Purdue President Martin C. Jischke made these remarks during commencement ceremonies on the West Lafayette campus Dec. 17.

Purdue president encourages graduates to make most of their time

This is an historic day at Purdue, as I will explain in a moment. It is also an important day for the future. I believe in the future because I believe in the great potential of these people we are celebrating today.

A cartoon in the Phoenix, Arizona, "New Times" depicted the historical Christopher Columbus as he might be if he lived in our times. Columbus is sitting on a couch with a snack before him, a soft drink in one hand, a remote control in the other, saying to his TV, "Let's see what's on the Discovery Channel."

In our times, confining 90 men to three small ships for more than two months on the open sea would most likely be a reality TV show!

The world seemed large in 1492. There was much to be discovered. Today, our world seems small, linked by jet air travel, television, telephones, the Internet.

At this very moment, Purdue graduate Mark Polanski is commanding a space shuttle that completes a trip around the globe once every 90 minutes.

In an age when the world seems so small and so much has already been explored before us we often think of great discovery as something from the past. But we have only just begun to explore our world, much less space.

And today you graduates are launching on an absolutely incredible voyage of discovery. You are starting a journey to discover your future. It is a journey that will be filled with excitement and success. I regret to tell you it will also be rocked by troubles and failure. Such is the richness of life.

To appreciate fully the exhilaration of standing atop the mountain, we first have to experience the long struggle up the steep and slippery slopes. It is important to remember as you begin this trek that the joy of life is not in reaching your future. The joy of life is in the journey itself.

Few people in the history of Purdue have enjoyed life and discovery more than Harvey Wiley. This year we have been 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.

The father of the U.S. Food and Drug Act was Dr. Harvey Wiley. His discoveries helped to change our nation and the world.

We have a residence hall on our campus named for Dr. Wiley, but his story is far more interesting than any building can indicate.

Dr. Wiley arrived at Purdue in 1874 as one of the university's six original faculty members. That brings me to the historical significance of this day — in addition to your graduation, of course.

This is the 200th commencement ceremony in the history of Purdue, where, in recent times, we have been holding ceremonies at three different times of the year.

Dr. Wiley was here for the first commencement in 1875 when one student was awarded a bachelor of science degree. Dr. Wiley wrote that day: "I shall never forget the first commencement, the only one attended by the founder of the university, John Purdue.

"The expression of happiness and contentment which he showed in his face that day was radiant."

I am sure it was much like the expressions of happiness and contentment I am seeing all around Elliott Hall at this very moment.

Dr. Wiley also never forgot Purdue's third commencement in 1877 when Indiana Gov. James Douglas "Blue Jeans" Williams appeared in his customary blue jeans suit.

Asked to give some remarks the governor stood silently for a moment before the assembled crowd. And then he pronounced these words for the ages: "Eddicate a boy, and he won't work."

Governor "Blue Jeans" followed that commencement inspiration with a severe condemnation of the entire system of education.

His two grandsons had the final word. Two of them enrolled at Purdue.

Dr. Wiley knew them. They graduated and went on to excellent careers, one becoming adjunct general for the state of Indiana.

So maybe education isn't so bad after all.

Dr. Wiley himself had a degree from Hanover College in Indiana, a medical degree from Indiana Medical College and a degree from Harvard University.

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 from a bucket. This was the same old oaken bucket that Purdue and IU football teams battle over today.

Dr. Wiley was the first chemistry professor at Purdue. He was the first professor of physics. He started Purdue's first baseball team. He was the first state chemist for Indiana.

In December of 1876 here on our campus, Dr. Wiley displayed the first light produced from a dynamo west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Among his many other firsts, Professor Wiley was the first member of our faculty to be called before the Board of Trustees for misconduct. The board was very impressed with Dr. Wiley's work as a professor and researcher, but they had two concerns.

First, he had been seen in public wearing knee breeches. If you do not know it, knee breeches were the baggy shorts of the late 19th century. The board did not approve.

Second, when Dr. Wiley wore those knee breeches he was riding a bicycle. Bicycles, it seems, were almost as controversial as knee breeches in those Victorian times.

Here's what one member of the Board of Trustees had to say about all this: "Professor Wiley has purchased a bicycle. Imagine my feelings, and those of other members of the board, on seeing one of our professors dressed up like a monkey and astride a cartwheel riding on our streets!"

When that charge was made at a trustees meeting, Dr. Wiley wanted to laugh. Instead, he resigned and left the room. The board wisely refused his resignation.

Three years later, in 1883, Wiley did leave Purdue. He went on to become chief of the United States Bureau of Chemistry. In this position, he worked on research and discovery into the quality of the public's food and drug supply.

Some of the drugs being sold to consumers in those days were nothing more than sugar water. Much worse, others contained opium, morphine, heroin and cocaine.

These were readily available without a prescription. Harmful substances were also being placed in the food supply. And attempts to regulate any of this had always failed because of political pressures.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Wiley tirelessly researched, argued and lobbied unsuccessfully to get something done. Finally, pushing his research forward, he ran controlled food tests on human subjects.

He put a kitchen and a dining room in the basement of the chemistry building in Washington, D.C. There he fed young male volunteers food containing various amounts of preservatives commonly being used in those days. These included boric acid, borax, salicylic acid, benzoic acid and formaldehyde.

The young men survived and through them Dr. Wiley proved how harmful these substances were. He publicized his findings. His young volunteers came to be known in the newspapers as "the poison squad." Reporters called Dr. Wiley "Old Borax."

His years and years of research and persistence resulted in the first U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act, passed in 1906, 100 years ago.

The U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act finally started the process of cleaning up food sold in stores. The act also changed the entire drug industry. The 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.

When he left the government in 1912, Dr. Wiley was so popular he was approached about running for vice president with Woodrow Wilson. But he said: "Having spent my whole life fighting vice, I can't run for an office with 'vice' in it!"

He continued his career working for Good Housekeeping magazine. There he fought against ridiculous claims in obesity cures.

In 1927 he reported that tobacco might cause cancer. He died in 1930 at the age of 86, a national hero.

It is fitting that this great man from our history who was present at Purdue's first commencement should be part of our 200th ceremony today.

What can we discover from the life and work of Dr. Wiley that has meaning for our graduates today?

His own words speak volumes. He returned to the Purdue campus in 1908 to speak at the 34th commencement.

I do not know if he wore knee breeches under his black robe that hot June day. I am certain he did not wear blue jeans.

In his commencement talk, Dr. Wiley discussed the value of our nation's natural resources — timber, coal, water, rich soil. However, 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."

Well said. There is a presumption that as we progress through life we acquire whatever wealth we will possess. But in fact, at least in this instance, quite the opposite is true.

We actually begin life with the most valuable resource we will ever possess: time. And we spend a little bit of it every day of our lives.

The question for you graduates today is how will you invest this great wealth on your journey to discover your future?

How will you use it to benef it other people, your community, your state and your nation?

Dr. Wiley had some suggestions. He told the graduates of 1908 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.

The world today is vastly different from the world of our first commencement in 1875 and the one that Dr. Wiley addressed in 1908. But his words span the generations.

Among the greatest lessons you have learned here at Purdue are honesty and integrity. They are the true guideposts on the journey of discovery that will lead to your future.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the administration and our faculty, congratulations to this Class of 2006 at the 200th commencement in the history of Purdue!

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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