Purdue University West Lafayette Admitted Student Profiles & Alumni

Neil Armstrong

First person to walk on the Moon

BS

1955

Gus Grissom

NASA astronaut; flew in Gemini program

BS

1950s

Eugene Cernan

Astronaut; last person to walk on the Moon

BS

1956

Edward Mills Purcell

Nobel Prize in Physics for nuclear magnetic resonance

BS

1936

Ben Roy Mottelson

Nobel Prize in Physics for nuclear structure work

BS

1948

Akira Suzuki

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (cross-coupling reaction)

Post-doc / Honorary

N/A

C. N. R. Rao

Renowned Indian chemist; Bharat Ratna recipient

PhD

N/A

Orville Redenbacher

Known for his popcorn brand

BS

N/A

Samuel R. Allen

CEO of John Deere

BS

1977

Gregory Wasson

Former CEO of Walgreens

BS

N/A

Herman Cain

Businessman; U.S. presidential candidate

MBA / Graduate Studies

N/A

Rick “Sully” Sullenberger

Pilot widely known for successful emergency landing on the Hudson (“Miracle on the Hudson”)

N/A

N/A

Ian Murdock

Founder of Debian (Linux distribution)

MS / PhD or equivalent

N/A

Yitang Zhang

Mathematician known for results on prime gaps

PhD

N/A

Jack-Wood “Jack” Wick

Influential in engineering or innovation (various fields)

N/A

N/A

Brian Lamb

Founder & CEO of C-SPAN television network

N/A

N/A

Drew Brees

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback

N/A

N/A

John Wooden

Legendary basketball coach

N/A

N/A

Lawrence Rocks

Chemist and science advocate

N/A

N/A

David Wolf

NASA astronaut who flew on numerous missions

N/A

N/A