Norberg honored with Purdue’s Distinguished Boilermaker Award

John Norberg, Purdue University historian and acclaimed author and journalist, has been named the 2025 recipient of Purdue’s Distinguished Boilermaker Award. The honor recognizes individuals who embody the spirit of the Boilermaker — industriousness and innovation, dedication and diligence, gratitude and grit, and service above self.

Norberg has helped preserve and share the university’s story for generations of students, alumni and friends through his nine books chronicling Purdue’s remarkable people, history and traditions, and through his engaging portrayal of benefactor John Purdue at campus and community events. His work reflects a deep and abiding love for Purdue and a life that exemplifies being “ever grateful, ever true.”

Norberg joined Purdue in 2000 as speechwriter to then-President Martin C. Jischke and later served as director of communications for development. Before coming to Purdue, he built a distinguished career with the Lafayette Journal & Courier, where he wrote a popular column for more than 40 years and earned more than 50 state and national journalism awards. His writing has appeared in USA Today, Time, the Christian Science Monitor and the Saturday Evening Post, and he has been featured on CBS News Sunday Morning and NPR’s Big Picture Science. Among his many honors, Norberg is a member of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, and he also has received the Purdue for Life Foundation’s Special Boilermaker Award and the Block P Award from Purdue Bands & Orchestras.