Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

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' f o .f x .- , '7Di ,Alf f' Q 7, PROFESSOR l. l-l. SKINNER DEAN or SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE Significant progress has been made during the fifty-eight years of serv- ice rendered by the School of Agri- culture to the people of lndiana. When the first students enrolled for instruction in agriculture in l878, the staff in the School of Agriculture consisted of a farm manager and in- structor who gave some instruction in the practical phases of agricul- ture. Increased facilities for classroom and laboratory work have been developed, and a trained staff of instructors has been developed which makes available to present-day students the latest technical information concerning profitable agri- cultural practices. The enrollment this year is the largest in its history, The first short courses were offered during the winter of l887 and these have continued through the years to be one of the important phases of agricultural in- struction at Purdue University. Some of the outstanding contributions the School of Agriculture has made to the people of the United States are: the eight-weeks winter course, the develop- ment of instruction on a technical basis, administration of graduate work, the grad- uating of more than 2,000 students, and the giving of instruction to over 5,000 students who have taken less than four years work in agriculture. john l-l. Skinner.

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PROFESSOR A. A. POTTER DEAN OF SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING From its very beginning, Purdue University gave some instruction in engineering. One student was registered in civil engineering in 1876-77, and two in 1877-78. The first engineering degree lC.E.l was awarded, in 1878, to William K. Eldridge. The School of Mechanics started in 1879, led in 1882 to the establishment of the School of Mechanical Engineering, which had one student enrolled in 1882-83, and from which the first student graduated in 1885. While civil engineering was the first branch of engineer- ing to be taught 11876-771 it was not until 1887 that a school of civil engineering was established. Electrical engineering was organized as a separate school in 1888. Chemical engineering was established as a course of study in 1906 and was made a separate school in 1911. Special curricula in public service engineering and in engineering-law were offered beginning September, 1935. From the School of Mechanics, started in 1879 with six students, the engineering enrollment of Purdue University grew to more than 3,500 engineering students at the opening of the academic year 1937-38. Purdue University has had for a number of years, the largest engineering student enrollment of any institution in this country, and forty-three per cent of its students come from states outside of Indiana and from other lands. The superior engineering facilities of Purdue University in staff and equipment have resulted in many researches of great value to the industries, utilities, and public works of the State and Nation. The Engi- neering Experiment Station of Purdue University is constantly carrying on research on a scale sufficiently great to attract creative leaders on its engineering staff. Contact of students with teachers and investiga- tors, who are solving new problems, is helpful in developing the students' initiative and in stimulating in some the desire to create new knowledge. Engineering graduates from Purdue University are in demand. Even in the worst years of the depression 11932-341 the average graduate from Purdue University had no difficulty in locating suitable employ- ment. The more than ten thousand engineers, who hold degrees from Purdue University, are influencing others to study engineering at an institution which strives to prepare people for maximum usefulness as engineers and citizens, able and willing to contribute to public welfare. b ANDREY A. POTTER

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cience PROFESSOR I-l, E. ENDERS DEAN OF SCHOOL OF SCIENCE l l ie When Purdue University registered its first students in l874, its program centered around the basic sciences. ln l875, the first degree of the University was conferred in science, which antedated the first degree in agriculture by seven years, and the first in engineering by ten years. The University conferred degrees in science upon a total of fifty-seven persons dur- ing the first ten years of its existence. Prior to l926, departments such as home economics, forestry, and men's physical education were under the jurisdiction of the School of Science. When these departments were segregated the enrollment in the School of Science was temporarily depleted, but since then admission has increased rapidly enough to compensate for these losses. Within its province as a service school, the School of Science takes pride in its share in training every student in the University. Thus it has not only trained students en- ' 'edicine. and economic and technical fields. The successful achievement of every graduate is followed with keen interest, with the ardent hope that the rewards may continue to be worthy of the effort. Howard E. Enders.