Skip to main content

Alumni Recognition

With thousands of alumni around the world, the College of Science has watched many former students accomplish some amazing things in the fields of new technology and life sciences. These brilliant alumni include astronaut Andrew Feustel (Solid Earth Sciences), Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ben Roy Mottelson and Yelp! SVP of Engineering Michael Stoppelman (Computer Science), just to name a few.

Every year, we honor stellar alumni from all of our departments. In the spring, the College of Science recognizes several new Distinguished Alumni. We also award honorary doctorates most years. Famous recipients include NPR's "Tech Nation" host Moira Gunn (Computer Science), pharmaceutical power John Landis (Chemistry) and Swaminanthan Sivaram (Chemistry), one of the top scientists in India.

In April 2021, we recognized our honorees in a virtual ceremony that included recipients for both 2020 and 2021.

2020-2021 honorees:

Actuarial Science

  • Distinguished Alumni: Craig Hanford
  • Early Career Award: Allison Newhouse

Biological Sciences

  • Entrepreneurship Award: Marc Muinzer
  • Distinguished Alumni: Dr. Gary Ralph Matyas

Chemistry

  • Distinguished Alumni: Mark Stoyer
  • Early Career Award: Darryl Boyd

Computer Science

  • Distinguished Alumnus: Darwin Ling
  • Early Career: Hoda Eldardiry
  • Philanthropy: Steve and Janet Tolopka

Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

  • Distinguished Alumni: David Leary
  • Early Career Award: Dr. Aaron Goldner

Mathematics

  • Distinguished Alumni: Larry McMillan
  • Philanthropy Award: Marv Bittinger

Physics and Astronomy

  • Distinguished Alumni: Yok Chen
  • Entrepreneur Award: Bruce Schecter

Statistics

  • Distinguished Alumni: Sara Ellison
  • Entrepreneur Award: Paul Kidwell

Meet the 2020-2021 honorees

Watch the online awards event



College of Science Outstanding alumni 2017

The Outstanding Alumni of 2017 with College of Science dean, Patrick Wolfe (first row, first person).

Purdue University College of Science, 150 N. University St, West Lafayette, IN 47907 • Phone: (765) 494-1729, Fax: (765) 494-1736

Student Advising Office: (765) 494-1771, Fax: (765) 496-3015 • Science IT, (765) 494-4488

© 2023 Purdue University | An equal access/equal opportunity university | Copyright Complaints

Trouble with this page? Disability-related accessibility issue? Please contact the College of Science Webmaster.