Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ginger Thompson found her footing at the Purdue Exponent Ginger Thompson (LA’86) is a senior reporter at ProPublica, a powerhouse in investigative journalism. She came to Purdue to study computer technology. Coming from a “working-class to poor family,” she wanted a sure thing, a career with stability. But Thompson found that Purdue […]
The year was 1968. And Leroy Keyes remembers it well. For many reasons. Tumult enveloped the nation. There was the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. that set off riots in Chicago, Washington, DC, and other cities. Civil rights demonstrations also sparked fury across America, highlighted by a deadly protest in Orangeburg, South Carolina. At […]
Helen Bass Williams (1916–1991) was a significant figure in the Civil Rights movement before coming to Purdue in 1968 as an instructor in French and a counselor in the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE). Born and raised in rural southern Illinois, Williams earned two master’s degrees, one in public health from North […]
When Robert J. Taylor (ME’60) was appointed to the University’s Board of Trustees by Indiana Governor Evan Bayh in 1990, it was historically significant because Taylor was the first African American to be named to Purdue’s highest body. At the time, he was production and technical service director for Eli Lilly and Co. Taylor served […]
Cornell A. Bell (PhD EDU’72, HDR M’07) distinguished himself in education with his personal involvement and dedication in helping provide opportunities to hundreds of students through the Krannert School of Management Business Opportunity Program. He was the director of the program for 37 years until his retirement in 2006 and was known as a father […]
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. (ME’1913) was considered an authority on heat transfer, ventilation, and air conditioning. He was a research engineer, director of research laboratories for CA Dunham Company in Marshalltown, Iowa, from 1925 to 1930. He was the technical advisor of Dunham-Bush Inc. from 1930 to 1971. He served as […]
In 1990, Tarrus Richardson (M’91) became the first black Purdue student body president, with 70 percent of the vote. He is an alumnus of the Dr. Cornell Bell Business Opportunity Program. After Richardson received his bachelor of science in accounting from Purdue, he earned his MBA from from Harvard Business School in 1996. Currently Richardson […]
David Robert Lewis (CE’1894), from Greensburg, Indiana, is noted in Purdue’s historical accounts as the University’s first black graduate. He was one of only nine black students who graduated from Indiana colleges between the Civil War and the year 1900. Lewis’s senior thesis, “Highway Road Construction,” included a review of European road building practices. As a […]
Kassandra “Katie” Agee Chandler (M’80) was born to a blue-collar family from Gary, Indiana. She originally aspired to attend an out of state college following high school graduation. This plan was disrupted when she was contacted by Cornell Bell (PhD EDU’72, HDR M’07). Bell discovered Agee Chandler during her senior year of high school and […]
As a coach, Lindsey Hicks inspires students athletically and academically Lindsey Hicks (LA’04) had no intention of coaching basketball. She’d just finished up playing professionally overseas for six season after college when she received a phone call that would change her life. The call was from Pam Stackhouse, who was an assistant women’s basketball coach […]
