Robert Bruce Stewart (HDR M’68), known as R.B., joined the Purdue University staff as controller in 1925. At that time, Purdue enrolled 3,000 students, the physical plant was worth $3 million, and the endowment totaled $340,000.

Stewart, who went on to become the university’s first vice president and treasurer, is credited by many with influencing the character and growth of Purdue University. He spent 36 years building the university both fiscally and physically.

By the time Stewart retired in 1961, enrollment soared to 22,000, the physical plant was valued at $160 million, and yields from a $25 million endowment were producing funds for research, scholarships, and grants. He developed the university’s first fiscal management system, which many of the nation’s colleges and universities then adopted.

Stewart and his wife, Lillian, purchased a 40-acre tract located west of the main campus from the McCormick family for $5,000 in 1932. Upon this wooded acreage, they built their English Tudor cottage, Westwood.

Lillian Stewart was instrumental in the founding of the Lafayette YWCA, instituting the Lafayette unit of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, establishing the Sycamore Valley Girl Scout camp on Wildcat Creek, and creating a local mental-health center.

The Stewarts did a considerable amount of entertaining at Westwood. During one staff picnic, the Purdue Memorial Union sent student worker Nelson Parkhurst (A’38, MS EDU’43) to help out. Parkhurst impressed Lillian, and she invited him to live at Westwood. Parkhurst, who later served as university registrar from 1956 to 1980, was the first of 26 students to live in the house.

Student residents were not required to pay rent but were expected to furnish their own food and to assist the Stewarts with light household chores and serve guests during dinner parties. Occasionally, they attended campus and community events with Lillian when R.B. was traveling for business. Once Stewart retired from the university, the couple wintered in Florida and the students maintained the house and property during the colder months. 

“It was a compliment that they considered us responsible enough to live in their home and care for it while they were away,” says Ron Seymour (T’66), one of the last students to live at Westwood.

Seymour roomed with Joel Barnes (LA’65, MS LA’67, PhD LA’72)—the longest tenured student resident (1961–71)—in the basement of the house. Stewart kept an office downstairs, even after retirement. Some nights, he would be at his desk working alongside the students as they studied. Like all college students, they had some fun, too.

“When the Stewarts were away in Florida, I would buy some beer to drink after finishing my studies,” Seymour says. “Before I went to bed, I’d just put the bottle on my desk and leave it there until the pile got large enough that I figured I ought to deal with it. Once, Dr. Stewart came home unexpectedly and found about half a dozen beer bottles on my desk. He looked at the desk and looked at me and said, ‘You know, Mrs. Stewart would not approve of that.’ I never did it again.”

During formal events, Seymour and Barnes wore uniforms provided by Lillian Stewart—a white dress jacket with black bow tie, black pants, black shoes, and black socks.

“Mrs. Stewart was very particular about that,” Barnes says. “We knew we were privileged to live there. We just did whatever they asked us to do.”

He describes R.B. Stewart as commanding and charismatic. “The first thing you notice about Dr. Stewart was how tall he was. He had a booming, deep voice, like he was speaking into a microphone. He had a very commanding presence and attracted a crowd wherever he went. He was extremely well-liked across campus.”

In 1971, the Stewarts donated Westwood to the university to serve as the official president’s residence. Barnes was still living at Westwood when the university took possession of it in June 1971. He was beginning to move his things out when the campus police pulled up on the circular drive.  

“The policemen wanted to know who I was and what I was doing there,” Barnes says. “Once I explained the situation, they let me get the rest of my clothes. I just barely made the deadline.”

Barnes stayed in contact with the Stewarts after they moved to Florida permanently. He also met Parkhurst through the Stewarts and stayed in touch with him until his death in 2011. But it’s the friendship he and Seymour developed that became the most valuable experience from their time living at Westwood. The friends and former roommates revisited the home together about two years ago and marveled at how much it had changed.

“When I was packing up my stuff on that final day, I was a bit nostalgic because it felt like the end of an era,” Barnes says. “But I wasn’t sad because I was moving toward my future. And I knew there was going to be a new future for the house, too.”

In 1972, Purdue renamed the Memorial Center—one of the many facilities Stewart helped build—as Stewart Center in recognition of the indelible mark he left on the university.

Prior to building Westwood, the Stewarts lived at 903 North Fifth Street, now home to the Native American Educational and Cultural Center.

Presidents Edward Elliott (HDR E’47) and Frederick Hovde (HDR E’75) lived in a university-owned house at 515 South Seventh Street in Lafayette. Amelia Earhart met with Elliott at the Seventh Street house in 1935.

