50 Fun Facts About Purdue

In which Indiana city is Purdue University's flagship campus?

Purdue's main campus is in West Lafayette, on the west bank of the Wabash River, across from the larger city of Lafayette.

Who was John Purdue?

A Lafayette businessman who donated land and money, John Purdue gave $150,000 and 100 acres for the new college and is buried on campus opposite University Hall.

In which year was Purdue founded?

Purdue was founded in 1869, when the Indiana General Assembly accepted John Purdue's gift and named the school for him; the first classes were not held until September 1874.

Under which 1862 federal law did Indiana establish Purdue?

The Morrill Act of 1862 gave states federal land to fund colleges teaching agriculture and mechanic arts; Purdue became Indiana's land-grant university under it.

What aviation milestone does Purdue claim?

Purdue University Airport, which opened in 1930 beside the campus, is billed as the nation's earliest university-owned airport.

Which famous aviator joined the Purdue faculty in 1935?

Amelia Earhart joined Purdue in 1935 as a visiting counselor on women's careers and adviser in aeronautics; Purdue Libraries hold a major collection of her papers.

What is the name of Purdue's independent student newspaper?

The Exponent, founded in 1889, is Purdue's independent student newspaper, run by a student publishing foundation rather than by the university.

Which two Purdue alumni were the first and last people to walk on the Moon?

Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, both Purdue graduates, took the first Moon steps on Apollo 11 in 1969 and the last on Apollo 17 in 1972.

How did Purdue's teams come to be called the Boilermakers?

A Crawfordsville newspaper coined it after an 1891 rout of Wabash, 44-0, describing the visitors as 'burly boiler makers'; Purdue adopted the name.

What is the Boilermaker Special?

A locomotive-shaped truck that serves as official mascot, the Boilermaker Special is maintained and driven by the student Purdue Reamer Club and appears at home games.

What does athletic mascot Purdue Pete carry?

Purdue Pete, the costumed athletic mascot in a hard hat, carries a hammer, a nod to the boilermakers who gave the teams their name.

Purdue's colours of old gold and black were chosen in 1887 to resemble which school's?

Princeton's orange and black team was successful at the time.

What is the name of Purdue's marching band?

The All-American Marching Band of Purdue is best known for its giant bass drum, built in 1921 and billed as the world's largest.

What trophy do Purdue and Indiana play for in football?

The Old Oaken Bucket, found on a southern Indiana farm, has been the Purdue-Indiana football trophy since 1925; the winner adds a bronze 'P' or 'I' link to its chain.

What was the result of the first game for the Purdue-Indiana bucket trophy in 1925?

The first game for the bucket, in 1925, ended in a 0-0 tie, so the first link on the trophy's chain reads 'IP' rather than a single letter.

Whom did Purdue beat 14-13 in its first Rose Bowl on January 2, 1967?

Purdue beat USC 14-13 in the 1967 Rose Bowl, its first, when the Trojans' late two-point conversion pass was intercepted; Jack Mollenkopf was the Boilermakers' coach.

Which coach passed Jack Mollenkopf in 2008 to become Purdue's winningest football coach?

Joe Tiller coached Purdue from 1997 to 2008, reaching ten bowls in 12 seasons including the 2001 Rose Bowl, and finished with 87 wins, three more than Jack Mollenkopf.

Which three Purdue quarterbacks have won Super Bowls?

Drew Brees, Bob Griese and Len Dawson each started and won a Super Bowl: Dawson with Kansas City in 1970, Griese with Miami in 1973 and 1974, Brees with New Orleans in 2010.

Which Purdue running back is the school's all-time leading rusher?

Mike Alstott ran for 3,635 yards at Purdue from 1992 to 1995, the school's all-time leading rusher, then made six Pro Bowls as a fullback with Tampa Bay.

In which season did Purdue win its first Big Ten West title before losing the title game to Michigan?

Purdue won the Big Ten West in 2022 and lost the championship game 43-22 to Michigan, after which coach Jeff Brohm left for his alma mater, Louisville.

Which Purdue centre was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft?

Joe Barry Carroll, Purdue's 7-foot-1 centre, went first overall to Golden State in the 1980 NBA draft after leading the Boilermakers to that year's Final Four.

Which legendary coach played at Purdue and beat his old school in the 1969 NCAA final?

John Wooden, a three-time consensus All-American guard at Purdue from 1930 to 1932, coached UCLA past his alma mater 92-72 in the 1969 NCAA final.

Which All-American led Purdue to the 1969 NCAA final?

Rick Mount, who averaged 33 points a game in 1968-69, led Purdue to the 1969 NCAA final and the school's first Big Ten title in 29 years.

Which coach won six Big Ten titles at Purdue and has Mackey Arena's court named after him?

Gene Keady coached Purdue from 1980 to 2005, won six Big Ten titles and made 17 NCAA trips without a Final Four; Mackey Arena's floor is named Keady Court.

Which Purdue star recruited in 1991 became known as 'Big Dog' and won National Player of the Year?

Glenn Robinson, nicknamed 'Big Dog', averaged 30.3 points in 1993-94, swept the major National Player of the Year awards and went first overall in the 1994 NBA draft.

To which 16-seed did top-seeded Purdue lose in the 2023 NCAA Tournament?

