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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Boilermaker basketball star-turned-artist Joe Barry Carroll explores his roots and shares his perspective on growing up in the impoverished South and traveling the world with the NBA through large-scale paintings that befit his imposing stature.

Joe Barry Carroll can’t answer the phone. His fingers are covered in paint.

When he calls back an hour later, his baritone voice exudes warmth. Carroll (M’80) grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Although he graduated high school in Denver, Colorado, he’s called Atlanta, Georgia, home since retiring from the NBA in 1991. There, he built a successful career as an investment adviser.

Alumna embarks on a 500-mile journey to grapple with her devastating diagnosis and advance breast cancer screening for others

The pilgrim gripped each stone, one by one, turning it over in her hand. She felt its weight and ran her finger over its surface before laying it gently down at the base of the Cruz de Ferro.

One stone for each of her four Sigma Kappa sorority sisters who had died of breast cancer, one of whom passed away since Leslie Ferris Yerger (M’84, S’85) embarked on her 500-mile pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago. She solemnly closed her eyes and thought of Toni Mark Hicks (S’84), Madelon (Moulton) Shahroozi (HHS’86), Nancy Keil Slamkowski (HHS’84), and Sally (Shock) Wurster (LA’87). Less than one year following her own diagnosis, Yerger reflected on their too-short lives.

Meet the Boilermakers behind some of tabletop gaming’s hottest titles

Sir Ragnar had been found. He was alive but badly hurt. The wizard only needed to escort the injured knight back to the staircase where the rest of the rescue party was waiting. Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the dungeon. Ulag, the Orc Warlord, and his minions began attacking. Ragnar was killed in the melee. The heroes had failed.

It was all a bit too much for then-9-year-old Brady Sadler (LA’09), who vividly remembers breaking down and crying after the defeat.

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.

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.

Innovative Boilermakers whose work impacts the daily lives of millions

From his fourth-floor home office perched on so-called Billionaires Row, Keith Krach (IE’79) can see the entirety of the San Francisco Bay and the famous Golden Gate Bridge that spans the strait connecting the bay to the Pacific Ocean. It’s an impressive vista and a far cry from his hometown of Rocky River, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.

One of the first things a young cadet learns is how to properly shine military-issue leather shoes.

ROTC programs are designed to model operational military units for which customs and courtesies — including a meticulously presented uniform — are the foundational basis for etiquette and conduct.

Col. Chris Moss (LA’90), commander of the 30th Space Wing and Western Range, Vandenberg Air Force Base, in central California, fondly remembers shining shoes with his flight, the two dozen junior cadets for whom he served as flight commander in ROTC. In those days, patent leather shoes were a privilege afforded to senior cadets, which meant Friday night gatherings for underclassmen, replete with cotton balls and wax.

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.”