UNIVERSITY FOUNDING

July 2, 1862. President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, by which the federal government offered to turn over public lands to any state that agreed to use the proceeds from their sale to maintain a college for the purpose of teaching agriculture and the "mechanic arts."

1865. The Indiana General Assembly voted to participate in this plan and took steps to establish such an institution.

May 6, 1869. The Indiana General Assembly decided to locate the institution near Lafayette and accepted $150,000 from John Purdue, $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, and 100 acres of land from local residents. Legislators established the institution and named it Purdue University.

September 16, 1874. Classes began with six instructors and 39 students.

JOHN PURDUE

Lafayette business and financial leader. Principal benefactor at the University's founding. Born October 31, 1802, near Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. Died September 12, 1876, in Lafayette, Indiana.

PURDUE PRESIDENTS

Richard Owen, 1872-1874	Current president France A. Córdova 2007-
Abraham C. Shortridge, 1874-1875
John Hougham, acting president, 1876
Emerson E. White, 1876-1883
James Henry Smart, 1883-1900
Winthrop E. Stone, 1900-1921
Henry W. Marshall, acting president, 1921-1922
Edward C. Elliott, 1922-1945
Andrey A. Potter, acting president, 1945-1946
Frederick L. Hovde, 1946-1971
Arthur G. Hansen, 1971-1982
John W. Hicks, acting president, 1982-1983
Steven C. Beering, 1983-2000
Martin C. Jischke, 2000-2007