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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.— Purdue Libraries will use a $2 million grant to help preserve the papers and archives of astronauts who graduated from the university, including Neil Armstrong.

The grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation will endow an archivist for the Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan archives and special collections at the university. Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon, and Cernan was the most recent to do so, in 1972.

Purdue also houses a collection of artifacts related to aviator Amelia Earhart, another Purdue graduate.

Purdue Libraries Dean James Mullins says the new endowed position will allow an archivist to work full time to build Purdue's flight history collection.