Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group - Purdue University, West Lafayette

Could Vermont Senator Justin Morrill ever conceive of the Land Grant University we call Purdue? In 1865 Indiana’s legislature voted to take advantage of the public land for colleges to teach agriculture and mechanical arts and in 1869, accepted John Purdue’s donation of land and money for Purdue University. The first class was composed of 39 students taught by 6 instructors. From a treeless farm field with 6 buildings Purdue has developed into a world class university with 163 major buildings on nearly 2,500 acres in West Lafayette. Today Purdue’s student enrollment is more than 70,000 students throughout the state of Indiana with nearly 40,000 of them located in West Lafayette.

Purdue’s yearbook, The Debris, was first published in 1887 and the campus newspaper, The Exponent, was established in 1889.

Purdue's Presidents

1. Richard Owen 1872-1874
2. Abraham Shortridge 1874-1875
3. Emerson White 1876-1883
4. James Smart 1884-1900
5. Winthrop Stone 1900-1921
6. Edward C. Elliott 1922-1945
7. Frederick Hovde 1946-1971
8. Arthur Hansen 1971-1982
9. Steven C. Beering 1983-2000
10. Martin C. Jischke 2000- 2007
11. France Córdova 2007-present

Some Notable Staff and Alumni

• Amelia Earhart
• Lillian Gilbreth
• Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon
• Eugene Cernan, most recent man on the moon

Much more of Purdue’s history is found in A Century and Beyond and other books that may be found online in e-Archives.