College of Agriculture
Historic Highlights
-
1869 | PURDUE ESTABLISHED
- 1874 | John Hussey, professor of botany and one of six original Purdue faculty members, brings his plant collection to campus, which is still held in the Kriebel Herbarium
- 1879 | Charles Ingersoll becomes the first professor of agriculture
- 1882 | First bachelor’s degree granted for an agricultural curriculum
- 1887 |Joseph C. Arthur, professor of botany, establishes the Arthur Fungarium, with over 110,000 specimens today
- 1895 | Seven graduates awarded first bachelor of science in agriculture degrees
- 1895 | Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association is founded
- 1897 | Purdue confers its first doctoral degree, which is in agriculture
- 1906 | Professor Harvey W. Wiley secures the Pure Food and Drug Act, becoming the “Father of the FDA”
- 1907 | John Harrison Skinner becomes the first dean of the Purdue School of Agriculture
- 1911 | Purdue Extension founded
- 1914 | Moses Fell Dunn donates 360 acres in Lawrence County for Purdue’s first offsite agricultural center
- 1914 | John Harrison Skinner becomes the first dean of the Purdue School of Agriculture
- 1919 | Lillian L. Lamb is the first woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in agriculture
- 1921 | Virginia Claypool Meredith, Purdue’s first female trustee, known as the “Queen of American Agriculture,” is appointed
- 1922 | School of Agriculture awards its 1,000th bachelor’s degree
- 1925 | Jane Cecelia Kinsella is appointed the first female School of Agriculture faculty member
- 1938 | Agricultural Alumni Seed Improvement Association Inc. was founded to market new varieties and hybrids developed at Purdue
- 1951 | Orville Redenbacher (BA ’28, HDR ’88) started his popcorn business with partner Charlie Bowman
- 1969 | During Purdue’s first 100 years, 117 women earned bachelor’s degrees in the School of Agriculture
- 1969 | The Purdue Creamery serves its last ice cream cone
- 1972 | School of Agriculture awards its 10,000th bachelor’s degree
- 1986 | Center for Food and Agricultural Business founded
- 1990 | School of Agriculture awards its 20,000th bachelor’s degree
- 1991 | Purdue Chapter MANRRS established
- 1993 | Global Trade Analysis Project established
- 2004 | School of Agriculture renamed College of Agriculture
- 2005 | Office of Multicultural Programs established
- 2007 | Philip Nelson, professor emeritus of food science, wins World Food Prize
- 2009 | Gebisa Ejeta, a distinguished professor of agronomy, wins World Food Prize
- 2011 | Female students enrolled in the College of Agriculture outnumber male students for the first time
- 2017 | Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina (MA ’85, PhD ’88) wins World Food Prize
- 2018 | Karen I. Plaut is named the College of Agriculture’s first female dean
- 2019 | More than 35,000 undergraduate degrees have been awarded by the College of Agriculture
Featured Stories
A world of opportunity in Agricultural Economics
Growing up traveling the world, Abigail Bothwell always wanted to see how agriculture connects...
Digital foresters embrace GIS mapping and analysis
Purdue University has grown a thriving forest of more than 2,000 geographic information systems...
Kendall Cottingham - Graduate Ag Research Spotlight
Growing up in Bloomington, Kendall Cottingham was certain that she liked science and was a people...
From curiosity to care
As a first-generation college student, Christopher Uribe was looking for an environment that...
More than a horseman: Mark Russell’s lifelong commitment to helping others grow
For some people at Purdue, he is known as a horse expert, a respected colleague who listens, a...
Purdue team announces new therapeutic target for breast cancer
A Purdue University team led by Kyle Cottrell has discovered a new therapeutic target for...