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.
Mediavine co-founders credit collaboration and transparency for company’s rise to internet giant.
When Matt Richenthal ’02 resigned from his role as a writer for a Boston start-up to launch his own content company called iScribe — “a terrible, awful name” — in 2004, he had no idea the business would one day grow into Mediavine, one of “The 20 Internet Giants That Rule the Web” as declared by Visual Capitalist in January. He only knew he wanted Steve Marsi ’01 along for the ride.
Could Hydrogen Hold the Solution to Sustainable Jet Fuel?
As more countries around the world commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, industry groups are following suit. Among them, the members of the International Air Transport Association who announced a commitment to take action to cut emissions among global airlines in October.
Caesars Entertainment Equine Specialty Hospital Second Facility in the Country to Install Large Gantry CT Machine
The Caesars Entertainment Equine Specialty Hospital, a satellite facility of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, is among the first veterinary hospitals in the nation to install a specialized large gantry helical CT scanning machine. The device, manufactured by Qalibra, is adapted to the anatomy and behavior of equine patients and provides more advanced diagnostic capabilities for medical staff treating equine athletes by covering more anatomy with greater accuracy.
Mighty backpack captures millions of topographical data points in minutes
Surveyors have been measuring and documenting the topography of the Earth for thousands of years. Though the instruments have evolved from the early days of rope stretchers to modern total stations, it’s been challenging to collect accurate data efficiently when surveying heavily wooded areas, until now. A team of Purdue researchers is revolutionizing traditional ground surveying methods with a new technology that maps millions of elevation points in mere minutes simply by walking around the area wearing a backpack.
Could Hydrogen Hold the Solution to Sustainable Jet Fuel?
As more countries around the world commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, industry groups are following suit. Among them, the members of the International Air Transport Association who announced a commitment to take action to cut emissions among global airlines in October.
NASA-funded project aims to develop guidance system for manned mission to the Red Planet
After the Perseverance rover successfully touched down on Mars in February 2021 following a landing sequence scientists refer to as “seven minutes of terror,” the NASA mission was widely celebrated. It wasn’t just that Perseverance is the largest, most advanced rover NASA has ever sent to another world. It’s that landing on Mars is extremely difficult.
A U-M connection led to an altruistic organ donation, despite COVID-19 and a cancer scare.
For years, Ed Silberman lived a relatively normal life during the day. But every night, the 63-year-old financial adviser from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, went through two rounds of peritoneal dialysis, which uses the abdominal lining to filter blood inside the body. At his age, a normal kidney functions at 85% or higher. By fall 2019, Silberman’s kidneys were functioning at 7%.
As one of 100,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant, his best hope was to match with a living donor. So Silberman’s family, including son-in-law Jeremy Garson, JD’14, launched a social media campaign to find a stranger to save Silberman’s life.
