Angie Klink – författare

In the early 1900s, Mary Matthews and Lella Gaddis forged trails for women at Purdue University and throughout Indiana. Mary was the first dean of the School of Home Economics. Lella was Indiana’s first state leader of Home Demonstration. In 1914, Mary hired Lella to organise Purdue’s new Home Economics Extension Service. According to those who knew them, Lella was a “sparkler” who travelled the state instructing rural women about nutrition, hygiene, safe water, childcare, and more. “Reserved” Mary established Purdue’s School of Home Economics, created Indiana’s first nursery school, and authored a popular textbook. Both women used their natural talents and connections to achieve their goals in spite of a male-dominated society. As a land grant institution, Purdue University has always been very connected to the American countryside. Based on extensive oral history and archival research, this book sheds new light on the important role female staff and faculty played in improving the quality of life for rural women during the first half of the twentieth century. It is also a fascinating story, engagingly told, of two very different personalities united in a common goal.

The late J. Kirby Risk II called himself "a small-town businessman from the banks of the Wabash." He was much more. The fastidious, dapper man from Lafayette, Indiana, exuded philanthropy and free enterprise. Like a sheepdog, he tended the flock, rounded up strays, darted to key places to close up stragglers, and nudged everyone toward a common goal. Sometimes his stubborn persistence caused clashes. His demanding behaviour was for good, no matter what others thought. That was Kirby's way.Kirby's integrity was the basis for his two occupations. His first career was compassion, and his second career was the building of the battery company he cofounded in 1926 with $500 borrowed from his father. Today, Kirby Risk Corporation is a multimillion-dollar electrical products and services industry headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, and led by Kirby's son, Jim. Kirby's Way captures the essence of this imitable gentleman, who with his wife of fifty-five years, Caroline, raised four children, gave time, money, and meals to strangers, refugees, Purdue University students, and their beloved community, while building from their kitchen table a successful Midwest corporation. He believed in "sacrificial service." Kirby noticed people. He recognised their importance. In turn, they loved him and wanted to help him. He dwelled on his favourite song, 'Mankind is My Business'. Relationships shaped his success. Kirby was quiet about his deeds. He lived the Bible passage, Matthew 6:3--"But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly--do not tell your left hand what your right hand is doing." Kirby Risk may not have wanted this book. Yet he would have esteemed it as a parable, a spiritual truth that compels readers to discover certainties for themselves. From heaven, he tends the flock and rounds up strays, so more people might live Kirby's Way.

Bridges and More takes the reader from the early years of Civil Engineering when Purdue's campus consisted of a smattering of red brick buildings surrounded by grassy meadows and roads flanked by white, wooden fences to today's state-of-the-art facilities such as the Bowen Laboratory for Large-Scale Civil Engineering Research and the online hub for the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES).The highly illustrated book touches on major milestones in Purdue Civil Engineering history from Road School, to the Ross Summer Surveying Camp, to Purdue's involvement in world landmarks such as the Panama Canal, Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Tower of Pisa. Often, Purdue Civil Engineers are public servants, evolving research that helps to prevent disasters like building collapses and bridge failures. Bridges and More honors Purdue's School of Civil Engineering with historic images and an appealing account of 125 years of education, research and a profession that is, as the title suggests, about so much more than bridges.

Like pearls threaded one-by-one to form a necklace, five women successively nurtured students on the Purdue University campus in America’s heartland from the 1930s to the 1990s. Individually, each became a legendary dean of women or dean of students. Collectively, they wove a sisterhood of mutual support in their common—sometimes thwarted—pursuit of shared human rights and equality.Dorothy C. Stratton, Helen B. Schleman, M. Beverley Stone, Barbara I. Cook, and Betty M. Nelson opened new avenues for women and became conduits for change, fostering opportunities for all people. They were loved by students and revered by colleagues. The women also were respected throughout the United States as founding leaders of the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARs), frontrunners in the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, and as pivotal members of presidential committees in the Kennedy and Nixon administrations.While it is focused on changing attitudes on one college campus, The Deans’ Bible sheds light on cultural change in America as a whole, exploring how each of the deans participated nationally in the quest for equality. The story rolls through the “picture-perfect,” suppressive 1950s, the awakening 1960s, women’s liberation, Title IX, 1980s AIDS and alcohol epidemics, the changing mores for the disabled, and ends in the twenty-first century.As each woman succeeded the other, forming a five-dean friendship, they knitted their bond with a secret symbol—a Bible. Originally possessed by Purdue’s first part-time Dean of Women Carolyn Shoemaker, the Bible was handed down from dean to dean with favorite passages marked. The lowercased word “bible” is often used in connection with reference works or “guidebooks.” The Deans’ Bible serves as a guidebook, brimming with stories of courageous women who led by example and lived their convictions.

