John Norberg 
Wings of Their Dreams 
Purdue in Flight, Second Edition

Throughout 100-plus years of flight, Purdue University has propelled unique contributions from pioneer educators, aviators, and engineers who flew balloons into the stratosphere, barnstormed the countryside, helped break the sound barrier, and left footprints in lunar soil.
Wings of Their Dreams follows the flight plans and footsteps of aviation’s pioneers and trailblazers across the twentieth century, a path from Kitty Hawk to the Sea of Tranquility and beyond. The book reminds readers that the first and last men to land on the moon first trekked across the West Lafayette, Indiana, campus on their journeys into the heavens and history. This is the story of an aeronautic odyssey of imagination, science, engineering, technology, adventure, courage, danger, and promise. It is the story of the human spirit taking flight, entwined with Purdue’s legacy in aviation’s history.

Table of Content

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One: Charles Walker

Chapter Two: Loren Shriver

Chapter Three: Gary Payton

Chapter Four: Donald Williams

Chapter Five: Richard Covey

Chapter Six: Roy Bridges Jr.

Chapter Seven: Jerry Ross

Chapter Eight: Guy Gardner

Chapter Nine: Janice Voss

Chapter Ten: John Blaha

Chapter Eleven: John Casper

Chapter Twelve: Mark Brown

Chapter Thirteen: Michael Mc Culley

Chapter Fourteen: Gregory J. Harbaugh

Chapter Fifteen: David Wolf

Chapter Sixteen: Mary Ellen Weber

Chapter Seventeen: Mark Polansky

Chapter Eighteen: Andrew Feustel, Scott Tingle, Loral O’Hara, and Beth Moses

Notes

Index

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About the author

John Norberg is a writer, author, humorist, and chronicler of the human condition. Retired as director of communications for development at Purdue University, he began his humor column in 1971 while working at Indiana’s
Brazil Daily Times. The column appeared in the
Lafayette Journal and Courier from March 1973 to October 2014. He has received more than fifty state and national reporting awards. A nationally respected, award-winning speechwriter and public speaker, he also is the author of seven books, including
Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer, which details the story of astronaut Jerry Ross. Additionally, Norberg has written articles for various national publications, including the
Saturday Evening Post, USA Today, the
Christian Science Monitor, and
Time magazine. He was most recently honored with the prestigious Purdue University Special Boilermaker Award and was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame for a lifetime of work.