Purdue University#Student body

File:JohnPurdue.jpg, the university's eponymous benefactor]]

In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly 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 with the preliminary name of the Indiana Agricultural College.{{Cite web |title=Indiana General Assembly |url=https://iga.in.gov/laws/2023/ic/titles/21#21-23-2 |access-date=September 26, 2023 |website=iga.in.gov}} Communities throughout the state offered facilities and funding in bids for the location of the new college. Popular proposals included designating Indiana University or what is now Butler University as Indiana's land-grant, as well as the addition of an agriculture department at what is now Indiana State University. By 1869, Tippecanoe County's offer included $150,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.15|1869|r=1}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}}) from Lafayette business leader and philanthropist John Purdue; $50,000 from the county; and {{convert|100|acre|km2|1}} of land from John Purdue and local residents.{{Cite web |title=The Birth of Land-Grant Institutions and Purdue University |url=https://extension.purdue.edu/news/county/whitley/2023/03/the-birth-of-land-grant-institutions-and-purdue-university.html |access-date=September 26, 2023 |website=Purdue University - Extension |language=en}}

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.Topping, Robert W. (1988) A Century and Beyond: The History of Purdue University. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. p63, p383. A campus of five buildings was completed by the end of 1874.{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/?page=purduefaq |title=Frequently Asked Questions about Purdue History |at=What were the first buildings on campus? |publisher=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections |access-date=November 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308153230/http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/?page=purduefaq |archive-date=March 8, 2012 |url-status=live}} In 1875, Sarah D. Allen Oren Haynes, the State Librarian of Indiana, was appointed professor of botany.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/annualregisterof1882purd/page/n7/mode/2up?q=Oren |title=The annual register of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana |publisher=Purdue University |year=1894 |location=Indianapolis |pages=69 |access-date=August 22, 2020}}

Purdue issued its first degree, a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, in 1875. The first female student was admitted that autumn.{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/content/John%20Bradford%20Harper.pdf |title=John Bradford Harper: the first graduate of Purdue University |first=David M. |last=Hovde |year=2009 |publisher=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections |access-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713064147/http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/content/John%20Bradford%20Harper.pdf |archive-date=July 13, 2010 }}Topping, p. 78.

Emerson E. White, 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 with an emphasis on science, technology, and agriculture.Topping, pp. 89–94, 97–100.

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. White resigned in protest.Topping, pp. 107–111. 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.Topping, pp. 134–138.

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 served on the board of trustees.Topping, pp. 130–131. Purdue's engineering laboratories included testing facilities for a locomotive, and for a Corliss steam engine—one of the most efficient engines of the time. 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.Topping, p. 291.

{{wide image|1904 Panorama of campus, Purdue Univ.jpg|800px|align-cap=center|Purdue University, 1904}}

President Edward C. Elliott oversaw a campus building program between the world wars. Inventor, alumnus, and trustee David E. Ross 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, the Memorial Union, a civil engineering surveying camp, and Purdue University Airport. Purdue Airport was the country's first university-owned airport and the site of the country's first college-credit flight training courses.{{cite web |url=http://www.aiaa.org/Participate/Uploads/05-0443westlafayette.pdf |title=Historic Aerospace Site: Purdue University Airport, West Lafayette, Indiana |author=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |year=2005 |pages=2–3 |access-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201224602/http://www.aiaa.org/Participate/Uploads/05%2D0443westlafayette%2Epdf |archive-date=December 1, 2006}}

Amelia Earhart joined the Purdue faculty in 1935 as a consultant for these flight courses and as a counselor on women's careers. In 1936, the Purdue Research Foundation provided the funds for the Lockheed Electra 10-E Earhart flew on her attempted round-the-world flight.National Air and Space Museum. (n.d.) Model, Static, Lockheed Electra, Amelia Earhart. National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved May 30, 2023, from https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/model-static-lockheed-electra-amelia-earhart/nasm_A19600213000

File:Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, Estados Unidos, 2012-10-15, DD 08.jpg

Every school and department at the university was involved in some type of military research or training during World War II.Topping, p. 241. During a project on radar receivers, Purdue physicists discovered properties of germanium that led to the making of the first transistor.{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1941-semiconductor.html |title=1941 – Semiconductor diode rectifiers serve in WW II |year=2007 |work=The Silicon Engine: A Timeline of Semiconductors in Computers |publisher=Computer History Museum |access-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924135754/http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1941-semiconductor.html |archive-date=September 24, 2008 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/transistor/science/info/germanium.html |title=Germanium Comes of Age |year=1999 |work=Transistorized! The History of the Invention of the Transistor |publisher=PBS.org |access-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213010523/http://www.pbs.org/transistor/science/info/germanium.html |archive-date=December 13, 2011 |url-status=live}} The Army and the Navy conducted training programs at Purdue and more than 17,500 students, staff, and alumni served in the armed forces.Topping, p. 242. Purdue set up about a hundred centers throughout Indiana to train skilled workers for defense industries.Topping. p. 240. As veterans returned to the university under the G.I. Bill, 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. On-campus housing became racially desegregated in 1947.{{cite web |url=http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/orthefirenexttime |title=Or the Fire Next Time: A Timeline of African American History at Purdue |year=2010 |author=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections |access-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514184827/http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/orthefirenexttime/ |archive-date=May 14, 2015 }}Topping, p. 355.

After the war, 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.cs.purdue.edu/history/history.html |title=History of the Department of Computer Sciences at Purdue University |first1=John R. |last1=Rice |first2=Saul |last2=Rosen |year=1994 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216124633/http://www.cs.purdue.edu/history/history.html |archive-date=December 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }} Undergraduate humanities courses were strengthened, graduate-level study in these areas were slowly established. Purdue awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1960.Topping, p. 321.

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, symbolizing strength, and a three-part shield, representing education, research, and service.{{sfn|Purdue Reamer Club|2012|pp=6–7}}

In 1975, Purdue University joined ARPANET, an early packet-switching network that would ultimately become the foundation for the modern internet.{{cite web|url=http://som.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/history/arpamaps/|title=ARPANET Maps|access-date=March 10, 2023}}

In recent years, Purdue's leaders have continued to support high-tech research and international programs. In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan visited the West Lafayette campus to give a speech about the influence of technological progress on job creation.{{cite news |title=Reagan Hails U.S. Technology's Role |first=Gerald M. |last=Boyd |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/10/us/reagan-hails-us-technology-s-role.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 10, 1987 |page=A12 |access-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518161326/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/10/us/reagan-hails-us-technology-s-role.html |archive-date=May 18, 2013 |url-status=live}}

In the 1990s, the university added more opportunities to study abroad and expanded its course offerings in world languages and cultures.{{cite news |title=Campus Life: Purdue; The Race Is On To Ready Students For Globalization |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/25/style/campus-life-purdue-the-race-is-on-to-ready-students-for-globalization.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 25, 1990 |page=47 |access-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518173238/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/25/style/campus-life-purdue-the-race-is-on-to-ready-students-for-globalization.html |archive-date=May 18, 2013 |url-status=live}} The first buildings of the Discovery Park interdisciplinary research center were dedicated in 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=12097 |title=Purdue Dedicates Center For Entrepreneurship |date=October 21, 2004 |work=Inside Indiana Business |access-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113133413/http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=12097 |archive-date=January 13, 2012 }}

