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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Professional cliff diver sees the world from 27 meters
Each time Steven LoBue (HHS’09) jumps off a 27-meter diving platform, it’s as if he’s leapt from an eight-story building. He hurtles through the air, accelerating from zero to 55 mph in less than three seconds before entering the water — feet first, always.
Enthusiastic wrestling coach on the student who forced a change of heart
Bradley Harper (HHS’05) lives his life to the extreme. “It’s the only way to be,” says the 37-year-old wrestling coach at Penn High School in South Bend, Indiana. In his 11 seasons as head coach of the Kingsmen grapplers, Harper has grown his roster to more than 80 wrestlers, brought home the first team state championship in school history (2015), and won the first-ever all-girls’ state championship (2017).
Harper describes the boys’ championship as “one of the better moments of my career.” Though he’s equally proud of the girls’ championship, it’s a victory that may never have happened were it not for one tenacious eighth-grade girl.
It’s minutes before kickoff and the crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium has fallen to a whisper. Thousands of fans are on their feet with their heads angled upward, hearts swelling with pride, tears pooling in the corners of their eyes. A rich baritone voice fills the air, the solemnity of the words echoing out across campus. “Speak them firmly, speak them proudly, speak them gratefully.” Fifty thousand voices join in unison: “I am an American.”