Pledge and Promise documents the important historical significance of fraternity, sorority, and cooperative life at Purdue University. Featuring more than 250 photos, this pictorial volume tells the fascinating stories of how Greek and cooperative organizations have evolved, while honoring their core values since 1875. Pledge and Promise also highlights a sampling of the people who have contributed and benefited from their associations with these student groups. Featuring heartfelt, inspiring, humorous, and even disheartening accounts, this narrative reveals successes and setbacks.Greek and cooperative organizations have always offered valuable, life-affirming opportunities and powerful traditions that foster personal growth and lasting career skills. With this attractive, richly illustrated book, Boilermakers who once called a fraternity, sorority, or cooperative "home" will be reminded of the spirit of fun and the enduring bonds nurtured throughout their formative years at Purdue University.

WBAA: 100 Years as the Voice of Purdue documents the fascinating history of WBAA, Indiana's first radio station founded at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 4, 1922. Richly illustrated with more than 150 photos, the book chronicles the station's evolution over the years, while highlighting the staff, students, and volunteers significant to WBAA's success. WBAA began as a lab experiment conducted by Purdue electrical engineering students in 1910. Later, the station became a vital method for Purdue's Cooperative Extension Service to broadcast the knowledge of the university, particularly agricultural news, to the people of the state. From the 1960s to 1980s, WBAA aired Purdue basketball and football games, with station manager John DeCamp as the "Voice of the Boilermakers." In 1971, WBAA became a member station of National Public Radio (NPR), offering popular programming such as All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Listeners tuned into WBAA to hear classical, jazz, and international music, along with in-depth news reporting. Mayors and Purdue presidents aired weekly programs. WBAA gave a voice to arts and community organizations.Read about the invention of the first all-electronic television by pioneering Purdue scientist Roscoe George; WBAA's long-running School of the Air educational program deemed the "invisible textbook"; and the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI), an airplane that transmitted videos to schools while flying over six Midwestern states in the 1960s. Famous WBAA alumni include NBC sportscaster Chris Schenkel, comedian Durward Kirby, Today Show newscaster Lew Wood, Indiana State Representative Sheila Klinker, actress Karen Black, and actor George Peppard, among others.From the vacuum tube era to the digital age, this thoroughly researched book brings to light the intriguing backstories of the esteemed one hundred-year history of WBAA.

Purdue's Female Founders: The Untold History of Trailblazing Women Faculty chronicles and celebrates the fortitude and achievements of the foremothers of Purdue University. This engaging book offers a collection of profiles of women faculty who, despite profound roadblocks because of their gender, shaped the institution from its beginning in the late 1800s through the latter half of the twentieth century. These are the stories of Purdue women who persevered against the odds to follow their dreams to conduct research and teach; establish departments, schools, and colleges; and blaze paths in a male-dominated culture. Readers will learn about women who faced discrimination but persisted and thrived despite prejudice. These compelling profiles celebrate women in art, science, nutrition, literature, nursing, speech, engineering, fashion design, home economics, family life, psychology, agriculture, health and kinesiology, business, and more. Covering 125 years of university history told through the female lens, this book rightfully honors the many women who helped shape Purdue.

Purdue's Female Founders: The Untold History of Trailblazing Women Faculty chronicles and celebrates the fortitude and achievements of the foremothers of Purdue University. This engaging book offers a collection of profiles of women faculty who, despite profound roadblocks because of their gender, shaped the institution from its beginning in the late 1800s through the latter half of the twentieth century. These are the stories of Purdue women who persevered against the odds to follow their dreams to conduct research and teach; establish departments, schools, and colleges; and blaze paths in a male-dominated culture. Readers will learn about women who faced discrimination but persisted and thrived despite prejudice. These compelling profiles celebrate women in art, science, nutrition, literature, nursing, speech, engineering, fashion design, home economics, family life, psychology, agriculture, health and kinesiology, business, and more. Covering 125 years of university history told through the female lens, this book rightfully honors the many women who helped shape Purdue.

Birck Builds the Future: Celebrating Twenty Years at Purdue University, 2005–2025 commemorates the vision, innovation, and enduring impact of the Birck Nanotechnology Center. This richly detailed volume traces Birck's journey from a bold idea—sparked by the urgent need for state-of-the-art facilities to support cutting-edge nanoscale research—to its emergence as a global leader in semiconductors and quantum research. The book highlights the center's founding under Purdue's then-president Martin Jischke and its role as the anchor of Discovery Park, a hub designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across the fields of engineering, science, pharmacy, and agriculture. Featuring contributions from early visionaries, faculty, staff, and students, the narrative blends personal reflections, historical milestones, and technological breakthroughs. It also chronicles the tenures of Birck's five directors—Jim Cooper, Richard Schwartz, Tim Sands, Ali Shakouri, and Zhihong Chen—capturing how each leader shaped the center's evolution. Replete with vivid photographs and architectural insights, the book celebrates two decades of transformative research, education, and industry partnership. As Birck enters its third decade—propelled by a $100 million renovation supported by the Purdue Board of Trustees, Purdue President Mung Chiang, Lilly Endowment Inc., and CHIPS Act funding—it stands as a cornerstone of the university's innovation ecosystem, preparing the next generation of researchers and shaping the future of nanotechnology.