On April 27, 2017, Purdue University announced plans to acquire for-profit college Kaplan University and convert it to a public university in the state of Indiana, subject to multiple levels of approval.{{cite web |title=Purdue to acquire Kaplan University, increase access for millions |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2017/Q2/purdue-to-acquire-kaplan-university,-increase-access-for-millions.html |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=April 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428050941/https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2017/Q2/purdue-to-acquire-kaplan-university,-increase-access-for-millions.html |archive-date=April 28, 2017 |url-status=live}} That school now operates as Purdue University Global, and aims to serve adult learners.{{cite web |title=Kaplan University Is Now Purdue University Global |url=https://kaplan.com/individuals/earn-a-degree/ |website=Kaplan |access-date=September 10, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=September 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908121340/https://kaplan.com/individuals/earn-a-degree/ |url-status=live }}

On July 1, 2024, Purdue launched Purdue University in Indianapolis, an extension of the West Lafayette campus, after the formal split of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. It conveys Purdue West Lafayette degrees and has the same academic rigor as the flagship campus. Purdue currently has a {{Convert|28|acre|adj=on}} footprint in downtown Indianapolis that includes space in the existing engineering and technology buildings, and has established partnerships with companies for facilities and shared spaces throughout the metro area.{{Cite web |title=Purdue University in Indianapolis: Launching Purdue's first comprehensive urban campus and forming America's Hard Tech Corridor |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2023/Q2/purdue-university-in-indianapolis-launching-purdues-first-comprehensive-urban-campus-and-forming-americas-hard-tech-corridor.html |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Purdue University|date=June 14, 2023 }}

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.{{cite news |last1=Lotus |first1=Jean L |title=Up South in Indiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111256626/up-south-in-indiana/ |access-date=October 13, 2022 |publisher=Journal and Courier |date=October 13, 1993}}{{cite news |last1=Lotus |first1=Jean L |title=Up South in Indiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111256767/up-south-in-indiana/ |access-date=October 13, 2022 |publisher=Journal and Courier |date=October 13, 1993}}

Helen Williams became the first Black faculty member in 1968.{{cite news |last1=Townsend |first1=Angela |title=Purdue pioneer remembered |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63848576/ |access-date=October 13, 2022 |publisher=Journal and Courier |date=February 3, 1995}}

Purdue's campus is situated in the small city of West Lafayette, near the western bank of the Wabash River, across which sits the larger city of Lafayette. Mitch Daniels Boulevard (formerly State Street) 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.

File:Engineering Fountain Purdue University 2016 03.jpg, Purdue Bell Tower, and Hovde Hall ]]

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 {{convert|38|ft|m|adj=on}}-tall concrete Engineering Fountain.

The Purdue Bell Tower 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 and West Lafayette.{{Cite web |title=Community :: Government in Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana |url=https://www.homeofpurdue.com/plan/our-community/government/ |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=www.homeofpurdue.com}}

Southwest of the Stadium Mall is the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music, one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.housing.purdue.edu/HTML/HallOfMusic/venues/elliott/elliott.html |title=Hall of Music Productions – Venues – Purdue University |publisher=Housing.purdue.edu |date=September 30, 1990 |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091221065921/http://www.housing.purdue.edu/HTML/HallOfMusic/venues/elliott/elliott.html |archive-date=December 21, 2009 |url-status=live}} Elliott Hall of Music serves as the home of the WBAA (AM) and WBAA-FM studios, and was the base of operations for Purdue Bands and Orchestras until the completion of the Marc and Sharon Hagle Hall in 2022.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

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.{{Cite web |url=https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/armyrotc/overview/history |title=History – Purdue Polytechnic Institute |website=polytechnic.purdue.edu |access-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430190437/https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/armyrotc/overview/history |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |url-status=live}}

File:Purdue Student Union.JPG|alt=]]

File:Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, Estados Unidos, 2012-10-15, DD 33.jpg

The Purdue Memorial Mall, south of the Purdue Mall, is the original section of campus. It is a popular meeting place for students and is surrounded by other buildings used for academic and cultural purposes.{{cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Jake |url=https://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/walking-tour-of-purdue/article_2cf685c5-d033-57bc-974d-cb1beacf3760.html |title=Walking tour of Purdue |date=June 10, 2013 |access-date=September 27, 2024 |newspaper=Purdue Exponent}}{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/campus-map/?_gl=1*9bqdym*_gcl_au*MTcwMTEyOTUyOS4xNzI3NDQ3MTgz*_ga*MTA3MjM3ODAxOC4xNzI2NzcxOTk5*_ga_PF1CYQ27F6*MTcyNzQ0NzE4Mi4xLjEuMTcyNzQ0NzIxOS4wLjAuMA.. |title=Purdue Campus Map |website=Purdue.edu |access-date=September 27, 2024}}{{cite book |author=Purdue Reamer Club |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0WLyLNc06kC |title=A University of Tradition – The Spirit of Purdue |publisher=Purdue University Press |date=2013 |page=54, 60, 73, 81, 103 | isbn=978-1-55753-630-3 |access-date=September 27, 2024}}

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 died in the Purdue Wreck railroad accident of 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.{{cite web |url=https://collections.lib.purdue.edu/campus/buildings/67 |title=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections – Felix Haas Hall |website=Purdue.edu |access-date=September 27, 2024}} East of the Memorial Mall is the Purdue Memorial Union, Purdue's student union building, and the adjacent Union Club Hotel.{{cite web |url=https://collections.lib.purdue.edu/campus/buildings/235 |title=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections – Purdue Memorial Union |website=Purdue.edu |access-date=September 27, 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.union.purdue.edu/about/history.html |title=Origin of the Purdue Memorial Union |website=Purdue.edu |access-date=September 27, 2024}}

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. University Hall originally housed the office of the president, a chapel, and classrooms. At the request of John Purdue, he was buried in the Memorial Mall, directly across from the main entrance of University Hall.{{cite web |url=https://collections.lib.purdue.edu/campus/buildings/55 |title=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections – University Hall |website=Purdue.edu |access-date=September 27, 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://collections.lib.purdue.edu/campus/buildings/206 |title=Purdue Libraries, Archives and Special Collections – John Purdue Grave |website=Purdue.edu |access-date=September 27, 2024}}

The area south of Mitch Daniels Boulevard 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.

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.{{Cite web |title=Facilities {{!}} West Lafayette {{!}} IU School of Medicine |url=https://medicine.iu.edu/west-lafayette/campus-life/facilities |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=medicine.iu.edu |language=en}}

The western portion of campus consists of student housing, dining, and recreation facilities. The Córdova Recreational Sports Center, built in 1957, is the first building in the nation created solely to serve university student recreational needs.{{cite book |title=Debris |access-date=July 19, 2012 |type=yearbook |year=1958 |publisher=Purdue University |location=West Lafayette, Indiana |page=293 |chapter=Co-recreational Gym increases I-M activity |chapter-url=http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/u?/debris,40537 |archive-date=April 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404071735/https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/debris/id/40537 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tntEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA337 |title=International Dictionary of University Histories |page=337 |author1=Mary Elizabeth Devine |author2=Carol Summerfield |date=December 2, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134262175 |access-date=December 2, 2013 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819230913/https://books.google.com/books?id=tntEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA337 |url-status=live }}

