This is an excerpt of remarks made by Purdue President Martin C. Jischke during a President's Council pregame event before the Purdue vs. Indiana University football game.

November 18, 2006

Purdue, I.U. have long partnership that benefits state of Indiana

It is fun for everyone, and this rivalry adds spirit and excitement on our campuses and throughout Indiana. But rivalries are not what these two great universities are all about.

Purdue and I.U. are about partnerships. When it comes to educating the young people of today to be the leaders of tomorrow, we are on the same team.

Purdue and I.U. are about cutting-edge research that can be applied to the needs and potentials of our state.

Purdue and I.U. are about using our resources to drive economic development in Indiana, especially in the high-tech, knowledge-based sector that will define the international marketplace in the 21st century.

I have led four universities in as many states. And I have never seen two major research universities that work as closely as Purdue and I.U. Our partnerships are resulting in success for the people of Indiana. Our goal at Purdue is to work even more closely with I.U. in learning, discovery and engagement.

When Purdue and I.U. work together, the people of this state are the big winners.

The Indiana General Assembly is working hard to support all education in this state. The General Assembly, along with the governor and lieutenant governor are key participants in Indiana's partnership for education.

We very much appreciate all that they do, not only for Purdue, I.U. and other institutions of higher education, but for all the people of Indiana.

Since arriving in Indiana a little more than six years ago, Patty and I have received a warm welcome and reception to this state. This includes from I.U. people as well as Boilermakers.

We have enjoyed visiting in Bloomington for the Old Oaken Bucket game. We have held a community meeting in Bloomington and received a wonderful reception. It has been a great joy for me to work closely with Indiana University President Adam Herbert since his arrival in Bloomington.

Adam is a great leader whose vision for the I.U. campuses will position them for excellence in this new century that lies before us. I want to thank everyone from Indiana University for the wonderful cooperation and friendship we have received.

I think this is a very exciting time for Purdue and I.U. And because of the potential that emerges from these two great universities working together, it is also a very exciting time for our state.

Like Purdue, Indiana University has a long and great history. Among its many legendary people is Richard Owen. Born in Scotland, Richard Owen came to New Harmony, Indiana, with his family in 1828 and became part of a utopian experiment with his father, an experiment that placed an enormous emphasis on education of the people.

Richard Owen became state geologist and served with the 15th Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War. He was commandant of a prison camp in Indianapolis, and was memorialized by Confederate veterans in 1913 for his humane treatment of prisoners.

At Indiana University, where he was a renowned professor, Owen was the second faculty member to publish a research paper. There is a Richard Owen Hall at Indiana University. It is among the oldest buildings on campus.

Additionally, there is a statue of Richard Owen proudly on display in the Indiana Memorial Union. At I.U., they have the Richard Owen Alumni Award. Richard Owen is well remembered and honored at I.U. for his contributions to the university and to our state.

And there is more to this story. In 1872, even as he continued to serve on the faculty of I.U., Richard Owen became the first president of Purdue University.

His bust is proudly displayed in our Memorial Union. And we have a Richard Owen Residence Hall at Purdue.

Indiana and Purdue are two great universities that share a common historical thread through Richard Owen and his belief in the power of education. We share a common mission as well: to serve the people of our state.

Today, I am the 10th president of Purdue. Only eight people stand between me and Richard Owen, a man who came to this nation and to this state with lofty dreams to educate an emerging nation.

I believe if Richard Owen were here with us today, he would be quite pleased and proud with all that both of his universities have accomplished.

This year, people throughout the nation are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Food and Drug Act, which changed life for everyone and continues to impact our health and welfare today.

At the start of the 20th century, some of the drugs being sold to consumers were nothing more than sugar water. Much worse — others contained opium, morphine, heroin and cocaine.

These were readily available without a prescription. There wasn't even caution labeling.

Other potentially harmful substances were also being placed in the food supply. Attempts to regulate any of this had always failed because of political pressures. The father of the U.S. Food and Drug Act was Dr. Harvey Wiley.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Wiley tirelessly researched, argued and lobbied unsuccessfully to get something done. In 1906, he finally succeeded.

The U.S. Food and Drug Act finally started the process of cleaning up food sold in stores. It set the wheels in motion for ongoing monitoring that continues to this day.

The act also changed the entire drug industry. Dr. Harvey Wiley's Pure Food and Drug Act is credited with doing more to reduce drug addiction in this country than any other law that has ever been passed.

I mention this today because Harvey Wiley was a Boilermaker. We have a Harvey Wiley Residence Hall here at Purdue. Harvey Wiley went to Washington, D.C., from Purdue, where he was a member of our faculty.

He had a degree from Hanover, a medical degree from Indiana Medical College and a degree from Harvard University. Very impressive.

But he had a very simple beginning. A Civil War veteran, he had been born in a log cabin in southern Indiana where, from time to time, he visited a neighbor's farm and took well water on a hot summer day from a bucket.

In fact, it was an oaken bucket of the type commonly found on farms of that day. The bucket that refreshed Harvey Wiley was the same Old Oaken Bucket that the Purdue and I.U. football teams will compete for today.

Through people such as Harvey Wiley, our state of Indiana has played a profound role in the development of this nation and world. I believe we will play an even more profound role in the future.

These students that are here today cheering over a football game — the bucket game — are the impact of everything we are working so hard to accomplish at Purdue and I.U. They are the ones who will build tomorrow.

I have great confidence in them and in the future.

Dr. Wiley returned to the Purdue campus in 1908 to speak at a commencement. I want you to hear some of what he said that day when he addressed our graduates. It is among the more brilliant commencement speeches in the long history of Purdue.

He talked about the value of our nation's natural resources — timber, coal, water, rich soil. But, he said, America's greatest resource of all is its people, and most especially, its young people.

Dr. Wiley told the graduates: "No matter how successful you are in your careers, what wealth and honor you may acquire — you are richer today than you will ever be in the future. Rockefeller and Carnegie would gladly exchange all their millions for the youth that you possess."

And then Dr. Wiley asked: "How are you going to use this great wealth for the benefit of the world?"

Dr. Wiley had some suggestions for success. He told the graduates they must work long and hard and not expect quick results. But most of all, he said: "Do that which is right.

"Honesty and integrity are assets which no (person) can do without."

Whatever else in life you might not be able to attain, Wiley said, honesty and integrity are assets that are available to us all.

Just as it was 100 years ago, our state's most valuable resource today is its young people. That is what we are celebrating today at this great Old Oaken Bucket game. We are celebrating two great universities and the youth who will be the future of our state of Indiana.

Thanks to our governor and General Assembly, thanks to Purdue and Indiana universities, thanks to the generous people who support us, the future of our state is in very good hands, indeed.

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