Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

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DEBRIS INTERVIEW T J I a candid conversation with the man who has been Purdue s President for nearly a quarter ofa century. When it was announced recently that Dr. Frederick L. Hovde had been cho- sen as the 1970 winner ofthe National Collegiate Athletic Association's An- nual Theodore Roosevelt Award, the students of Purdue suddenly found themselves with a celebrity as their president. The Teddy Award is the NCAA's highest honor. It goes each year to a prominent American for whom competitive athletics in college and attention to physical well-being thereafter have been important factors in a distinguished career of national signtjicance and achievement . The late President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been apast winner. Ifplacing the President ofPurdue in a category with a President ofthe Unit- ed States seems odd, it shouldn't, for Dr. Hovde is one of the most honored and highly respected men in thefield of education today. Though born in Erie, Pennsylvania The wholepurpose and objective of the corporate university is to pro- on February 7, 1908, Hovde could not call this home, for soon after his birth the Hovde family moved to Devil's Lake, North Dakota. It was here that Hovde's father, a meteorologist, chose to settle and where Hovde spent his childhoodyears. In 1925 he entered the University of Minnesota. His achievements during his four years there, both academically and athletically, are part of history. Hovde earned varsity letters in 1927 and 1928 in both football and basket- ball. In football, as quarterback ofthe Minnesota Gophers, he was the leading conference scorer in 1928 and was named to the All Big Ten team. Aca- demically, Hovde was elected to mem- bership in Tau Beta Pi, Phi Lambda Upsilon, and Sigma Xi. He graduated with a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering in 1929, not only with hon- ors, but with a Rhodes Scholarship as well. 3 .4 .-51534 ,l . Ido not believe students oftoday dU'fer very much from university With this scholarship, Hovde was able to spendfour years, 1929 - 1932, studying at Oxford University in Eng- land. There he received a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree. Upon returning to the United States, Hovde was appointed Assistant Direc- tor ofthe General College at the Uni- versity of Minnesota. This began a ca- reer in education that, except for jive years devoted to war and defensive work during World War 11, was to span four decades. When he came to Purdue in 1946, Hovde at thirty-seven, was the youngest man ever to become President ofa Big Ten university. During his tenure as Purdue's President, Hovde has received honorary degrees from eighteen col- leges and universities. He has served on the Board ofDirectors ofsuch corpora- tions as General Electric and Inland Steel. He has received countless awards and honors. In thefinal analysis, the Presi- dent is the only individual who can vide better educational services and students of earlier times. speak authoritatively and effective- opportunitiesfor its student body. lyf0 the Udml 1f5ffUfl0 - 21