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Much of the northern part of campus sits on land purchased for the university by industrialist David E. Ross and author George Ade in the 1920s. Many of Purdue's athletic facilities are there, including Ross–Ade Stadium (American football), Mackey Arena (basketball), and Lambert Fieldhouse (indoor track and field). This area also includes the Slayter Center of Performing Arts and Cary Quadrangle, one of the largest all-male housing units in the country.{{cite web |url=http://www.housing.purdue.edu/HTML/Housing/Cary_Quadrangle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807152841/http://www.housing.purdue.edu/HTML/Housing/Cary_Quadrangle/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |access-date=August 25, 2009 |publisher=Purdue University Housing and Food Services |title=Cary Quadrangle}}

{{Main|Purdue University system}}

{{see also|List of Purdue University presidents}}

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{{Infobox U.S. college admissions

|year = 2024

|admit rate = 49.8%

|admit rate change = -10.0

|yield rate = 29.1

|yield rate change = +4.6

|SAT Total = 1210–1470
(among 75% of FTFs)

|SAT Total change =

|ACT = 27–34
(among 35% of FTFs)

|ACT change =

|float = right

|ref = {{cite web |url= https://admissions.purdue.edu/academics/freshmanprofile.php|title=Purdue University Freshman class profile 2024

|publisher=Purdue University |access-date=February 24, 2025}}

}}

Purdue University is ranked 43rd in the annual ranking of 2024 U.S. News & World Report. The 2022 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report categorizes Purdue University-West Lafayette as "more selective".{{cite web |title=Purdue University--West Lafayette |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/purdue-university-west-lafayette-1825 |work=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=November 12, 2022}} 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 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 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/annual_report.pdf|title=National Merit Scholarship Corporation 2019-20 Annual Report|publisher=National Merit Scholarship Corporation|access-date=December 7, 2022}}

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Purdue offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in over 211 major areas of study, and is well known for its competitive engineering curricula. The university has also been integral in America's history of aviation, having established the first college credit offered in flight training; the first four-year bachelor's degree in aviation; and the first university airport: Purdue University Airport. Purdue's aviation technology and aeronautical engineering programs remain among the most competitive aviation-specific programs in the world.{{Cite web |url=https://www.purdueaviationllc.com/flight-training/faq |title=Purdue Aviation |website=www.purdueaviationllc.com |access-date=September 17, 2020 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302160839/https://www.purdueaviationllc.com/flight-training/faq |url-status=live }} In the mid-20th century, Purdue's aviation program expanded to encompass advanced spaceflight technology, giving rise to Purdue's nicknames Cradle of Astronauts{{cite news |url=https://www.purdue.edu/UNS/astro/astromain.html |title=Purdue Astronauts |publisher=Purdue University News Service |access-date=June 12, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216032631/http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/astro/astromain.html |archive-date=December 16, 2004 |url-status=dead }} and Mother of Astronauts.{{cite web |url=https://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/1998/9801.Smith.spaceage.html |title=New history course to explore the space age |author=Purdue News Service |date=January 1998 |work=Purdue News |access-date=August 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820044832/https://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/1998/9801.Smith.spaceage.html |archive-date=August 20, 2019 |url-status=dead }} Twenty-six Purdue graduates have become astronauts, including Gus Grissom, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts; Neil Armstrong, who was the first person to walk on the Moon; and Eugene Cernan, who was the last person to walk on the Moon.{{Cite web |title=Apollo 17 (AS-512) {{!}} National Air and Space Museum |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo17.cfm |access-date=January 11, 2021 |website=airandspace.si.edu |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116182333/https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo17.cfm |url-status=live }}

The English department at Purdue launched the first Online Writing Lab (OWL), in 1994.{{Cite book |title=ESL Readers and Writers in Higher Education: Understanding Challenges, Providing Support |last=Evans |first=Norman W. |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1138791718 |location=New York |pages=73}}{{cite web |url=https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/608/ |title=Purdue OWL |work=purdue.edu |access-date=May 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602005620/http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/608/ |archive-date=June 2, 2013 |url-status=live}} Many colleges and universities use the Purdue OWL website as an academic writing reference source for proper word usage, punctuation, grammar, and style.{{Cite web |date=February 13, 2020 |title=The Ballad of Purdue OWL |url=https://studyingresearch.com/2020/02/13/the-ballad-of-purdue-owl/#:~:text=Purdue%20OWL%20was%20the%20one,as%20an%20online%20writing%20tutor. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928040712/https://studyingresearch.com/2020/02/13/the-ballad-of-purdue-owl/ |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |access-date=September 28, 2023 |website=Studying Research}} Professors criticized the partnership, begun in 2020, between OWL and the company Chegg, which provides AI-generated "homework help" that some consider to be plagiarism.{{Cite web |last=Lindsay |first=McKenzie |date=March 12, 2019 |title=The Wrong Partnership? |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/12/purdue-professors-criticize-writing-partnership-chegg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816063023/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/12/purdue-professors-criticize-writing-partnership-chegg |archive-date=August 16, 2022 |website=Inside Higher Ed}}

Purdue is organized into 10 colleges and schools. In 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.hhs.purdue.edu/about/about.html |title=Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences |publisher=Hhs.purdue.edu |date=July 1, 2010 |access-date=November 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113171140/https://www.hhs.purdue.edu/about/about.html |archive-date=January 13, 2012 }}

The university's College of Agriculture supports the university's charge as a land-grant university for the study of agriculture throughout the state.

The College of Education offers undergraduate degrees in elementary education, social studies education, science education and special education, and graduate degrees in these and many other specialty areas of education.{{cite web |url=http://www.education.purdue.edu/academics/degrees_programs.html |title=College of Education – Purdue University |access-date=April 24, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702150225/http://www.education.purdue.edu/academics/degrees_programs.html |archive-date=July 2, 2007 }}

File:Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering Purdue University 2016 03.jpg

{{main|Purdue University 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 degrees in more than a dozen disciplines.{{cite web |url=http://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/History/ |title=Purdue University – History of the College of Engineering |access-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226170016/https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/History |url-status=live }} Purdue's engineering program has also educated 27 of America's astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, who were the first and last astronauts to have walked on the Moon, respectively, and Gus Grissom, a member of the Mercury Seven.{{Cite web |title=Purdue Astronauts |url=https://www.purdue.edu/space/astronauts/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Purdue In Space |language=en-US}} Many of Purdue's engineering disciplines are recognized as top-ten programs in the U.S.{{cite web |url=http://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/FactsFigures/AboutUs/FactsFigures/rankingsNewsReport |title=Rankings – College of Engineering |access-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020024513/https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/FactsFigures/AboutUs/FactsFigures/rankingsNewsReport |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering |title=Current U.S. News Rankings |access-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-date=January 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101211020/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering |url-status=dead }}

File:Purdue University - Engineering Laboratory - Cassier's 1892-08.png featured the Purdue University in its August 1892 edition. Here is a look at the locomotive testing plant within the Mechanical Laboratory.]]

