For Kara Ford (M’12) — or, as she’s more commonly known, DJ Kara — music is the heartbeat of her life. Although she majored in management at Purdue, Ford’s lifelong creative passion led her to Los Angeles, California where she found her calling as a DJ. “Sharing music is something I’ve done naturally ever since […]
From plastic-bag bans to fair-trade coffee, consumers’ tastes are changing as their sense of connection to the world and its people grows. These days, that connection has even begun to alter where and how investors use their money. Gino Dante Borges (PhD LA’03), partner and director of impact at OpenPath Investments in Truckee, California, says […]
While much of Jung Eun (Jen) Oh’s (MS M’07, PhD CE’08) commitments at World Bank Group focus on transportation projects, the crux of her work involves sustainable development. “It’s finding the best way of using public resources equitably to increase the overall output of an economy, ensure sustainability, and support economic growth,” she says. “It […]
Beth Elzer (LA’93) has never been one to limit herself. She chose three majors over one (visual communication design, art history, and interdisciplinary film), decided she wanted to live in Europe a few years out of college and pitched a nonexistent job to a university (she was hired), and has merged her design skills and […]
Stephen McKinley Henderson (MA LA’77) has had a busy year. He appeared in two Oscar-nominated films, Fences and Manchester by the Sea, additions that are not too shabby in an already impressive résumé. Henderson started out as a math and political science major at Lincoln University, drawn to the precision of mathematics. But soon poetry […]
Chris Vogt (T’11) knows a thing or two about gravity and timing. A juggler since the age of 9, he’s balanced on unicycles and avoided flying knives in his performances. So it makes perfect sense that gravity and timing come into play in his work as a project engineer and designer at UTC Aerospace Systems […]
Asta (Baskauskas) Baškauskaitė (S’80) oversees a global custom architectural hardware business based in Vilnius, Lithuania, that brings old-world craftsmanship into the modern realm. Baškauskaitė has merged her love of quality design with her passion to support and contribute to Lithuania. The daughter of refugees, Baškauskaitė grew up living a dual cultural life. When her parents […]
When Javier Saade (M’92) was growing up in Puerto Rico, parental guidance, persistence, and Purdue were all waiting to play a part in his life; they eventually would help him become one of the highest-ranking Hispanics in the federal government and a voice for 28 million small businesses and startups in the United States. Saade’s […]
The road to a college presidency can take many routes. For Janice Cervelli (A’79), an early turn came through meeting famed Purdue professor Harrison Flint. “He was a leader in the Department of Horticulture, and he was not only terrific as an instructor but as a teacher of teachers,” she says. “I was a teaching […]
Traveling across rocky seas — without family — from China to San Francisco’s Angel Island in 1926, Frank Chuck Toy (CE’39), then 12, began designing his future. Now 101, he credits Purdue for his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, recommendation to Pennsylvania State University, where he earned his master’s, and referrals to Boilermaker alumni who […]
