James Blakesley papers

James Flinn Blakesley was a 1950 Purdue graduate who spent most of his life as an employee and supporter of the University. He was born on August 4, 1924 in Los Angeles, CA to James and Ruth Webb Blakesley. In 1942 at the age of 18, he joined the Army Air Corps and was a pilot and commander of a B-24 at the age of 19. At the age of 21, he commanded a 1,000-man military base that was being deactivated. He married Rosemary Zufall on May 28, 1944 with whom he would have four daughters. Upon his discharge from the Army in 1947, Blakesley enrolled at Purdue as a 23-year-old Freshmen. After graduating in 1950 with a degree in mechanical engineering, Purdue President Fredrick Hovde hired Blakesley to determine the university's current and future space needs and to serve as executive secretary of a committee in charge of class scheduling. Upon his retirement in 1999, the Purdue Board of Trustees named him Director of Space Management and Academic Scheduling Emeritus upon the recommendation of President Steven Beering. He was credited with building Purdue's Space Management and Academic Scheduling office into one of the best in the nation, decades ahead of other universities in using computers not only for class scheduling but also in the assignment of space for classrooms, research laboratories, and office functions. He was also involved in fundraising and helped build the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall and the Class of 1950 Sculpture displayed in the building. Blakesley died in West Lafayette, IN on March 4, 2016 at the age of 91.