John Scherer Hougham (28 May 1821 – 31 March 1894) was Purdue University’s first appointed professor, first (unofficial) acting President (March 11, 1874 – June 11, 1874) after Purdue's first President

Richard Dale Owen Richard Owen (January 6, 1810 – March 25, 1890) was a Scottish-born geologist, natural scientist, educator, and American military officer who arrived in the United States in 1828 and settled at New Harmony, Indiana. Owen, who was trained ...

resigned on March 1, 1874, and later an official acting President (November 6, 1875 – April 30, 1876) between the administrations of Abraham C. Shortridge and Emerson E. White. Hougham first graduated from

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832, by a group of Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, the institution was originally named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary an ...

, Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1846, where he was a member of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, , it consist ...

fraternity, and later after his death, the location of the John S. Hougham Manuscript Collection. He then rose to Professor of

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

Natural Philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana (1848 – 1867). During this time he was also a well regarded maker of scientific instruments for educational and professional use in medicine, chemistry, astronomy, and other related fields (e.g.,

solar compass Burt's solar compass or astronomical compass/sun compass is a surveying instrument that makes use of the Sun's direction instead of magnetism. William Austin Burt invented his solar compass in 1835. The solar compass works on the principle that ...

). "Hougham Street" in Franklin, IN, adjacent to the Franklin College campus, was named to honor one of the city's most illustrious residents. After those appointments, he was Chairman of Philosophy and Agriculture at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

(1868 – 1872). He then took an appointment as Professor of

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and Industrial Mechanics, and Chairman of

Agricultural Chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture. Agricultural chemistry embraces the structures and chemical reactions relevant in the production, protection, and use of Crop, ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

(1872 – 1876),A History of Physics at Purdue
Retrieved September 26, 2007. serving in those early years of Purdue’s history as an academic "handyman" — and for a time acting President during parts of 1874, '75, and '76 — to

John Purdue John Purdue (; October 31, 1802 – September 12, 1876) was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University. Early life Most details of Purdue's early life were either not record ...

and the founding Trustees, visiting other universities around the country in search of new ideas and faculty to bring back to his native Indiana. Around 1876, he returned to Kansas State where he spent the remaining years of his academic career.

Notes

Additional Sources

Presidents of Purdue University (Acting included)
etrieved October 28, 2022br>Presidents of Purdue University (Acting omitted)
etrieved October 28, 2022br>Rittenhouse Journal index
Elgin, Richard L. 1993. "John S. Hougham and the Early History of the Solar Compass." ''Rittenhouse: The Journal of the American Scientific Instrument Enterprise'' 7(28):117-121. etrieved October 28, 2022br>Davis, Michael J. 2012. "John S. Hougham's Solar Compass." ''Hoosier Surveyor'' 38(4):16-17.
etrieved October 28, 2022This article describes one of Hougham's solar compasses owned by the Johnson County Museum in Franklin, Indiana.
The Hougham/Huffam Family Tree
"John Scherer Hougham - Developer of the solar compass" by RICHARD L ELGIN, PHD, LS, PE, ELGIN SURVEYING & ENGINEERING, NC. etrieved August 18, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hougham, John S. Presidents of Purdue University 1821 births 1894 deaths American scientific instrument makers Wabash College alumni Kansas State University faculty Franklin College (Indiana) faculty