Education: Purdue's Rocket Man

After six months of sifting through 150 candidates, Purdue University last week picked the nation's expert of experts on rocket bombs as its new president.

Hustling, 37-year-old Frederick L. Hovde first caught Purdue's eye as the slight (155 Ibs.), swift Minnesota quarterback who slid through the holes made by grid-great Bronko Nagurski, to become the Big Ten's top scorer in 1928. He went on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, became the third American ever to make the Rugby varsity. There he caught the eye of Alan Valentine, his predecessor as U.S. man on...