Ninety years ago this summer, a little girl was born to Calvin and Ethel Boyer. They gave her the beautiful name of India - after India Schoaff, a good friend of the family. The Boyers raised their family in Perry Township. Ethel Boyer was destined to be a pioneer of sorts herself. She served as the first woman on the Perry Township Board of Education for over a decade, beginning in 1930.

India's two brothers, Ralph and Howard, both chose traditional male professions and were successful. Ralph graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in electrical and mechanical engineering. He subsequently became vice-president of The Cooper Bessemer Corporation. Howard chose metallurgy as his major at Ohio State. During the summer following his first year in college, he lost his leg in a farming accident. Howard did not return to college, but studied on his own, and ultimately became chief metallurgist for American Bosch Corporation in Springfield, Massachusetts.

With encouragement from her parents, and wonderful role models in her brothers, India set her sights on a career in architecture. After graduating as class valedictorian from Pemberton High School in 1925, she also selected Ohio State. India recalls that "I felt I was not quite ready for college at 18, so I chose to work in the office at the Sidney Machine Tool Company. I made $10 a week." She began classes a year later in the fall of 1926.

The university had just opened the Department of Architecture to women, and six enrolled. To her surprise, India found that military training was required. She refused to participate. "I saw no point in spending my time marching on the field with the male students. In my senior year, the requirement was eliminated! " The rigorous academic workload also eliminated the other female students. By the beginning of her second year, only she remained.