Engineering Hall Named After Astronaut

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Neil Armstrong usually shuns attention, but on Saturday he made a rare public appearance at his alma mater, Purdue University.<br/><br/>The first person to step on the moon

Saturday, October 27th 2007, 3:24 pm

By: News On 6

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Neil Armstrong usually shuns attention, but on Saturday he made a rare public appearance at his alma mater, Purdue University.

The first person to step on the moon spoke at the dedication of a new engineering building named for him.

In his brief speech, he told a crowd outside the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering that the faculty, not the building's name will make it valuable to students.

Neil Armstrong graduated from Purdue in 1955 with a degree in aeronautical engineering.

Sixteen of Purdue's 22 graduates who became astronauts attended the dedication, including Gene Cernan. He was the last man to walk on the moon, during the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972.

Armstrong has generally kept a low profile since his famous Apollo 11 moonwalk in July of 1969.