Purdue: Morning Flight

Morning Flight Over the Dorms
Oils on canvas
8 x 18"
1988

Purdue University is a relatively conservative place. My grandfather was a professor of Mechanical Engineering there for 40 years. My grandmother was one of the first female graduates in 1913. I attended off and on from 1972 - '79, living in its Married Student Housing. It has an awful Art dept. where I learned nothing. But does have a history of a fine aeronautical school.

All together, Purdue has produced 22 astronauts, including Gus Grissom, the first person to return to space, Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the moon, and Eugene Cernan, the last astronaut to do so. Over one third of all of NASA's manned space missions have had at least one Purdue graduate as a crew member. These individuals have led significant advances in research and development of aerospace technology and established an amazing record for exploration of space.

This is my tribute to Purdue.