Purdue News Roundup
Purdue News Roundup
The celebration includes a look back at campus accomplishments made possible with funds from the council. For instance, since 1972, the university has created 50 distinguished professorships, a new bell tower, the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall and the Beering Scholarship program, all of which were partially funded by council members.
Annual contributions to Purdue were $4.5 million 25 years ago when the council was formed. During the fiscal year just completed, the comparable figure was almost $65 million -- more than 14 times greater, thanks, in part, to council members.
According to Purdue President Steven C. Beering, the support of the council is crucial to university growth at a time of limited public funding.
"A strong base of donations from private individuals who love Purdue is necessary to assure the quality of academic programs and financial aid for deserving students," he said. "For 25 years, members of the President's Council have been that core of dedicated people who are always willing to help the university."
The council, established in 1972 by former President Arthur G. Hansen to elevate and sustain annual levels of private giving to the university, comprises Purdue alumni and friends who give a minimum of $1,000 annually. It has more than 5,900 member households.
Some members of the council serve as advisers to the president and various schools and departments. Still others provide funding for endowments, professorships and new scholarship opportunities for students.
Another way council members give to the university is through the "Class Gift" program. The Class of 1950 contributed $1 million toward the $3.6 million Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, and the Class of 1948 gave $400,000 toward the construction of the $ 1.4 million Purdue Bell Tower. The Purdue Water Sculpture was a gift from the Class of 1939. Also, the $7 million Purdue golf course renovation is funded entirely by private gifts from council members.
Two of the "givers" are Marion "Bud" Hafele and his wife, Annie R. Stinson-Hafele. The Purdue graduates -- Bud Hafele earned his degree from the School of Agriculture in 1948, and Annie Hafele graduated from the School of Consumer and Family Sciences in 1944 -- now live in Kingsport, Tenn. They have established an endowment that provides scholarships for three undergraduate students.
"It is now payback time," Hafele said, "and that is accepted with pleasure along with the fond memories and pride of being a Purdue alumnus."
The weekend begins Friday afternoon with council members attending classes taught by Purdue faculty and staff on a variety of subjects, from transportation in the 21st century, to the story of Amelia Earhart. The celebration continues Friday evening with a special dinner and dancing, an awards presentation and remarks from President Beering. The annual weekend wraps up with a pregame buffet before the Purdue vs. Michigan State football game on Saturday.
CONTACT: Carolyn Gery, President's Council executive director, (765) 494-2731
Boulware, a graduate of Oberlin College and North Carolina A&T, is working toward a doctorate in African-American literature with a concentration on text or media.
The Coca-Cola fellowships, which are administered through the Graduate School, are awarded to Historically Black College and University students who have demonstrated superior academic achievements and want to attend Purdue University for graduate study, said Dwight E. Lewis, coordinator of minority affairs for the Graduate School.
The fellowships, worth $12,000 each, were established in 1994 with an initial grant of $36,000 from the Coca-Cola Foundation. The foundation has continued its support, most recently with a $50,000 gift. A recognition luncheon for the students and local Coca-Cola distributors is scheduled for Oct. 29.
"Financial assistance is often the deciding factor in recruiting and retaining students," Lewis said. "The gift last spring is crucial in helping new and continuing students at Purdue's Graduate School continue their studies and earn their degrees. The administration and the students truly appreciate what the Coca-Cola Foundation has made possible."
Other current Coca-Cola Fellows are:
All five Coca-Cola Fellows participated in Purdue's Historically Black Institution Visitation program. Started in 1988 with 25 students from four schools, the program has grown to approximately 60 students per year from 11 institutions. Ninety-one students recruited through the program have completed graduate studies since its inception and eight have completed doctorates.
CONTACT: Lewis, (765) 494-0945; e-mail, delewis@grad.purdue.edu
Elaine R. Monsen, professor of nutrition at the University of Washington, will lecture on "The Iron Paradox: Assessing Risks and Benefits" at 8 p.m. in Room 218, Stewart Center. There also will be a reception at 7 p.m.
Monsen will focus on the debate generated by a recent Finnish study that suggested
too much iron may lead to heart disease. She also will discuss the danger of iron
deficiency for the general public.
Monsen developed the Monsen Formula, which predicts iron absorption from daily meals. The formula assists people in deciding which foods are healthy, and which to avoid depending on the iron content. She also is editor of The Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
The event is part the Eva Goble lecture series, sponsored by the School of Consumer and Family Sciences and the Department of Foods and Nutrition.
Gregory B. Martin, associate professor of agronomy, will speak on "Pathogen Recognition and Signal Transduction in Plant Disease Resistance" at 3:30 p.m. in Fowler Hall, Stewart Center. The one-hour talk is open to all faculty and students. A reception for Martin will be held in the Stewart Gallery immediately following the talk.
Martin is the winner of the 1997 Herbert Newby McCoy Award, presented to a Purdue student or faculty member for outstanding contributions to science.
His talk will feature highlights from his work, which focuses on understanding the molecular basis of disease resistance in plants. Most of his work has been with tomato bacterial speck disease, which is caused by the organism Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato.
"The Herbert Newby McCoy Award is given to the student or faculty member of Purdue University making the greatest contribution of the year to science," said Luis Proenza, vice president for research and dean of Purdue's Graduate School. "Nominated by colleagues and selected by representatives of the faculties and the president of the university, it is the most prestigious research award given by Purdue."
Martin's research over the past five years at Purdue has led to the development of a comprehensive model to explain the molecular basis of bacterial speck disease resistance. The model also shows how plants that are resistant to disease recognize disease-causing microbes, a development that may someday lead to crops that are better able to resist disease naturally.
By understanding the mechanism of disease resistance in plants, Martin said scientists may be able to improve the stability of their resistance, and move that trait into more crop plants.
Martin joined the Purdue faculty in 1992. He received a bachelor's degree in crop science from Michigan State University, and his master's and doctoral degrees in genetics at that university's Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory.
Martin held a National Science Foundation plant biology fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at Cornell University. In 1995, he was awarded a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Monsanto.
The Herbert Newby McCoy Award was established in 1964 by Ethel Terry McCoy in memory of her husband, a Purdue alumnus. The McCoy lecture series later was established to honor the recipient of the award and to present his or her research to the Purdue community.
CONTACT: Gregory Martin, (765) 494-4790; e-mail, gmartin@dept.agry.purdue.edu
-- Arden L. Bement, the Basil S. Turner Distinguished Professor of Engineering, will receive the National Materials Advancement Award from the Federation of Materials Societies in December. The award recognizes outstanding efforts to advance the effective and economic use of materials, and advancing the multidisciplinary field of materials science and engineering in general. Bement is being honored for his national leadership in fostering communication among industrial, governmental and academic sectors of the materials community and for the effective presentation of the promise of materials to the government and public.
-- John G. McEntyre, professor emeritus of land surveying, received the 1997 Surveying and Mapping Award from the Surveying Engineering Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The award recognizes McEntyre's efforts in advocating formal baccalaureate level educational requirements for land surveyors. McEntyre proposed and developed one of the first land surveying curricula in the country, resulting in the creation of Purdue's land surveying degree in 1971.
-- Jeffrey J. Volenec, professor of agronomy, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellows are named for their efforts to advance science or creating applications that are scientifically or socially distinguished. Volenec will be recognized, along with 269 other new fellows, in February at the Fellows forum in Philadelphia.
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Compiled by J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
