History
This is our Story
Mastodons make history.
Purdue University Fort Wayne is located in Indiana’s second-largest city and offers a traditional campus experience within a thriving metropolitan setting. As part of the venerable Purdue University system, students earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from one of the most trusted and prestigious brands in higher education.
With more than 8,000 students and over 300 full-time faculty members, Purdue Fort Wayne is perfectly sized to offer small classes and individualized attention, yet large enough to have all the attributes of a major research university. Students have the opportunity to work alongside faculty to tackle
real-world challenges through groundbreaking research, to create exciting new scholarship, and to explore new facets of creative expression.
These are the moments that made us who we are.
1964
Indiana University and Purdue University opens the combined campus of Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne
1969
Student body adopts the mastodon as a mascot
Why a mastodon?
A mascot 10,000 years in the making.
Two and a half million years ago, mastodons roamed what we now call North America, from Canada to Mexico and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They were particularly abundant around the edges of forested areas where small vegetation thrived, such as along the Atlantic coast and the southern Great Lakes region.
In fall 1968, on the swampy Orcie Routsong farm, about two miles south of Angola, a young boy stumbled on an extraordinary find—a large bone—and alerted the landowner. Routsong was struck by the peculiar nature and large size of the bone, so he contacted Jack Sunderman, chair of the Department of Geology, of the then Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne. in hopes of identifying what animal it belonged to.
Soon after, an excavation commenced, uncovering a completely disarticulated mastodon skeleton, with bones scattered through glacial clay. But most were well preserved—likely due to the swampy surroundings, which protected the specimen from destructive bacteria and scavenging animals—with only a few that were broken or visibly weathered. By the end of the excavation, two-thirds of the skeleton was unearthed, with the bones of three legs missing. Through an analysis of the glacial peat and clay, it was determined that the mastodon lived 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Not long after the discovery, Steve Pettyjohn, then–student body president, began an initiative to cement the mastodon as the university mascot, extolling the virtues of the find and the meaningful history that came along with it. In 1969, by means of a student government committee, the Mastodon was appointed our mascot—still the only one of its kind in the United States—posthumously honoring these majestic giants that once graced our landscape.
1975
Campus administration formally merges
1980s
University creates academic structure to emphasize relationships among departments
1990s
Major facilities open, including the Visual Arts Building, Williams Theatre, and the Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science Building
1995
University completes a new campus facilities master plan and the first strategic plan
1998
Science Building opens
2003
University dedicates the new Crescent Avenue Bridge, which connects the main campus to the Waterfield Campus
2004
Student Housing on the Waterfield Campus opens
2007
Student housing expands with two more buildings, and the John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center opens
2008
Holiday Inn at IPFW and the Coliseum (later renamed Purdue Fort Wayne Holiday Inn) joins the campus family
2009
Ron Venderly Family Bridge and the Medical Education Building open
2010
Student housing adds four more buildings with new floor plans, as well as a new clubhouse building
2011
Keith Busse Steel Dynamics Alumni Center (later renamed the Steel Dynamics Keith E. Busse Mastodon Alumni Center) opens
2015
Indiana Commission for Higher Education grants the university the status as northeast Indiana’s Metropolitan University
2018
University officially splits into two campuses, Purdue University Fort Wayne and Indiana University Fort Wayne; IU Fort Wayne takes charge of the health sciences, while other areas become a part of Purdue University Fort Wayne
Purdue University Sweetwater Music Center opens
Fight Song
The spirit of the Mastodon.
Let’s go, Purdue Fort Wayne. Let’s cheer for the Black and Gold.
Go, Fort Wayne Mastodons, full of spirit, proud and bold.
GO, DONS!
Winning hearts so brave and true, standing strong in all we do.
Cheer for the Mastodons, bringing victory home to you.
GO, DONS!
D-O-N-S
LET’S GO, DONS!
Let’s go, Purdue Fort Wayne. Let’s cheer for the Black and Gold.
Go, Fort Wayne Mastodons, full of spirit proud and bold.
GO, DONS!
Winning hearts so brave and true, standing strong in all we do.
Cheer for the Mastodons, bringing victory home to you.