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/exploratory/prospective/who-we-are/index.php |title=Who We Are |publisher=Purdue University |date=2020 |access-date=November 7, 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The College of Health and Human Sciences was established in 2010 and is the newest college. It offers BS, MS and PhD degrees in all 9 of its academic units.{{Cite web |title=Departments and Schools |url=https://hhs.purdue.edu/about-hhs/departments-and-schools/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=College of Health and Human Sciences |language=en-US}}

Purdue's College of Liberal Arts contains the arts, social sciences and humanities programs at the university. Liberal arts 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 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, and social sciences programs, while education 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.{{Cite web |title=History - College of Liberal Arts - Purdue University |url=https://www.cla.purdue.edu/about/history.html |access-date=March 15, 2024 |website=www.cla.purdue.edu}}

{{main|Daniels School of Business}}

The Daniels School of Business offers management courses and programs at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels.{{cite web |url=https://krannert.purdue.edu/fast-tracks/apply.php |title=Fill Out the Appropriate Application – Purdue Krannert |website=krannert.purdue.edu |access-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104212843/https://www.krannert.purdue.edu/fast-tracks/apply.php |url-status=live }}

{{main|Purdue University College of Pharmacy}}

The university's College of Pharmacy was established in 1884 and is the 3rd oldest state-funded school of pharmacy in the United States.{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Holly L. |date=Fall 2008 |title=History of the School of Pharmacy |url=http://www.pharmacy.purdue.edu/aboutus/history/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013013315/http://www.pharmacy.purdue.edu/aboutus/history/index.htm |archive-date=October 13, 2008 |access-date=December 15, 2008 }}

The Purdue Polytechnic Institute, formerly known as the College of Technology, offers bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees in a wide range of technology-related disciplines. With over 30,000 living alumni, 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, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lafayette, New Albany, Richmond, Vincennes, and South Bend.{{Cite web|url=https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/locations|title=Locations - Purdue Polytechnic Institute|website=polytechnic.purdue.edu}} These locations offer certificate, associate, and/or bachelor's degrees, some of which are ABET-accredited technical degrees.

The Polytechnic Institute also maintains three high school campuses (two in Indianapolis and one in South Bend) that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and feature hands-on project-based learning.{{cite web |title=Purdue Polytechnic High School Welcomes First-ever Students |url=https://pphs.purdue.edu/purdue-polytechnic-high-school-welcomes-first-ever-students |access-date=August 12, 2022 |website=Purdue University |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829145311/https://pphs.purdue.edu/purdue-polytechnic-high-school-welcomes-first-ever-students |url-status=dead }}

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 hours.{{Cite web|url=http://www.science.purdue.edu/jsv/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019061451/http://www.science.purdue.edu/jsv/|url-status=dead|title=Jeff Vitter's Home Page|archive-date=October 19, 2007}}

The College of Veterinary Medicine is accredited by the AVMA.

Purdue's Honors College supports an honors program for undergraduate students{{Cite web |title=John Martinson Honors College - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University |url=https://www.admissions.purdue.edu/academics/honorscollege.php |access-date=September 22, 2023 |website=www.admissions.purdue.edu |language=en}} at the university.

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.{{Cite web |url=http://online.purdue.edu/online-programs/masters-degrees |title=Masters Degrees {{!}} Purdue University Online |website=online.purdue.edu |access-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311035007/http://online.purdue.edu/online-programs/masters-degrees |archive-date=March 11, 2016 |url-status=live}} 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."{{Cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q4/trustees-ok-new-unit-for-system-wide-online-education.html |title=Trustees OK new unit for system-wide online education. www.purdue.edu. Retrieved 29 August 2019. |access-date=September 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828200615/https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q4/trustees-ok-new-unit-for-system-wide-online-education.html |archive-date=August 28, 2019 |url-status=live}} Students manage their Purdue University admin account using the BrightSpace Purdue Student Portal.{{Cite web |title=Brightspace Purdue Retrieved 4 May 2022. |url=https://studentsorted.com/brightspace-purdue/ |date=April 22, 2022|access-date=May 4, 2022}}

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.{{cite web |title=Purdue University – NSF – Total R&D Expenditure |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=report&fice=1825&id=h1 |access-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806160836/https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=report&fice=1825&id=h1 |url-status=live }} Purdue University is considered by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to have "very high research activity".{{cite web |url=http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=243780 |title=Carnegie Classifications: Purdue University–Main Campus |publisher=Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching |access-date=June 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705033132/http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=243780 |archive-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite journal |last=Gawrylewski |first=Andrea |url=http://classic.the-scientist.com/2007/11/1/67/1/ |title=Purdue pushes forward |journal=The Scientist |date=November 1, 2007 |volume=21 |issue=11 |page=67 |access-date=June 25, 2012 |archive-date=May 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509123936/http://www.the-scientist.com/2007/11/1/67/1/ |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/purdue/research/research_areas.html |title=Purdue University – Research Areas |publisher=Purdue.edu |access-date=January 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408073427/http://www.purdue.edu/purdue/research/research_areas.html |archive-date=April 8, 2008 }}

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, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and Health and Human Services.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100830BuckiusResearch.html |title=Purdue hits research funding record in 2010 |publisher=News.uns.purdue.edu |date=August 30, 2010 |access-date=April 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233830/http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100830BuckiusResearch.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |title=Engineering by the Numbers ASEE.org |url=https://www.asee.org/documents/papers-and-publications/publications/college-profiles/2017-Engineering-by-Numbers-Engineering-Statistics.pdf |access-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024031008/https://www.asee.org/documents/papers-and-publications/publications/college-profiles/2017-Engineering-by-Numbers-Engineering-Statistics.pdf |archive-date=October 24, 2018 |url-status=live}}

Purdue University established the Discovery Park to bring innovation through multidisciplinary action.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/dp/index.php |title=Discovery Park at Purdue University |publisher=Purdue.edu |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519123638/http://www.purdue.edu/dp/index.php |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |author=Buck |first1=Charles |last2=Sharma |first2=Pankaj |date=2008 |title=Discovery Park at Purdue University: Engine for Academic and Commercial Growth |url=https://www.nanohub.org/resources/5025/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222165405/http://nanohub.org/resources/5025 |archive-date=December 22, 2009 |access-date=August 11, 2008}} Purdue University's nanotechnology research program, built around the new Birck Nanotechnology Center in Discovery Park, ranks among the best in the nation.{{cite web |url=http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007a/070612SandsSmalltimes.html |title=Purdue's nanotechnology research facilities rank 8th in U.S. survey |publisher=News.uns.purdue.edu |date=June 12, 2007 |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705152257/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007a/070612SandsSmalltimes.html |archive-date=July 5, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

The Purdue Research Park which opened in 1961{{cite web |url=http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/020110.B.Research.park.html |title=Purdue Research Park |publisher=News.uns.purdue.edu |date=January 10, 2002 |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615114419/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/020110.B.Research.park.html |archive-date=June 15, 2011 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://purdueresearchpark.com/about |title=About Purdue Research Park |publisher=Purdue Research Park |access-date=June 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814023007/http://purdueresearchpark.com/about |archive-date=August 14, 2012 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/080804RebarResearchFunding.html |title=Purdue generates record $333.4 million in research funding |publisher=News.uns.purdue.edu |date=August 4, 2008 |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080810002438/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/080804RebarResearchFunding.html |archive-date=August 10, 2008 |url-status=dead }} The Purdue Research Park was ranked first by the Association of University Research Parks in 2004.{{cite web |year=2004 |url=http://www.aurp.net/more/awards.cfm |title=AURP Annual Award Recipients: Outstanding Research/Science Park Achievement Award |publisher=Association of University Research Parks |access-date=August 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112195707/http://www.aurp.net/more/awards.cfm |archive-date=January 12, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

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.[http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/AdditionalFact/Libraries.html Data Digest 2013–14: Libraries] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501034922/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/AdditionalFact/Libraries.html |date=May 1, 2015 }}. Purdue University. Retrieved April 28, 2015. The Library houses the Amelia Earhart 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.{{Cite web |url=http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/aearhart/index.php |title=Amelia Earhart Collection |website=collections.lib.purdue.edu |access-date=November 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725075500/http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/aearhart/index.php |archive-date=July 25, 2019 |url-status=live}} An administrative unit of Purdue University Libraries, Purdue University Press publishes books in the areas of agriculture, health, and engineering.

