Hank Wadsworth with the Purduettes at rehearsal in Fall 2025.
For Hank Wadsworth, music was more than a hobby: it was the reason two lives intersected.
“We wouldn’t have been together if it wasn’t for music,” Hank said.
He and his wife, Emily “Emy” Wadsworth, met as students singing at Cornell University. This shared love of choral music would shape their relationship, their careers, and, ultimately, their legacy. From that first connection in rehearsal, music remained the constant thread running through their lives together, leading him to establish an endowment in his wife’s name after her passing to allow PMO to carry on her work supporting the Purduettes.
Finding Their Voice
At Cornell, being a member of the Glee Club felt natural for Hank, who had grown up in choir in his small school.
“I’ve been singing, so why not do Glee Club?’” he thought before joining. Though the ensemble didn’t perform that first year, rehearsals laid the groundwork for meeting Emy.
“[Emy] was coming as an alto from the women, and I was a bass for the men,” Hank said. “We were there at rehearsal, and then I found out she was living at home. I was staying just a few blocks away, so I asked if I could give her a ride home.”
Those car rides became routine. Dating did not. At least not immediately.
After weeks of hesitation and encouragement from a fraternity brother, Hank finally asked Emy out. Their first date was an indoor Ivy League track meet. “I showed up in a suit and tie, the whole works,” he said. The night ended with pizza, introductions to Emy’s parents, and Hank’s first experience with a family where music was a way of life.
“Every kid had to learn piano and one other instrument,” he said, speaking about Emy and her siblings. Emy played violin; her siblings filled out what Hank fondly described as “a small symphony.”
Music continued to anchor their relationship. They attended fraternity and sorority formals, Cornell’s Spring Weekend celebrations, and eventually spent an entire summer dating once most students had left campus.
Paying It Forward
After graduation, marriage, and a brief stint in West Lafayette, the couple spent several years living and working in Oregon. Eventually, the Wadsworth’s moved back to town. In 1990, after earning a Ph.D. in Child Development and Family Studies, Emy was asked to create and administer a national survey on Women in Engineering Programs.
As a result of her work, Emy was approached by Purduettes alumni to help create programming that would engage and retain young women in the ensemble. She took on a major role in the creation of the Purduettes mentor program, which still exists today.
That commitment eventually led Hank to establish an endowment in Emy’s honor. The endowment supports scholarships for members of the Purduettes, reflecting both Hank and Emy’s desire for impact and honoring the meaningful time they spent over the years helping Purdue students grow personally and professionally.
