Neil Armstrong

Purdue’s shaping of the American astronaut—now and in the years to come.

Ripple Effects: One Purdue University grad’s apprenticeship under the first-ever aviators sets the course for an out-of-this-world legacy.

Monday saw a windy late-summer evening on Purdue University’s campus as a crowd gathered to honor the legacy of Neil Armstrong. We all know him as the man who flew to the moon and back, but the students of Purdue University know a humble man. 

Neil Armstrong is a boyhood hero of mine. He is one of my heroes not because he was the first man to walk on the moon, although that has something to do with it. He is my hero because he came from my hometown of St. Marys, Ohio.