Fairleigh Dickinson, a 16-seed, beat top-seeded Purdue 63-58 in the 2023 first round, only the second 16-over-1 upset in men's tournament history.

Which Purdue centre won back-to-back National Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024?

Zach Edey, Purdue's 7-foot-4 centre, won back-to-back National Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024, the first repeat winner since Ralph Sampson in 1982-83.

Whom did Purdue face in the 2024 NCAA championship game?

UConn beat Purdue 75-60 in the 2024 NCAA championship game in Glendale, Arizona, becoming the first repeat men's champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.

Which coach led Purdue to the 1980 Final Four?

Lee Rose coached Purdue for just two seasons, 1978-80, and took the Boilermakers to the 1980 Final Four, where they lost to UCLA 67-62.

In which year did Purdue's women's basketball team win the NCAA championship?

Purdue's women won the 1999 NCAA championship, beating Duke 62-45 under coach Carolyn Peck; they were runners-up to Notre Dame in 2001.

Which Purdue coach won 11 Big Ten titles between 1916 and 1946?

Piggy Lambert coached Purdue from 1916 to 1946, winning 11 Big Ten titles, a conference record later tied by Bob Knight; the campus fieldhouse bears his name.

Which popcorn entrepreneur is a Purdue alumnus?

Orville Redenbacher graduated from Purdue in 1928 with a degree in agronomy, then spent decades breeding the hybrid popcorn sold under his name from 1970.

Which Purdue chemist shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for palladium-catalysed cross-coupling?

Ei-ichi Negishi, a Purdue professor, shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Richard Heck and Akira Suzuki for palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions used in organic synthesis.

Where do the Boilermakers play home football games?

Ross-Ade Stadium, opened in 1924 and named for donors David Ross and George Ade, is the Boilermakers' home football field.

In which year did Purdue found the first computer science department in the United States?

Purdue founded its Department of Computer Sciences in 1962, widely cited as the first in the United States; Stanford followed in 1965.

Which for-profit school did Purdue announce it would acquire in 2017 to create Purdue Global?

Purdue acquired Kaplan University in 2018 after the April 2017 announcement and relaunched it as Purdue University Global, a public online institution for working adults.

Which Purdue student tradition raises money for Riley Hospital for Children each year?

Purdue University Dance Marathon is an 18-hour dance marathon in which students stay on their feet throughout; it has raised more than $1 million in a single year for Riley Hospital for Children.

Which two nationwide organisations began as clubs founded by Purdue students?

The National Society of Black Engineers and Rube Goldberg Machine Contest both began at Purdue: NSBE was founded there by six students in 1975, and the contest started in 1949 between engineering fraternities before going national in 1988.

Which Purdue alumnus founded C-SPAN?

Brian Lamb, a 1963 Purdue graduate, founded C-SPAN in 1979 as a non-profit cable channel giving gavel-to-gavel coverage of Congress.

What was the preliminary name of the institution before it was named for its benefactor?

Indiana Agricultural College was the name given by the 1865 state act that created the land-grant institution; the General Assembly later renamed it Purdue University after its principal benefactor, John Purdue.

What campus building is considered an icon of the university and appears on many of its logos?

The Bell Tower, completed in 1995, houses bells salvaged from the demolished Heavilon Hall and is Purdue's signature landmark, appearing in university logos and marketing.

In 2024 Purdue opened a new urban campus extension in which Indiana city?

Purdue University in Indianapolis opened in July 2024 after the IUPUI partnership with Indiana University was dissolved, with students earning degrees from Purdue's main campus.

Purdue's football team plays Notre Dame for which trophy?

The Shillelagh, a wooden Irish club, has gone to the winner of the Purdue-Notre Dame football game since 1957; the schools first met in 1896.

What is the name of the trophy the Boilermakers and Illinois play for in football?

The Cannon, a small Civil War-era artillery piece, has gone to the winner of the Purdue-Illinois football game since 1943.

Because of its long line of NFL passers, Purdue football is traditionally nicknamed what?

Purdue earned the nickname Cradle of Quarterbacks for a run of NFL passers including Jim Everett, Mike Phipps, Mark Herrmann and Kyle Orton.

In which sport did Purdue win an NCAA men's team championship in 1961?

Purdue's golf team won the 1961 NCAA championship; Fred Wampler (1950) and Joe Campbell (1955) were individual champions, and the women's golf team won the 2010 title.

Before returning to Purdue, Matt Painter spent one season as head coach at which school?

Matt Painter went 25-5 in his one season at Southern Illinois in 2003-04 after Bruce Weber left for Illinois, then spent 2004-05 at Purdue as coach-in-waiting.

Purdue lost a six-overtime game, one of the longest in college basketball history, in 1955 to which team?

Minnesota outlasted Purdue 59-56 in six overtimes in 1955, a game that stood as the longest in major college basketball until a seven-overtime game in 1981.

In which year did the Boilermaker Special I make its debut on the first day of classes?

The Boilermaker Special I debuted in 1940, built for the student Purdue Reamer Club; the Boilermaker Special VII followed in 2011.

Whom did Purdue beat 63-50 in 2024 for its first Final Four win since 1969?

Purdue beat NC State 63-50 in the 2024 national semifinal, ending the Wolfpack's Cinderella run led by big man D.J. Burns and reaching its first title game in 55 years.