John Sautter (right), senior advisor, Purdue Alumni Association, presented Robert “Bob” Hannemann, a visiting professor of biomedical and chemical engineering and psychological sciences, the Special Boilermaker Award. Hannemann also will be recognized as a Special Boilermaker in Ross-Ade Stadium on the football field during the September 28th football game against Minnesota.

One of Hannemann’s nominators wrote, “Dr. Hannemann has defined the fabric that ties Purdue University to the surrounding community and its students and alumni over a period of 57 years. As professor of biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and child psychology, Dr. Hannemann has made innumerable contributions to all of us and to the students at Purdue.”

Robert "Bob" Hannemann (front, second from left) is shown with many of the family, faculty, staff, and students who were present when he was presented with the Special Boilermaker Award in a surprise ceremony at the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

Hannemann’s service and leadership began in 1952 as president of his class and re-emerged in Lafayette in 1962 when he established the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Arnett Clinic after serving in the US Army, receiving his MD, and completing his residency in Pediatrics at Riley Children’s Hospital. He practiced pediatrics for 50 years, was a part-time physician at the Purdue University Student Health Center and was active in many community organizations, including Head Start, Cary Home for Children, Boys and Girls Club of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County Mental Health Center, Lafayette Medical Education Foundation and the Board for the National Center for missing and Exploited Children.

“Dr. Hannemann’s record of bettering the educational experience of Purdue University students through the classroom is exemplary,” wrote the nominator. As a faculty member since 2000, he has helped the careers of students as an advisor in the EPICS and Biomedship programs, mentoring students in the joint Purdue College of Engineering--Indiana University School of Medicine MD/PhD Program, and as a teacher. He was a pioneer who saw the future of medical engineering and subsequently catalyzed the birth of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue. He taught in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, the Department of Psychological Sciences, the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, and Indiana University School of Medicine.

Hannemann’s impact is widespread. He was associate editor of Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, one of the most successful books on child-rearing. He received the Indiana Team Physician Award, is past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a Sagamore of the Wabash. He has numerous national awards in recognition of his service, medical leadership, and research.   

John Sautter, senior advisor at the Purdue Alumni Association, said that, “Dr. Hannemann inspires us all and leads by example by living a life that we want to emulate. He is a truly remarkable member of our Purdue community and very deserving to be recognized a Special Boilermaker.”

Hannemann will be recognized as a Special Boilermaker in Ross-Ade Stadium on the football field during the September 28^th football game against Minnesota. He will receive a metal sculpture of a Purdue locomotive. His name will be permanently inscribed, along with former winners, on a plaque in the Purdue Alumni Association as well as the Awards Obelisk located on the northeast corner of Purdue’s Engineering Mall.