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Knaus, Howard Ralph

 Person

Dates

  • Usage: October 31, 1916 - June 6, 2011

Biography

Howard Knaus was born in Concordia, Kansas to Karl Knaus and Inez (Savage) Knaus. His father, Karl Knaus, was a county agent for the Purdue University Agricultural Extension. Knaus graduated from West Lafayette High School in 1934. He attended Purdue University and graduated with a Bachelor of Agriculture degree in Poultry in 1939.

Knaus returned to Purdue University in 1947 as an assistant in the Agricultural Extension Service Department of Short Courses and Exhibits and was later promoted to associate professor. In this role, Knaus served as a photographer and film specialist for the department. Knaus was responsible for taking pictures of Agricultural Extension activities, creating visual aids for Agricultural Extension teaching, providing visual aid instructions and creating films for the Agricultural Extension.

Knaus filmed and photographed the practices and games for the Purdue basketball and football teams for the athletic department. He also helped film and photograph the Purdue Bands and Glee Club.

In 1969, Knaus joined the Purdue Audio-Visual center as a production coordinator while still working at the Agricultural Extension Service as an associate professor in the department of Visual Aids. While working at the Purdue Audio-Visual Center, Knaus assisted in creating the Purdue Newsreels. He married Eleanor Smith in 1939 and, following her death in 1981, remarried Elnora “De Dee” (Navarre) Mabb in 1983.

Citation:
Purdue University Bulletin 1958-1969 Extension Annual Report 1948-1953 The Purdue Exponent, 16 May 1935 The Purdue Exponent, 19 May 1939 Purdue Agriculturist, Volume 34, Number 2, 1 November 1939 The Purdue Exponent, 3 December 1947 Purdue Agriculturist, Volume 39, Number 6, 1 April 1948 The Purdue Exponent, 13 April 1972 The Purdue Exponent, 4 April 1978 Purdue Alumnus, Volume 67, Number 9, 1 February 1980

Hippensteel Funeral Service. (n.d.). Howard Knaus obituary. Retrieved December 11, 2025, from https://www.hippensteelfuneralservice.com/obituaries/Howard-Knaus?obId=24208592