Purdue's Sustainability Council, composed of university administrators and professors, meets monthly to discuss environmental issues and sustainability initiatives at Purdue.{{cite web |title=Sustainability Council |publisher=Purdue University |url=https://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/council.htm# |access-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313011028/http://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/council.htm |archive-date=March 13, 2009 }} The university's first LEED Certified building was an addition to the Mechanical Engineering Building, which was completed in Fall 2011.{{cite web |title=Campus Buildings & Features |publisher=Purdue University |url=https://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/pages/campus_buildings.html |access-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915041906/http://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/pages/campus_buildings.html |archive-date=September 15, 2008 }} The school is also in the process of developing an arboretum on campus.{{cite web |title=Purdue's Sustainability Initiatives |publisher=Purdue University |url=https://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/pages/sustainability_initi.html |access-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914162808/http://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/pages/sustainability_initi.html |archive-date=September 14, 2008 }} 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.{{cite web |title=GreenWeek 2008 |publisher=Purdue University |url=https://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/ |access-date=June 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401045032/http://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/ |archive-date=April 1, 2016 |url-status=live}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

|USNWR_NU = 43

|THE_WSJ = 48

|Forbes = 51

|Wamo_NU = 26

|QS_W = 89

|THES_W = 86

|USNWR_W = 167

|ARWU_W = 100

}}

Purdue University is well-regarded for the strength of its STEM programs.

In its 2025 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked Purdue University the 7th most innovative national university, 8th best engineering school, and 18th best public university in the United States.{{cite web |title=Purdue University—West Lafayette USNews Undergraduate Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/purdue-university-west-lafayette-1825 |url-status= |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=U.S. News & World Report}} For its graduate programs, Purdue is ranked 5th for overall engineering, 1st for biological/agricultural engineering, 5th for aerospace engineering, 9th for computer engineering, 9th for electrical engineering, 7th for mechanical engineering, 1st for analytic chemistry, 19th for computer science, 24th for applied mathematics, and 22nd for statistics.{{cite web |title=Purdue University—West Lafayette USNews Graduate Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/purdue-university-main-campus-243780/overall-rankings |url-status= |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=U.S. News & World Report}}

In its 2025 edition, the Times Higher Education ranked Purdue University 20th among all global universities for Interdisciplinary Science (12th among universities in the United States).{{cite web |title=Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2025 |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/interdisciplinary-science-rankings#!/length/25/locations/USA/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc |url-status= |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=Times Higher Education}} It also ranked Purdue 30th among all global universities for engineering (16th among universities in the United States).{{cite web |title=Engineering Rankings 2025 |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2025/subject-ranking/engineering#!/length/25/locations/USA/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/scores |url-status= |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=Times Higher Education}}

As of April 2025, CSRankings.org ranked Purdue's computer science program 13th overall in the United States.{{cite web |title=CSRankings: Computer Science Rankings |url=https://csrankings.org/#/fromyear/2014/toyear/2024/index?all&us |url-status= |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=CSRankings.org}}

File:Purdue University graduation ceremony.jpg

8,562 students from 126 countries around the world attended Purdue University in 2012.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/students/pg15.html |title=Purdue University Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130624235005/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/students/pg15.html |archive-date=June 24, 2013 }} In 2012–13, 19,689 out of a total of 39,256 students enrolled were Indiana residents. {{as of|2013}}, the racial diversity of the US-resident undergraduate student body was 5.7% Asian, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.0% black or African American.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/diversity/pg49_52.html |title=Purdue University Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201103332/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/diversity/pg49_52.html |archive-date=February 1, 2013 }} Of the undergraduate students, 42.6% were female.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/diversity/pg47.html |title=Purdue University Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130624235006/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/diversity/pg47.html |archive-date=June 24, 2013 }} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/diversity/pg54.html |title=Purdue University Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201105017/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/diversity/pg54.html |archive-date=February 1, 2013 }} In graduate and professional student population, non-Indiana residents occupy an overwhelming majority, about 75%.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/students/pg13.html |title=Purdue University Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119115818/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/students/pg13.html |archive-date=January 19, 2013 }} Almost all undergraduates and about 70% of the graduate student population attend full-time.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/students/pg11_12.html |title=Purdue University Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201104315/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/students/pg11_12.html |archive-date=February 1, 2013 }} The school's selectivity for admissions is "more selective" by USNWR: approximately 49% of applicants are admitted.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/?dashboard=AppsAdmits |title=Purdue University Data Digest: Applications, Admits, and Matriculations |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=March 12, 2016 |archive-date=April 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404071754/https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/?dashboard=AppsAdmits |url-status=live }}

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. School sources claim over 10,000 spaces available in seventeen separate residence halls for students on campus.

File:Cary Quad and Spitzer Court, Purdue University.png

File:Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, Estados Unidos, 2012-10-15, DD 12.jpg

Purdue University hosts one of the nation's largest Greek communities, with roughly 40 fraternities and 30 sororities.{{cite news |publisher=Purdue Exponent |url=http://archive.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2003/06/16§ion=campus&storyid=Greeksystem |date=June 16, 2003 |access-date=November 16, 2007 |title=5,000 students call Greek system their home |last=Poston |first=Heather |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727192400/http://archive.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2003%2F06%2F16§ion=campus&storyid=Greeksystem |archive-date=July 27, 2011 }}

File:President Ronald Reagan During a Trip to West Lafayette Indiana and Purdue University and Looking at a Robot.jpg Ronald Reagan visiting Purdue in 1987]]

Students at Purdue participate in more than 1000 student organizations that cover a variety of interests.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/instruction/pg32.html |title=Student Activities and Organizations |work=Data Digest 2012–13 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=January 20, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201104721/http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/instruction/pg32.html |archive-date=February 1, 2013 }} Some of the notable clubs founded by Purdue students include the Purdue Reamer Club (a school spirit organization that cares for the Boilermaker Special mascot and raises funds for scholarships) and two clubs that eventually became nationwide organizations: the National Society of Black Engineers and the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

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.{{cite news |newspaper=WBAA |date=May 4, 2012 |title=Indiana Lifeline measure becomes law |url=http://wbaa.org/post/indiana-lifeline-measure-becomes-law |last=Smith |first=Brandon |access-date=January 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218222509/http://wbaa.org/post/indiana-lifeline-measure-becomes-law |archive-date=February 18, 2014 |url-status=live}}

Annual campus events include Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue University Dance Marathon, Spring Fest, and Grand Prix. Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) is Purdue's a student orientation program and a sports pep rally. Purdue University Dance Marathon (PUDM) is an 18-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping, dance marathon; over 2,000 students participate and the event raises over $1 million annually for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. 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 was invented in 1997.{{cite news |newspaper=Science Daily |title=Purdue Bug Bowl Bigger, Buggier And Better |date=April 6, 1999 |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/04/990406042743.htm |access-date=January 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203221540/http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/04/990406042743.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Lovitt |first=Rob |newspaper=NBC News |title=Travel's silly season: rat racing, cricket spitting and mullet tossing, oh my |date=April 12, 2012 |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/travels-silly-season-rat-racing-cricket-spitting-mullet-tossing-oh-712573?franchiseSlug=todaytravelmain |access-date=January 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204022107/http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/travels-silly-season-rat-racing-cricket-spitting-mullet-tossing-oh-712573?franchiseSlug=todaytravelmain |archive-date=February 4, 2014 |url-status=live}} The Purdue Grand Prix, a 50-mile, 160-lap go-kart race ends 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.purduegrandprix.org/?page=history |title=Purdue Grand Prix |publisher=Purdue Grand Prix |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070123003903/http://www.purduegrandprix.org/?page=history |archive-date=January 23, 2007 |url-status=live}}

