[1] An agricultural chemist, he was responsible for securing Penn State's designation in 1863 as a land-grant institution under the Morrill Land Grant Act.

[4] After his mother remarried and his brother, Enoch, left for work in Ohio, Pugh decided to sell the family farm to an uncle and use the money earned ($2800) and his savings to travel to Europe.

In 1855, he enrolled at University of Göttingen for the spring term and studied advanced analytical, organic, and agricultural chemistry under the tutelage of Friedrich Wöhler.

After arriving in Paris, he became interested in the direct assimilation of free nitrogen in the air by plants due to a controversy between two French scientists.

In February 1859, Trustee Judge Frederick Watts contacted Pugh and offered him the position of president at the Farmers' High School, as well as a stipend for purchasing laboratory equipment to bring back from Europe.

Despite the numerous challenges faced by a fledgling college, especially with the Civil War disrupting its formative years, Pugh managed to establish Farmers' High School as a prominent leader in agricultural education and research.

His standard duties as president included teaching, advising the 69 enrolled students, acting as disciplinarian, answering letters from parents, ordering books, lobbying in Harrisburg for funding, writing public addresses to garner support, pacifying creditors, and calling meetings of the Trustees.

Pugh broke his arm and spent the summer and fall in local Philadelphia hospitals having treatments for improper setting of the limb.

[8] Rebecca never remarried, and only visited campus twice after his death: once to present the first graduating class at an alumni reunion with his portrait, and the second time to attend a semi-centennial celebration of Penn State's founding.