Purdue University was founded in 1869 with substantial financing provided by industrialist John Purdue. Its purpose was to train students in agriculture and engineering. The school officially opened for business in 1874 and grew quickly.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Purdue had been organized into five schools: agriculture, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and pharmacy. Later, schools of education and home economics were added. An early attempt at creating a medical school was later abandoned.
In other respects, Purdue was spectacularly successful. By 1925 the university was home to the largest number of engineering students in the US. It remained the nation’s largest engineering school for the next half-century.
Today, Purdue operates four satellite campuses: in Hammond, Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Indianapolis. Overall, the Purdue system has a student body approaching 75,000 souls.
Purdue is associated with 13 Nobel Prize winners, including:
In addition, the Turing Award winning computer scientist, Alan J. Perlis, spent time here as a researcher.
Among other prominent Purdue-connected individuals, we may note the following:
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name. The first classes were held on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students.
Source: WikipediaWhat does this school look for?
Annual Applications
57,510
Acceptance
67%
Graduation Rate
83%
Median SAT Score
1315
Median ACT Score
28
How much does it cost to attend?
Tuition (in-state)
$9,208
Fees (in-state)
$784
Averages for 10 years after enrolling
Avg Earnings
$62,200
Employed
92%
What's it like to attend this school?
Full time on-campus stats
Student Body
43K
Under-Grads
35K
Graduates
9K
Where will you be attending?
Location
Hovde Hall of Administration, West Lafayette IN 47907-2040
City Crime Rates
Property Crime
10 per 100K
Violent Crime
1 per 100K
Our answer to this is to show you the disciplines in which a school's faculty and alumni have had the highest historical influence. A school may be influential in a discipline even if they do not offer degrees in that area. We've organized two lists to show where they are influential and offer corresponding degrees, and where they are influential through scholarship although they don't offer degrees in the disciplines.
Who are Purdue University's Most influential alumni?
Purdue University 's most influential alumni faculty include professors and professionals in the fields of Engineering, Computer Science, and Chemistry
Academic
American biochemist
American businessman
African American computer scientist
American engineer
American astronaut
Sociologist
American humor researcher
Computer scientist
American economist
German engineer
American scholar
Want to be an Academic Influence Insider?
Sign up to get the latest news, information, and rankings in our upcoming newsletter.