 1935 and served as a "Counselor on Careers for Women," a staff position she held until her disappearance in 1937. Purdue also played a central role in Earhart's ill-fated "Flying Laboratory" project, providing funds for the Lockheed L-10 Electra aircraft she intended to fly around the world. Earhart began her fateful transoceanic flight from the Purdue University Airport. Purdue libraries maintain an extensive Earhart collection, which is still studied by those seeking to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

Related Topics:
1930 - Amelia Earhart - 1935 - 1937 - Lockheed L-10 Electra

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As a result of the expansion in technical education prompted by World War II, the aeronautical engineering electives in mechanical engineering were expanded to create a full four-year degree program in 1941 within the newly-rechristened School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. Later, other training programs for the war were introduced that eventually lead to the formation of an independent School of Aeronautics in 1945. The school initially offered undergraduate degrees in both aeronautical engineering and the new field of air transportation, and issued its first graduate degrees in 1947. The programs were popular among returning veterans in the years following World War II, bringing total undergraduate enrollment to 736 students. The school adopted its present name in 1973.

Related Topics:
World War II - 1941 - 1947 - 1973

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Over the past ten years, Purdue?s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has awarded more aerospace engineering degrees than any other institution in the country, issuing 6 percent of all undergraduate degrees and 7 percent of all Ph.D. degrees.

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