Prior to Elliott’s arrival, President Winthrop Stone lived in his own home at 146 North Grant Street.

Arthur Hansen (1971–82)

By September 1971, Purdue’s eighth president, Arthur Hansen (ECE’46, MS S’48, HDR E’70) was living at Westwood “in the midst of repairing, painting, cleaning, and carpeting activities,” according to the Board of Trustees minutes.

When Hansen remarried in July 1972, the Trustees determined the Westwood estate could not accommodate the university president and his wife, Nancy. The Hansens relocated to the Seventh Street house while Westwood was remodeled.

A two-story addition and basement on the south side of the house was added—including the creation of a cozy recreation room in the basement. An updated catering and facilities area was designed to accommodate 75 to 100 guests. The Hansens also kept a large saltwater fish tank in the living room.

Steven Beering (1983–2000)

As president and first lady, Steven (HDR S’00) and Jane (HDR HHS’00) Beering ushered in a new era of entertaining at Westwood. The Beerings welcomed approximately 3,000 guests a year and began a tradition of hosting annual fall receptions for new faculty and staff.

In March 1995, the Beerings relocated to the Purdue Memorial Union during a yearlong major renovation that doubled the size of the living room, added the octagonal four-seasons garden room, installed accessible bathrooms and an elevator, and transformed the house into its current footprint.

An avid photographer, Jane often took pictures of Westwood guests during their visit and mailed them prints along with a personal note.

Top image: Steven and Jane Beering greet guests at the front door of Westwood. The Beerings welcomed an estimated 60,000 guests over 17 years. (Purdue University)

Bottom: Westwood’s most extensive renovations took place 1995–96 when the garden room was added. It was later rededicated as the Beering Room in 2015. Prior to the construction of the garden room, the Beerings used a year-round tent constructed over the lawn that was cooled in the summer and heated in the winter. (Purdue Archives and Special Collections)

Martin Jischke (2000–07)

Prior to coming to Purdue, Martin Jischke (HDR E’07) was president of Iowa State University for nine years. There, the Jischke family lived in the Knoll, a presidential home located in the center of campus. After moving to Westwood’s 17 rolling acres on the edge of campus, the Jischkes embraced the idyllic country setting.  

An environmentalist and nature lover, Patty Jischke (HDR’07) planted both flower and vegetable gardens on the grounds. She also instituted the Westwood Competition, a semiannual juried art contest for art and design students whose work was displayed throughout the home.

The Jischkes amped up Westwood’s entertainment schedule, hosting 100 events within their first 150 days on campus.

France Córdova (2007–12)

Purdue’s first woman president, France Córdova (HDR S’12), and her husband, Chris Foster, moved in just in time to host Purdue’s astronaut alumni during a reunion held October 27, 2007.

Since arriving on campus the previous July, the couple had lived in temporary housing while the university renovated the 17,300-square-foot Westwood Manor. During this phase of renovation, equipment in the catering and events area was upgraded—including the installation of a walk-in cooler—repair and maintenance was completed on the building’s exterior, worn carpeting was replaced, and the interior was repainted.

Córdova, a fitness buff, had exercise equipment installed in the basement.

Mitch Daniels
(2013–22)

Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. became president of Purdue University in January 2013 at the conclusion of his second term as governor of Indiana.

Preferring to entertain earlier in the day, Daniels hosted more brunches than dinners at Westwood during his decade as president.

He also taught an Honors College course on the history of World War I for a few semesters. The group met biweekly in a classroom space set up in the basement of Westwood specifically for that purpose.

In 2014, Daniels introduced the President’s Colloquia, a series of events featuring faculty lectures and receptions at Westwood.

Top image: Faculty gather in the garden room for the first President’s Colloquium held September 23, 2014.

Bottom: Carla Ceteza (LA’16) talks to Daniels about her digital print during a 2014 student artwork reception. (John Underwood)

Mung Chiang, Purdue’s 13th President

Mung Chiang, the Roscoe H. Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, began his term as the 13th president of Purdue University on January 1, 2023.

He and First Lady Kei Hui are the first couple to live in Westwood with young children. As first lady, Hui frequently meets with university leaders to better understand how to advocate for the Purdue community’s needs.

The first lady’s team works to advance Hui’s mission to enhance alumni engagement, foster local community collaboration, and serve as an advocate for children’s well-being, preventive health care, and opportunities to support all Purdue families.

In April 2023, First Lady Hui and President Chiang hosted two Easter egg hunts at Westwood for faculty and staff families with young children. One hundred Boilermaker families took part in the egg hunts as well as activities that included arts and crafts, face painting, and photographs.