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 church, Campus House, which is affiliated with the popular coffee-shop Greyhouse Coffee.{{cite news |last1=POZNYAK |first1=ANNA |date=March 20, 2018 |title=Local coffeee shop finishes renovations |language=en |work=Purdue Exponent |url=https://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_4f79c9de-2c5a-11e8-884f-d32b5fd9195d.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806122752/https://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_4f79c9de-2c5a-11e8-884f-d32b5fd9195d.html |archive-date=August 6, 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Greyhouse Coffee |title=Mission |url=https://greyhousecoffee.com/pages/mission |access-date=November 20, 2022 |website=Greyhouse Coffee |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=jprice |title=Home |url=https://campushouse.church/ |access-date=November 20, 2022 |website=campushouse.church |language=en-US}} The Purdue Hillel Foundation and Chabad at Purdue are the university's Jewish campus organizations.{{cite web |title=Purdue Hillel Foundation {{!}} Building Meaningful Jewish Life at Purdue |url=http://www.purduehillel.org/ |website=Purdue Hillel Foundation |access-date=March 12, 2020 |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321081334/http://www.purduehillel.org/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=CHABAD @ PURDUE |url=https://www.jewishpurdue.com/ |access-date=November 20, 2022 |website=CHABAD @ PURDUE |language=en}} The Islamic Society of Greater Lafayette has an Islamic center serving the needs of the Muslim community on campus.{{Cite web |title=ISGL |url=https://www.masjidisgl.org/index |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120091638/https://www.masjidisgl.org/index |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |website=www.masjidisgl.org}}

The Purdue Exponent, an independent student newspaper, has the largest circulation of any Indiana college newspaper, with a daily circulation of 17,500 copies during the spring and fall semesters.{{cite web |url=http://archive.purdueexponent.org/?module=leftside&target=aboutUs |title=The Exponent – Purdue's Student Newspaper |publisher=Purdueexponent.org |date=February 16, 2008 |access-date=January 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412082715/http://archive.purdueexponent.org/?module=leftside&target=aboutUs |archive-date=April 12, 2011 }} From 1889 to 2008 Purdue published a yearbook called the Debris.Pesca, Mike (July 11, 2008). [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92442989 "Gone Are the Yearbooks of Yesteryear"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085102/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92442989 |date=March 4, 2016}}. NPR. Retrieved February 25, 2013.

WBAA are radio station operations owned by and licensed to Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media, with studios at the university, featuring three noncommercial stations: WBAA News, WBAA Classical, and WBAA Jazz. The stations can be heard on AM 920, 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 on the Purdue campus, and the transmitters are in Lafayette, Indiana. WBAA is the longest continuously operating radio station in Indiana, having been licensed on April 4, 1922. WBAA is a NPR member station. Despite some public disapproval, in 2022, Purdue sold WBAA (AM) and WBAA-FM to WFYI-FM.{{Cite web |last=Christopherson |first=Margaret |title=Purdue completes transfer, sale of WBAA to WFYI after a century of operation |url=https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2022/07/01/west-lafayette-npr-affiliate-radio-station-wbaa-sale-wfyi-mipm-finalized/7788782001/ |access-date=July 23, 2022 |website=Journal and Courier |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Christopherson |first=Margaret |title=Purdue finalizes transfer of WBAA to Indianapolis public radio |url=https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2022/02/15/purdue-finalizes-transfer-wbaa-indianapolis-public-radio/6733338001/ |access-date=July 23, 2022 |website=Journal and Courier |language=en-US}}

There are also a few campus radio stations on campus. Currently, three radio stations operate from residence halls, 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/WCCR |title=WCCR Website |publisher=Purdue.edu |date=September 1, 2005 |access-date=November 1, 2011 |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219083647/http://wccr.student-orgs.purdue.edu/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~wily/ |title=WILY Radio Website |publisher=Web.ics.purdue.edu |access-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306110108/http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~wily/ |archive-date=March 6, 2008 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/radio |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211083700/http://www.purdue.edu/radio |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 11, 2012 |title=Purdue Student Radio AM1610 Website |publisher=Purdue.edu |access-date=November 1, 2011 }}{{cite web |url=http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~whhr/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212170823/http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~whhr/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 12, 2009 |title=Harrison Hall Radio Website |publisher=Web.ics.purdue.edu |access-date=November 1, 2011 }}

W9YB is the callsign of the Amateur Radio Club 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 stations in the country. W9YB actively participates in emergency management for the Tippecanoe County 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.w9yb.org/ |title=W9YB Website |publisher=W9yb.org |access-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426212501/http://www.w9yb.org/ |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=live}}

The Movie Tribute Show was created in a small television studio (now known as the Erik Mygrant Studio) on campus in 1999.{{cite web |url=http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_44f5eb97-dd5b-591c-a18c-5fe2ed72bcc2.html |title=Exponent Website |date=November 28, 2001 |publisher=exponent |access-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510133248/http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_44f5eb97-dd5b-591c-a18c-5fe2ed72bcc2.html |archive-date=May 10, 2017 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Purdue Boilermakers}}

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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. Lafayette newspapers soon picked up the name, and in October 1892, The Purdue Exponent, Purdue's student newspaper, gave it the stamp of approval.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6x3S8eM3spAC&pg=PA336 |title=International Dictionary of University Histories: Edited by Carol Summerfield and Mary Elizabeth Devine |editor1-first=Carol J. |editor1-last=Summerfield |editor2-first=Mary Elizabeth |editor2-last=Devine |editor3-first=Anthony |editor3-last=Levi |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=336 |year=1998 |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-884-96423-7 |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 16, 2019 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818184431/https://books.google.com/books?id=6x3S8eM3spAC&pg=PA336 |url-status=live }} 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 (a truck-like vehicle that resembles a locomotive) and the athletic mascot Purdue Pete (a muscular hammer-wielding boilermaker). The school colors of old gold and black were selected by Purdue's first football team in 1887 to resemble the orange and black of Princeton's then-successful team.{{cite web |url=http://purduesports.cstv.com/trads/old-gold-black.html |title=Purdue Official Athletic Site |publisher=Purduesports.cstv.com |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219185706/http://purduesports.cstv.com/trads/old-gold-black.html |archive-date=February 19, 2009 |url-status=dead }} This made Purdue football the first sports team to ever use a black and gold color palette. The best known fight song is "Hail Purdue!".

