Humanities
— COMMUNICATION —
WBAA
Purdue’s public radio station, WBAA, was licensed as the first radio station in Indiana in 1922. It is the longest continuously operating radio station in the state. It has expanded from its days broadcasting only on AM to add two FM frequencies and an HD station. WBAA features classical music, jazz, and news programming from National Public Radio.
— COMMUNICATION —
C-SPAN
In 1977, Brian Lamb (LA’63, HDR LA’86) founded C-SPAN — Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network. The network’s initial telecasts of the US House of Representatives commenced in 1979; today three C-SPAN networks offer around-the- clock coverage of the political process. The Lamb School of Communication bears his name.
— COMMUNICATION —
Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement
CCSE was established in 2017 as a national research center focused on discovery, learning, and engagement using the C-SPAN archives. The 240,000 hours of political history, dating back to 1979, are available for research and educational purposes. Educational events involve bringing noted journalists to Purdue to discuss topics such as the current state of journalism with guest host Brian Lamb, the C-SPAN founder.
— COMMUNICATION —
Black-and-White Television
Early work by university researchers led to the first successful transmission of a black-and-white television picture. In 1930, the Federal Radio Commission authorized construction of a transmitting station at the University. A $120,000 grant funded the project, which allowed for students, led by a faculty member, to experiment with this new method of broadcasting; it was the only way to get licensing, as so few frequencies were available at the time. A receiving station in Chicago would work with the Purdue transmitter. In January 1933, a home in West Lafayette received transmissions from the Purdue station using the first all-electronic television receiver, developed by Roscoe H. George (ECE’22, MS ECE’27), director of Purdue’s first high-voltage lab.
— COMMUNICATION —
Police Radios
In 1928, Robert Batts (S’29) built the first car radio system for the Detroit Police Department, which became the first to dispatch patrol cars regularly by radio. Without a designated band on which to broadcast, it was listed as an entertainment station. So to meet Federal Radio Commission licensing requirements, the department broadcast recorded music between lists of stolen vehicles and descriptions of missing children.
— COMMUNICATION —
Radio Transmission
Technology pioneer Reginald Fessenden received hundreds of patents in radio and sonar and is credited with the first transmission of speech by radio in 1900. An early professor of electrical engineering at Purdue, he helped Westinghouse install the lighting at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair during his time in West Lafayette.
— COMMUNICATION —
US Radio System
Orestes H. Caldwell (ECE’1908, HDR E’33) was one of the first five members of the Federal Radio Commission, which helped to organize the US radio system. He was credited with being the most technologically knowledgeable of the early radio commissioners and was an early adopter of emerging electronics.
— COMMUNICATION —
Radar Engineering
John P. Costas (ECE‘44, MS ECE’47) became involved with radar engineering while serving in the Navy during World War II. In the 1950s, he invented the Costas Loop, a modified phase locked loop that helps with the performance in digital communications receivers. He was made a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1965 for his contributions to communications theory and techniques.
— COMMUNICATION —
‘Little Orphan Annie’
Harold Gray (S’1917) was art editor of the Debris yearbook in his senior year. The cartoonist created the original Little Orphan Annie comic strip, first issued in 1924 in the New York Daily News. The comic strip went on to become a Tony Award-winning musical in 1977.
— PULITZER PRIZE WINNER —
Ken Armstrong
A three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, Armstrong (LA’85) is an investigative reporter whose work helped prompt the Illinois governor to suspend executions and later empty death row. He has won for explanatory, investigative and breaking news reporting. Armstrong is currently a senior reporter with ProPublica.
— PULITZER PRIZE WINNER —
Ginger Thompson
As a reporter for the New York Times, Thompson (LA’86) was part of a team of reporters who worked on the Pulitzer Prize-winning series “How Race is Lived in America.” She now works for ProPublica. She is noted for her investigative reporting on Washington’s secret role in Mexico’s fight against drug traffickers.
— PULITZER PRIZE WINNER —
Booth Tarkington
Author of The Magnificent Ambersons, Tarkington (-1894, HDR’40) is one of only three novelists — along with William Faulkner and John Updike — to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once. The Indiana native wrote from a Midwestern perspective and in the early part of the 20th century was considered America’s greatest living novelist.
— PULITZER PRIZE WINNER —
John T. McCutcheon
McCutcheon (S’1889, HDR LA’26), known as the Dean of American Cartoonists, was awarded the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for “A Wise Economist Asks a Question,” a Depression-era cartoon about a victim of bank failure. He worked at the Chicago Record until 1903 and then at the Chicago Tribune until his retirement in 1946.
— THE ARTS —
Typographic
Bruce Rogers (S’1890, HDR LA’32) designed the Centaur typeface in 1914, tweaking a previous design of his. The slim, elegant type-face became a publishing standard and has been used in body text, titles, and headings, notably by Penguin Books.
— THE ARTS —
Elliott Hall of Music
With 6,027 seats, Elliot Hall is one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world. It boasts 1,000 more seats than Radio City Music Hall (whose architect consulted on Elliott). Famous individuals and acts who appeared on stage include Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Hope, South Pacific, Lady Gaga, and Elton John.
— THE ARTS —
Literature
One of the most celebrated American writers of the first half of the 20th century, George Ade (S’1887, HDR LA’26) served on the Board of Trustees until 1916 when he resigned in protest of President Winthrop Stone’s lack of support for athletics. He was also editor of the Purdue Alumnus, which he used to criticize the University president.
— THE ARTS —
Animated Film
Bob Peterson (MS ME’86) was the lead writer and codirector of Up, earning him a nomination for best screenplay and an Oscar for best animated feature in 2009. Peterson worked on some of Pixar’s best-known films, including animation on Toy Story, supervising the story on Monsters, Inc., and writing the screenplay for Finding Nemo. He’s even lent his voice to such notable characters as Roz in Monsters, Inc., Mr. Ray in Finding Nemo, and Dug, the dog in Up.
— THE ARTS —
Theater/Film/TV Director
Director Tom Moore (LA’65, HDR LA’95) earned his first major break in 1972 as the director of the original Broadway production of Grease. He also directed the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama ’night, Mother, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. He has directed numerous television shows, including LA Law, thirtysomething, Picket Fences, Northern Exposure, Ally McBeal, Dharma & Greg, ER, and Felicity, among others. He has received multiple Tony and Emmy nominations.
