David Robert Lewis, the first Black graduate of the College of Engineering, earned a BS degree in Civil Engineering in 1894.
Photo courtesy of Purdue University Archives and Special Collections
David Robert Lewis, the first Black graduate of the College of Engineering, earned a BS degree in Civil Engineering in 1894.
Photo courtesy of Purdue University Archives and Special Collections
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An anonymous $1 million cash gift from a member of the Purdue University College of Engineering community will establish scholarships named in honor of the College’s first Black graduate as an impetus to energize and expand ongoing support to recruit and retain Black Engineering students.
The new diversity in engineering scholarship endowment is named in memory of alumnus David Robert Lewis, who graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree in 1894. A native of Greensburg, Indiana, Lewis was one of only nine Black students who graduated from Indiana colleges between the Civil War and the year 1900.
Source: Anonymous $1 million cash gift to establish scholarships for Black Engineering students at Purdue