Purdue has one of the few college athletic programs not funded by student fees or subsidized by the university.{{cite web |url=http://www.purdueexponent.org/sports/mens/basketball/article_11feca98-96f0-11e0-96f5-0019bb30f31a.html |title=Purdue athletics maintains stance on not paying athletes |date=June 15, 2011 |publisher=Purdue Exponent |access-date=December 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110205905/https://www.purdueexponent.org/sports/mens/basketball/article_11feca98-96f0-11e0-96f5-0019bb30f31a.html |archive-date=January 10, 2020 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://b2.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=900c1000ea466e223e104a22814a |title=CSM0810 Search and Report |publisher=B2.caspio.com |access-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910211742/http://b2.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=900c1000ea466e223e104a22814a |archive-date=September 10, 2015 |url-status=live}} It is home to 18 Division I/I-A NCAA 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, and played a central role in its creation. Traditional rivals include Big Ten colleagues the Indiana Hoosiers (see Indiana–Purdue rivalry), the Illinois Fighting Illini, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from the Atlantic Coast Conference (football program independent, however).{{cite book |title=The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2012: Students on Campus Tell You What You Really Want to Know, 38th Edition |year=2012 |url=https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetoc00yale_6 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetoc00yale_6/page/268 268] |publisher=St. Martin's Press |author=Yale Daily News Staff |isbn=9780312672966 |access-date=July 5, 2011}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEJRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA216 |title=Schooling America: How the Public Schools Meet the Nation's Changing Needs |page=216 |author=Patricia Albjerg Graham |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195315844 |access-date=February 19, 2007 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819172535/https://books.google.com/books?id=pEJRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA216 |url-status=live }}

Purdue's baseball facility was named in honor of two alumni, Anna Margaret Ross Alexander and her husband, John Arthur Alexander, when the new stadium was dedicated in 2013.{{cite news |title=Alexander Field Dedication Ceremony Set For Saturday Evening |url=http://www.purduesports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/041713aaa.html |access-date=April 10, 2015 |publisher=Purdue Sports |date=April 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083300/http://www.purduesports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/041713aaa.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=dead}}

The Boilermaker football team represents Purdue University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Purdue plays its home games at Ross-Ade Stadium on the university's campus. The Boilermakers compete in the Big Ten Conference as a member of the West Division.

Found on a farm in southern Indiana, the Old Oaken Bucket is one of the oldest American football 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."{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/gloryofoldiuindi0000hamm |url-access=registration |title=Glory of Old IU, Indiana University |author1=Bob Hammel |author2=Kit Klingelhoffer |publisher=Sports Publishing LLC |year=1999 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gloryofoldiuindi0000hamm/page/55 55]|isbn=9781582610689 }} {{As of|2024|01|13}}, Purdue led the series 77–42–6.

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 began in the 1980s during the annual Purdue Grand Prix race in April.{{cite book |title=The College Buzz Book |date=March 23, 2006 |publisher=Vault Inc. |access-date=March 23, 2006 |page=292 |isbn=9781581313994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jsn3_VEvBsC&pg=PA292 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818180458/https://books.google.com/books?id=4jsn3_VEvBsC&pg=PA292 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |author=Jason Gulley |date=April 19, 2002 |title=First home of Breakfast Club ends morning tradition |url=https://www.purdueexponent.org/features/article_4c57457e-8bff-56f7-a63e-79a36f58fbba.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |website=Purdue Exponent |language=en}} Another tradition is Saturday morning wake-ups, where the Boilermaker Special uses its many loud horns and whistles to wake dorm students up in preparation for the day's game.{{Cite web |last=Husted |first=Chad |title=Boilermaker Specials' pre-game rituals a treat for fans |url=https://www.purdueexponent.org/sports/football/article_0a414c65-f522-5c49-9e3b-7b8c97458898.html |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Purdue Exponent |date=September 11, 2008 |language=en}}

The Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue won its 25th Big Ten Conference Championship and 2nd Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2023. This leads the conference, as Indiana University Bloomington is second with 22 conference championships. The Boilermakers were retroactively designated the 1932 national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll, but have not won an NCAA Championship: they were the 1969 runner-up, falling to legendary coach and former Purdue player John Wooden-led UCLA in the national championship game, the 1980 third-place finisher, falling to UCLA in the semifinals of the Final Four but defeating Iowa in the consolation game, and the 2024 runner-up, falling to Connecticut in the national championship game. The Purdue men's team has sent more than 30 players to the NBA including two overall No. 1 picks in the NBA draft. The Purdue women's basketball team were the 1999 NCAA Champions and 2001 runners-up. The Boilermakers men's and women's basketball teams have won more Big Ten Championships than any other conference school, with 32 regular-season conference titles and 11 Big Ten Tournament titles. Purdue men's basketball achieved an all-time winning record against all Big Ten Schools when it gained a winning record over Ohio State with three wins in 2023, improving that record from 91–92 to 94–92.{{cite web |date=May 1, 2023 |title=2022-2023 Purdue Men's Basketball Media Guide |url=https://purduesports.com/documents/2022/10/13/2022-23_Purdue_MBB_Media_Guide.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320173417/https://purduesports.com/documents/2022/10/13/2022-23_Purdue_MBB_Media_Guide.pdf |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |access-date=May 1, 2023 |publisher=Purdue Sports}}{{Cite web |title=Men's Basketball History vs Ohio State University |url=https://purduesports.com/sports/mens-basketball/opponent-history/ohio-state-university/45 |access-date=May 1, 2023 |publisher=Purdue Boilermakers |language=en}}

{{See also|List of Purdue University presidents}}

{{Main|List of Purdue University 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/facts/pages/faculty_staff.html |title=Purdue University Facts Online : Faculty and Staff |publisher=Purdue.edu |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928032539/http://www.purdue.edu/facts/pages/faculty_staff.html |archive-date=September 28, 2014 |url-status=live}} The current faculty includes scholars such as Arden L. Bement Jr. (director of the National Science Foundation), R. Graham Cooks, Douglas Comer, Louis de Branges de Bourcia (who proved the Bieberbach conjecture), Victor Raskin, David Sanders, Leah Jamieson, James L. Mohler (who has written several manuals of computer graphics), and Samuel S. Wagstaff Jr. (inventor of the Wagstaff prime).{{Cite web |url=http://www.purdue.edu/provost/shtml/profs.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116013426/http://www.purdue.edu/provost/shtml/profs.shtml |url-status=dead |title=Provost |archive-date=January 16, 2009 |access-date=December 19, 2008 }}

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 and Ei-ichi Negishi) 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.[http://www.purdue.edu/provost/faculty/awards/nobel_winners.html "Purdue University Nobel Prizes"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301014220/http://www.purdue.edu/provost/faculty/awards/nobel_winners.html |date=March 1, 2013 }}. Purdue University. Retrieved March 2, 2013. Other notable faculty of the past have included Golden Gate Bridge designer Charles Alton Ellis, efficiency expert Lillian Gilbreth, food safety advocate Harvey Wiley, aviator Amelia Earhart, president of the National Association of Mathematicians Edray Goins, radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden, and Yeram S. Touloukian, founder of the Thermophysical Properties Research Center.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

{{Main|List of Purdue University alumni}}

File:Neil Armstrong pose.jpg]]

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/100807FACCommence.html |title=Purdue Newsroom – President tells graduates they're joining a special group: Purdue alumni |publisher=Purdue.edu |date=August 7, 2010 |access-date=November 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119195712/http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/100807FACCommence.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live}}

Purdue alumni include 27 astronauts, including Gus Grissom, America's second man in space and first to fly in NASA's Gemini program, Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the Moon, and Eugene Cernan, the last astronaut to do so.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/space/astronauts.html |title=Purdue grads in space |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=June 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324222446/http://www.purdue.edu/space/astronauts.html |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |url-status=dead }} Over one-third of all of NASA's crewed space missions have had at least one Purdue graduate as a crew member.{{cite web |title=History of the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics |work=College of Engineering web site |publisher=Purdue University |url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/AboutUs/History |access-date=August 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119123249/https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/AboutUs/History |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live}}

