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

Profiles

Sparking Success

Sparking Success

MATC launches bilingual welding program

Karen Feliciano says people are often surprised to learn she is a welder because “I don’t look like a typical welder to them. It’s very much a male-dominated field.”

Yet the MATC welding instructor sees herself in her students every day.

“My students inspire me,” Feliciano said. “I see the challenges I faced when I moved to Wisconsin from Puerto Rico. I see how much I struggled when I was first starting out in this career. But I see myself in their successes, too.”

Building a Better Computational Model

Building a Better Computational Model

Physics equations drive optimization of complex engineered systems

Computational models allow researchers to analyze and design complex systems, but development can be a slow process. Leifur Leifsson, associate professor and principal investigator of the Computational Design Lab, uses physics equations to optimize engineered systems for aircraft and space systems as well as microwave systems, nondestructive testing systems and food-water-energy systems.

Leading with Integrity

Leading with Integrity

Rear admiral Peg Klein anchors virtue and ethics at the center of decision-making

Raised near Naval Air Station South Weymouth outside of Boston, MA, Rear Admiral Peg Klein ’81, USN (Ret.), developed a passion for aviation at an early age. Her father, a professor of aviation science and a Navy reservist, frequently took Klein flying. 

“I remember when my dad got his private pilot’s license,” Klein said. “I would look over his shoulder while he was studying for ground school. I waited for him at the airfield while he took flight lessons. The first time he flew me over Cape Cod, it was thrilling. I loved being in the air. I loved what you could see from the air.” 

A Recipe for Hope

A Recipe for Hope

Alumna is building a national cookie business that sparks conversations around intimate partner violence.

As one of eight children in a close-knit family, Junita Flowers (B.I.S. ’96) spent the best times of her childhood in St. Paul baking in the kitchen alongside her mother. As she grew up, Flowers envisioned the type of marriage her parents had—loving, supportive, and steadfast. Instead, she spent years in a toxic relationship.

Education Breaks Down Barriers

Education Breaks Down Barriers

First-generation college graduate views MATC as bridge to a secure future

Growing up in Walker’s Point on Milwaukee’s near south side, Eleazar Lopez Jr. recalls a tight-knit community and a childhood world that consisted of about six city blocks. The United Community Center anchored one end and El Rey Super Mercado bordered the other.

Programming Project Mercury

Programming Project Mercury

Pioneering computer scientist Patricia Palombo ’58 helped launch the first American into space

On May 5, 1961, Patricia Palombo ’58 watched, along with the rest of the nation, as NASA astronaut Alan Shepard was launched into suborbital flight aboard the Project Mercury capsule he’d dubbed Freedom 7. The long-awaited flight of the first American in space — Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961 — bolstered the country’s commitment to space exploration and led to President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 declaration that American astronauts would “go to the moon in this decade.”

Model of Leadership

Model of Leadership

Janie L. Mines blazed a trail for future women of color at the Academy

Four years at the Naval Academy tests the mettle of many midshipmen. For Janie L. Mines ’80 some days on the Yard were downright harrowing.

Dauntless, she persevered to become the first Black woman to graduate from the Academy. It’s a subject she speaks about openly in her book, No Coincidences, where she reflects on the faith-centered upbringing that prepared her not only to endure trying circumstances, but to excel in spite of obstacles and to lead the way for the others who would follow.