Neil Armstrong BSAE'55, DEA'67, HDR'70, OAE'99, 1930 - 2012
August 25, 2012 we lost alumni Boilermaker Neil Armstrong. As a 1955 graduate of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, his accomplishments have long become a source of pride to our school, and before becoming an astronaut, he served his country as an officer in the US Navy and in the Korean War. We are proud to recognize him as an accomplished engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and educator who went on to become the first man to walk on the Moon. He was an outstanding role model for students of all ages and we salute his hard work and dedication to his profession.
Although Neil Armstrong was revered as a hero by the entire world and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work, he was a modest man who shunned the limelight. The success of the Apollo program depended on potentially hundreds of thousands of engineers many of them from Purdue, who transformed dreams into reality. Neil Armstrong was the embodiment of the program and encapsulated all that was great.
The Purdue Student Government arranged the Purdue Armstrong Memorial outside of Armstrong Hall on August 27. One of the anecdotes that we heard from author John Norberg, was that Neil had been thinking of going to MIT, but decided to take a closer look at Purdue due to the football team’s success against Ohio State in October 1945. Once he looked, he found a world-class aeronautics program and an airport on campus. The rest – as we say – is history.
NASA held a memorial service for him on September 13 at the National Cathedral, in Washington, DC. Acting President Tim Sands led a group of Purdue people attending the ceremony. Neil Armstrong was buried at sea on September 14 in a formal navy ceremony.
A common theme that has emerged since his passing is the inspiration that he gave to countless people. Many of our alumni and students came to Purdue because of Neil Armstrong. He inspired them to dream and Purdue enabled them to accomplish their dreams. The media interviewed AAE undergraduate and graduate students all whom were thoughtful and much moved by Neil’s passing. It is these students of today and those who follow, who will carry on the tradition of excellence that was the hallmark of his life.
The Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering has been home to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics since October 27, 2007. At the dedication of the building, Armstrong was joined by fourteen other Purdue Astronauts, including his longtime friend and fellow Boilermaker Gene Cernan (EE’56, HDR E’70).
Dr. C.T. Sun is the ‘Neil A. Armstrong Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics’. This distinguished professorship was established in recognition of Neil Armstrong – “For courageous and dedicated personal contributions to the technology of supersonic flight and lunar exploration; and for the finest exemplification of those priceless human attributes of character, competence, and rigorous self-discipline demanded of all men and women who would help mankind reach for the stars.”
The faculty of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics strive to make a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue live-up to the standards that alumni remember so well. The bar was set high by graduates like Neil Armstrong and we salute him.
photo caption - Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan at the dedication of Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering - October 27, 2007