In science, Purdue has also produced Nobel Prize–winning physicists in Edward Mills Purcell and Ben Roy Mottelson, 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; Debian founder Ian Murdock; Chinese physicist Deng Jiaxian, a founding father and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon programs; mathematician Yitang Zhang; chemist Lawrence Rocks; biochemist Edwin T. Mertz, credited with the discovery of high-protein corn and beans; Indian chemist CNR Rao, who has been awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India;{{cite web |url=http://pmindia.nic.in/press-details.php?nodeid=1748 |title=Press details |date=November 16, 2013 |access-date=November 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119004210/http://pmindia.nic.in/press-details.php?nodeid=1748 |archive-date=November 19, 2013 }} engineer Mohamed Atalla who invented the MOS transistor;{{cite web |title=2003 Honorary Degree |url=https://www.purdue.edu/uns/html3month/hondocs03/03.ATALLA.html |website=Purdue University |access-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722023751/https://www.purdue.edu/uns/html3month/hondocs03/03.ATALLA.html |archive-date=July 22, 2019 |url-status=live}} physical organic chemist and advocate for women and minorities in science Nina Roscher, 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);{{Cite journal |date=October 15, 2001 |title=Nina Matheny Roscher |journal=C&EN |pages=45}} and professor Reuben J. Olembo, a geneticist and environmentalist who went on to become the deputy executive director of UNEP and a UN Assistant Secretary-General, and who was recognised by Purdue in 1994 with a Distinguished Alumni Award for Agriculture.{{cite web |url=https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/connections/summer02/daa_list.htm |title=Purdue Agriculture Connections |website=www.agriculture.purdue.edu |access-date=June 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015121247/https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/connections/summer02/daa_list.htm |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |url-status=dead }}

In business and economics, Purdue alumni include Stephen Bechtel, Jr., owner of Bechtel Corporation; Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker; and popcorn specialist Orville Redenbacher. 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 firms.{{cite news |title=Top 10 CEO Undergraduate Alma Maters |last=Ellis |first=James E. |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_21/b4179020050124.htm |newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=May 13, 2010 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303021641/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_21/b4179020050124.htm |archive-date=March 3, 2012 |url-status=dead}} These include Gregory Wasson, president/CEO of Walgreens; Mark Miller, chairman/president/CEO of Stericycle; Charles Davidson, former chairman/CEO of Noble Energy; Samuel Allen, chairman/president/CEO of Deere & Company; Don Thompson, president/COO of McDonald's; and John Martin, chairman/CEO of Gilead Sciences, Inc.; and Patti Poppe, CEO of PG&E.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/100601BloombergCEO.html |title=Purdue Newsroom – Purdue on Bloomberg list for undergrad alumni as CEOs |publisher=Purdue.edu |date=June 1, 2010 |access-date=November 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119200312/http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/100601BloombergCEO.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live}}

In government and culture, Purdue alumni include Pulitzer Prize–winners Booth Tarkington and John T. McCutcheon, as well as Ginger Thompson, former New York Times reporter currently with ProPublica; Akinwumi Adesina, former Nigerian minister of Agriculture and Rural development and current President of the African Development Bank; Essam Sharaf, former Egyptian Prime Minister; Tom Moore, theater and television director; James Thomson, CEO of Rand Corporation; Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN; Harry G. Leslie, former Governor of Indiana; Kirk Fordice, former Governor of Mississippi; Earl Butz, former United States Secretary of Agriculture; Birch Bayh, former United States Senator; Herman Cain, 2012 Presidential candidate; David McKinley, current West Virginia Congressman; Sun Li-jen, former Kuomintang general; Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Indian Parliament member; Dulquer Salmaan, Indian film actor; Blake Ragsdale Van Leer, former Georgia Tech president; Anthony W. Miller, former United States Deputy Secretary of Education; and Hugo F. Sonnenschein, former University of Chicago president. Richard O. Klemm, former CEO of Food Warming Equipment and Illinois state legislator, also graduated from Purdue University.'Illinois Blue Book 2002-2002,' Biographical Sketch of Dick Klemm, pg. 103

In sports, Purdue has produced basketball coach John Wooden; basketball Hall of Famers Stretch Murphy, Piggy Lambert, and Rick Mount; NBA Champions Paul Hoffman, Herm Gilliam, Frank Kendrick, Jerry Sichting, Glenn Robinson, and Brian Cardinal; and NBA All-Stars Glenn Robinson, Brad Miller, Terry Dischinger, and Joe Barry Carroll. Purdue has three NFL Super Bowl–winning quarterbacks in Drew Brees, Bob Griese, and Len Dawson. Additionally, a total of 19 Purdue alumni have been on a Super Bowl–winning team {{as of|2011|lc=y}}.{{cite web |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pur/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/prospectus/prospectus.pdf |title=Boilermakers in the NFL |first=Matt |last=Rector |year=2011 |work=2011 Purdue Football Information Guide |page=180 |access-date=March 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083340/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pur/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/prospectus/prospectus.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }} Purdue also produced Super Bowl IV winning coach Hank Stram. 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman graduated from Purdue with a bachelor's degree in vehicle structure engineering.{{cite web |url=http://www.purduesports.com/genrel/021708aab.html |title=Ryan Newman Wins Daytona 500 |publisher=Purduesports.com |date=February 17, 2008 |access-date=November 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813212812/http://www.purduesports.com/genrel/021708aab.html |archive-date=August 13, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

Three Purdue alumni have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States: Neil Armstrong, Brian Lamb, and John Wooden.{{Cite book |last=Leubsdorf |first=Ben |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R47639.pdf |title=Presidential Medal of Freedom |date=2024-05-23 |edition=4th |pages=12, 16, 32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303042803/https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R47639.pdf |archive-date=2024-03-03 |url-status=live}}

The {{convert|67000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} Dauch Alumni Center houses the Purdue for Life Foundation. The foundation was created in 2020 by uniting the Purdue Alumni Association and the University Development Office.{{Cite web |title=Dauch Alumni Center |url=https://www.purdueforlife.org/about-us/ |access-date=February 6, 2024 |website=Purdue for Life Foundation |language=en-US}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |title=A Century and Beyond: The History of Purdue University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHmfAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Purdue University Press |author=Robert W. Topping |year=1988 |isbn=9780911198959}}
• {{Cite book |title=A University of Tradition: The Spirit of Purdue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0WLyLNc06kC |publisher=Purdue University Press |author=Purdue Reamer Club |year=2012 |isbn=9781557536303}}
• {{Cite book |title=R.B. Stewart and Purdue University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zxBZAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Purdue University |author=Ruth W. Freehafer |year=1983 |isbn=9780931682148}}
• {{Cite book |title=One Small Step: The History of Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajNlqUT9zkUC |author1=Alten F. Grandt |author2=W. A. Gustafson |author3=Lawrence T. Cargnino |publisher=Purdue University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781557535993}}
• {{Cite book |title=Celebrating a Continuum of Excellence: Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, 1959–2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVkTWg0mIuIC |publisher=Purdue University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9781557535436}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://purduesports.com/ Purdue Athletics website]
• {{Cite Americana |wstitle=Purdue University |short=x}}

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