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Waltmann Award

Applicants for this cash award must be fifth or sixth-semester history majors, active in Phi Alpha Theta, and are considered on their overall performance as students, with special attention to their historical studies.  The award is to be used during the recipient's senior year.  This award is given in honor of Professor Henry G. Waltmann , who was a faculty member in the Department of History from 1962 until his death in 1978.

Memorial Resolution for Henry George Waltmann
1933-1978 

Henry George Waltmann, born in Cedar Falls, Iowa on May 1, 1933, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wartburg College in 1957, a Master of Arts degree in 1959, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1962 from the University of Nebraska.  In September 1962, Henry Waltmann came to Purdue University as an Assistant Professor of History.  During his years of service at Purdue, he taught a variety of courses, but his favorites were the History of the United States and the National Period in America.  A well trained historian, he practiced his profession with great dedication and exceptional intellectual integrity.  Voluminous and judicious reading was habit with him; he was always abreast the new developments in his field.  As a teacher, he scored a solid success by thorough command of the material, sound organization and lucid presentation.  He was always ready to carry his share of the load or more -- whether in the form of administrative duties, committee assignments, participation in staff policy decisions, or instructional work. 

During his years at Purdue, he wrote two book-length reports for the National Park Service.  They were published by the Smithsonian Institution as Pioneer Farming in Indiana: Thomas Lincoln's Field; Patch and Orchard Crops; Livestock and Poultry in Frontier Indiana: Developments on Thomas Lincoln's Farm, 1816-1830.  He edited History of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the Lutheran Church in America, and two volumes (with three of his department colleagues) of readings in American history.  In addition, he published articles in "Arizona and the West" and "Journal of Presbyterian History."  during his last illness, he had an article accepted by the "Indiana Magazine of History." 

Professor Waltmann was a member of the American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, Western History Association, Indiana Historical Society, Society of Indiana Archivists, and Indiana Religious History (serving on the Board of Directors of the latter organization). 

Professor Waltmann served his community and nation well.  He was a veteran of the Korean conflict, a faculty advisor of the Purdue Lutheran Student Association, and the Purdue Lutheran Movement, the archivist of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the Lutheran Church in America, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio. 

A quiet, trustworthy, loyal, and considerate man, Henry Waltmann wore well with his colleagues.  He set strict standards of performance, first for himself, and then for his students.  The respect he engendered among his students is shown by the establishment of the "Henry G. Waltmann Award" to deserving undergraduate students in history by the Nu Omega chapter of Phi Alpha Theta.