Research Posts

Purdue in the Cold War: Hovde’s Influence

Taylor Maupin

June 8, 2026

Universities played an outsized role in the history of Cold War competition, especially in the United States. A critical way in which the US established dominance during the Cold War was through the development of rocket technology – both in weaponry and civil aviation. The development of rocket technology and ballistic missiles was particularly important to the United States due to the increased importance of nuclear deterrence as well as the geographical distance between adversaries such as Cuba and the Soviet Union. During his tenure as president of Purdue University between 1946 and 1971, Frederick L. Hovde helped to facilitate the university’s connections with the federal government, which then led to rocket development projects on campus.¹ Under Hovde’s leadership, Purdue increased its presence on the global stage as an institution which had a leading engineering program, a reliable partner in military projects, and an institution worth the investment, not least from federal agencies. 

Frederick Lawson Hovde was born February 7, 1908, in Erie, Pennsylvania. Hovde received his Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1929. He spent three years, 1929-1932, at Brasenose College, Oxford University, receiving first a Bachelor of Arts and then a Bachelor of Science in the Final Honors Program in Chemistry with a Rhodes Scholarship. Hovde returned to the United States in 1932 to accept a position as assistant director of the newly established General College of the University of Minnesota. In 1936, Hovde accepted a position at the University of Rochester, serving as assistant to the President and lecturer in Chemistry. In 1941, following the outbreak of World War II, Hovde was asked to serve in the National Defense Research Committee, a government organization established in 1940 to facilitate civilian research and would later become a part of the war-time Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). His first assignment was as head of the London Mission of the OSRD. While in England, he received his master’s degree from Oxford University. In 1942, he assumed the position of executive assistant to Dr. James B. Conant, chairman of the National Defense Research Committee, in Washington, D.C. In 1943, Hovde was made chief of Division 3, rocket ordnance research, of the National Defense Research Committee. In recognition of his war services he received the president’s Medal for Merit and was awarded the King’s Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom by the British government.²

An increase in federal funding was crucial for Purdue to establish itself as an institution that could support military projects. Hovde became the president of Purdue University in 1946 after World War Two during which he worked for the US government studying as well as developing rockets as weapons systems in the United Kingdom. During his tenure, he turned Purdue into a powerhouse of engineering and dramatically increased federal funding from $12.7 million to $136 million, while simultaneously increasing enrollment from 5,600 to 39,500.³ While president, he established the schools of industrial engineering, materials engineering, technology, and veterinary medicine. The expansion in federal funding necessary for these programs coincided with Hovde’s service on several government committees, including the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors from 1960 to 1963, indicative of Purdue’s growing relationship with the expanding federal government in the postwar period.⁴

Internal development at Purdue was also necessary  to create a trustworthy and dependable institution with which the military would want to work. In 1946, Hovde approached Maurice J. Zucrow for a position of professor in gas turbines and jet propulsion in the Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering. Dr. Zucrow would join Purdue and would later look for funds to create a facility which could support experiments. He would receive $20,000 in funds from the Office of Naval Research which was matched by the Purdue Research Foundation.⁵ Zucrow would go on to work on classified Naval projects, one of which was titled Projects Squid, otherwise known as reaction propulsion research. Purdue was one of five academic institutions working on the project, its overall goals were to discover, “the known, the unknown, and the ‘totally unforeseen’”; it was about creating new and finished weapons systems.⁶ Starting in fall of 1946, Purdue had no rocket lab or funds until fall 1947 when Purdue was approved for Phase 7 of the project. Phase 7 was the “Investigation Of Rocket Motors and and Liquid Propellants at High Chamber Pressures,” which would help fund the rocket laboratory. Zucrow was able to add additional laboratories from 1948 to 1965 and further expand the rocket and propulsion studies at the university.  

Not only was Hovde working on growing Purdue internally but he was also facilitating relationships between Purdue and his professional associates in DC while turning it into a place that could train graduates to take and thrive in defense-relevant fields. This was important because it further developed the reputation that Purdue could not only be wanted to work on military projects but their students still wanted to do so after graduation. These connections would bring Purdue graduates to jobs in Washington D.C. with a company called Analytics Services Inc. or ANSER. It was a non-profit child company of Rand Corporation, built close to Washington D.C. in order to respond quickly to Air Force demands and partnered with the US Military to consult on planned projects.⁷  ANSER worked with the United States Air Force, focusing on weapons systems and development. As a member of the Trustee Board, Hovde was able to advocate for the recruitment of Purdue graduate students to work for ANSER. Peter A. Cole, Vice President of ANSER, in 1961 went to Purdue to recruit Purdue Faculty and was joined by Mr. John Schlaefli, a recent Purdue graduate.⁸ The opportunity to recruit graduate students was also mentioned in order to help the company grow and adjust to the demands of the Air Force. 

Frederick L. Hovde was an influential force in Purdue University’s research development for military projects and expanded federal funding. He created global connections which helped increase funding and established Purdue University as an institution which could handle weapon development and rocket technology. He marketed Purdue as trustworthy and its students as capable workers which reinforced the rhetoric that the university would continue to facilitate a relationship with the federal government. Today many awards are named after Hovde and upon his retirement in 1971 the administration building was named after him (Past Purdue Presidents), ensconcing Hovde’s name as synonymous with effective university governance. 

1. For a detailed examination of Purdueu2019s involvement in rocket technology, see: Michael Smith, The Rocket Lab: Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and Americau2019s Race to Space (Purdue University Press, 2023). ↩︎
2. Hovde, Frederick L., Biographical Information, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. ↩︎
3. Walter H. Waggoner, u201cFrederick L. Hovde, 75, Former President of Purdueu201d The New York Times, March, 2, 1983, B7. ↩︎
4. Air Force Academy – Board of Visitors, 1960 – 1963, Box 21, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, West Lafayette, IN. ↩︎
5. About Us, Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, Purdue University, West Lafayette Indiana, 2024. ↩︎
6. Maurice Zucrow Interview With Robert Eckles (5 June 1970), 27, ASC, cited in Smith, 98. ↩︎
7. Report of Proceeding on Hearing Hold Before the Subcommittee on Military Operations of the Committee on Government Operations Systems Development and Management, August 13, 1962; Analytic Services Inc., 1962-1964, Box 23, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, West Lafayette, IN. ↩︎
8. Letter from Peter A. Cols to Frederick L. Hovde, September 22, 1961, Analytic Services Inc., 1960-1969,u00a0 Box 23, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, West Lafayette, IN.u00a0 ↩︎