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 of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (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

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Historic Highlights

1869 | PURDUE ESTABLISHED

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