Features
Kat Braz
The Purdue Herbaria

An insider’s look at a university collection so valuable, the professor who built it once stole it back.

The earliest herbarium—a collection of plant samples preserved for scientific study—dates to 16th-century Italy, when the Bologna physician and botanist Luca Ghini (1490–1556) sought to make plant material available to his students in winter when the plants were dead or dormant.

The specimens were flattened between two pieces of paper to remove moisture. Once dried, they were mounted on paper sheets with notations on the plant’s name, where the plant was gathered, and any distinctive features. The pages were bound into volumes to enable transport from one location to another, thus making plant material from faraway places available indefinitely.

The Purdue Herbaria
Features
Kat Braz
A Window into Westwood Manor

The Stewarts at Westwood

Robert Bruce Stewart (HDR M’68), known as R.B., joined the Purdue University staff as controller in 1925. At that time, Purdue enrolled 3,000 students, the physical plant was worth $3 million, and the endowment totaled $340,000.

Stewart, who went on to become the university’s first vice president and treasurer, is credited by many with influencing the character and growth of Purdue University. He spent 36 years building the university both fiscally and physically.

A Window into Westwood Manor
Profiles
Kat Braz
A Story in Stones

Geochemist Marissa Tremblay ’12 analyzes Antarctic rocks to unravel Earth’s climate chronology and predict the planet’s future environment

A geologic field excursion to Death Valley during spring break her first year at Barnard set Marissa Tremblay ’12 on course to becoming a scientist. She entered college intending to pursue a law degree, but stepping foot on that vast, desolate desert landscape marked with sand dunes ignited a curiosity to uncover the stories in stones.

A Story in Stones
Features
Kat Braz
Call of the Wild

50 Years of Wolf Park

Founded by Purdue ethologist Erich Klinghammer in 1972, Wolf Park began as an experiment to study wolf behavior. The pioneering research conducted there over the past 50 years contributed to a better understanding of the apex predator and facilitated its reintroduction into the wild.

Call of the Wild
Profiles
Kat Braz
Come From Away

Twenty Years After 9/11 Longhorn Reflects on the Unexpected Detour—and the Subsequent Broadway Show—that Altered His Life’s Trajectory

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Kevin Tuerff and his then-partner, also named Kevin, were on an Air France flight bound for New York City. The couple had just wrapped up a European vacation and they were eager to get home. A sudden drop in elevation over the Atlantic Ocean was the first sign that something was amiss. Then came an announcement from the cockpit.

Come From Away

Student Life

The RIP Squad

The RIP Squad

Meet students from the talented men’s practice team who help prepare Women’s basketball to face their toughest competition.

When Matt Collins drives to the basket and sinks a layup in Mackey Arena, he hears the thunderous roar of the crowd echoing across the rafters.

Often cited as the loudest arena in the Big Ten, nothing pumps a player up like the electric atmosphere created by 10,000-plus screaming fans on their feet. If it was a particularly challenging play, Collins might even throw a little celebration in to stoke the competitive juices of the opposing team.

Offering Careful Counsel

Longtime diplomat and educator Patrick Mendis retains strong ties to Minnesota.

With humility and gratitude, Patrick Mendis (M.A. ’86, Ph.D. ’89) has embraced adventure, defied a prophecy, and charted his own course through life. 

Mendis says a horoscope reading when he was an infant said he wouldn’t live past his first birthday. His mother, a Sinhalese Buddhist traditionalist, heeded the scholarly monk’s warning to raise her son outside the home, sending him to live with his Catholic paternal grandparents in rural Sri Lanka when he was 7 months old. His grandparents told him he was adopted, and that they found him under a banyan tree.

Creating a Community of Belonging by Embracing Access for All

Creating a Community of Belonging by Embracing Access for All

Founded on a principle that education should be available to every citizen, Kent State is committed to breaking down barriers that inhibit access and hinder degree completion.

Kent State boasts a legacy of inclusivity that traces back to its first full academic year on the Kent Campus in fall 1913. With a class of 138 women and six men, Kent State Normal School began as a school for working adults, educating women at a time when many universities enrolled very few—if they were admitted at all.

A Dream Fulfilled

A Dream Fulfilled

Alumna’s opportunities snowballed thanks to Hong Kong scholarship fund

The first time Vy Vuong ’19 experienced a snowfall, she rushed outside to play in the softly falling flakes. For this first-year student hailing from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, frolicking in the snow was somewhat of a bucket-list experience. Vuong remembers her friends laughing about her enthusiasm for the flurries. But for Vuong, the first recipient of the Barnard Club of Hong Kong scholarship fund, every experience at Barnard felt like a treasured gift.

Finis

Finis

Last apparel design and technology majors showcase collections in the final Purdue Fashion Show

The day has finally arrived. It’s five o’clock in the morning when the hair and makeup teams roll into the Cordova Recreational Sports Center and begin setting up the makeshift studio space where they will be camped for most of the day.

Designers arrive soon after, already exhausted from the previous day spent transforming the feature gym next door into a fashion runway and the previous evening running a dress rehearsal and finalizing their choreography. Not to mention the previous three months spent planning and organizing the final details of the show and the previous year spent designing and constructing their garments.

The past four years have all led to this day, when the last students majoring in apparel design and technology will showcase their capstone collections.

It’s the final Purdue Fashion Show.

Don't Ever Give Up

Don't Ever Give Up

Tyler Trent was diagnosed with bone cancer twice by age 18. He’s had nine major surgeries in the past three years. Now the Purdue freshman and die-hard sports fanatic is determined to live life on his own terms, come what may.

Tyler Trent knows the statistics.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 450 children and adolescents are diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the United States every year. About 2 percent of all childhood cancers are osteosarcoma. If treated before it spreads, the five-year survival rate is between 60 and 80 percent. Recurrent osteosarcoma occurs in 30 to 50 percent of patients with initialized local disease. If the disease has spread to the lungs, the long-term survival rate is about 40 percent. Once it spreads to other organs, chance of survival drops to 15 to 30 percent.

Boilermake

Boilermake

Hackathon challenges students to develop innovative solutions in 36 hours

By 1:00 a.m. on the second night, the gym is tense with energy. At 27 hours in, a scheduled late-night snack pro-vides enough of a boost to drive participants through the final hours of Boilermake 5. The student-run hackathon attracted more than 2,000 applicants this year for about 500 randomly selected spots. Surveying the room, Boilermake cofounder Brittany Vacchiano (S’14) was amazed at how much the event has grown over the past three years.

Mascot Camp

Mascot Camp

The mascots are a rowdy bunch. Outgoing, goofy pranksters, they are constantly laughing and joking with one another. They act pretty much exactly how you’d expect a mascot to act. The antics come naturally for Nick Sprecher, a first-year Pete from Pittsboro, Indiana. “I’ve always been an energetic, whimsical guy,” he says. “I like to bring the juice to every environment. If it’s dead, I liven things up. That’s just my personality.”