Scott Ksander’s Boilermaker story has come full circle, thanks to a facilities gift from him and his wife, Peggy.

Scott (S’74) arrived at Purdue in 1970, eager to study computer science along-side experts in the field. “I knew my professors had authored the books for my classes, but I didn’t learn until years later that they wrote the books for everybody’s classes,” he says. “I
was fortunate to learn from many of the legends in my profession.”

As an undergraduate, Scott spent considerable time in the basement of the Mathematical Sciences Building, where he corrected programming mistakes in a small study area near the vending machines. “The coffee was terrible!” he recalls.

Peggy (LA’79) often visited the building with him, so Scott could keypunch cards, submit jobs, and retrieve output. “We stopped by not only during the day but often before and after dates,” he says.

 “Sometimes, the trip was the entire date!”

Now, the couple is paying it forward by funding a focus room for student study in the new Hall of Data Science and AI. “The opportunity to help current and future students pursue their interest in data science called out to us,” Scott says.

A former Purdue staff member as well, Scott began working for his alma mater in 1987, assisting with the development of the campus fiber-optic network. He retired from the university after serving 26 years in various leadership positions, both within the Computing Center and the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology.

The Ksanders reside in West Lafayette and recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. Loyal Boilermakers, they’re excited to provide Purdue students with a prime study location in a cutting-edge building—one near the vending machines, just like they enjoyed.

“We stopped by not only during the day but often before and after dates,” he says. “Sometimes, the trip was the entire date!”