Purdue
University, located in West Lafayette, is the land-grant university
for Indiana and a member of the Big 10 athletic conference. It is one
of the 68 land-grant institutions in the United States dedicated to
excellence in all aspects of education, research, and service. Purdue's
beginning was initiated largely by a monetary and land gift from Mr.
John Purdue, with the university opening for business in September 1874.
It ranks among the twenty-five largest universities, with approximately
37,000 students enrolled at the West Lafayette campus.
The Department
of Botany and Plant Pathology had its beginning with the appointment
of Dr. J. C. Arthur as the first Botanist of the Purdue University Agricultural
Experiment Station in 1887. Much of the early research was in the classical
botanical areas, but time was devoted to identification and control
of noxious weeds, fungicides and their applications, and other applied
problems of Indiana agriculture. The various missions of the Department
have changed over the years, and in the 1930’s, the department
name was changed to The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. However,
the emphasis on the more fundamental aspects in not only plant pathology,
but also genetics, plant physiology, mycology, virology, weed science,
and other areas has been a central theme in the history of the research,
teaching, and service of the department. The very first Ph.D. degree
awarded from Purdue University was to a student in the Department of
Botany in 1897.
Teaching
within the department traditionally has been strong in the graduate
arena; however, in 1971, an undergraduate option in Crop
Protection was introduced jointly with the Department of Entomology.
In 1990, the Department added a second option in Plant Science.
In 2001, a third undergraduate option titled Environmental
Plant Studies was introduced as well as the Plant Science
option name change to Plant Biology.