The three founders of the Gordon Institute of the Tufts School of Engineering have been awarded the United States National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) $500,000 Bernard Gordon Prize.
Professor Arthur Winston, current program director of the Gordon Institute [TGI], and influential former lecturers Harold Goldberg and Jerome Levy will split half of the award.
"We were all extremely enthusiastic when we created and developed the institute," Winston said. "Winning the award further attests to our belief in what we are doing." The other half of the prize will go to the School of Engineering. "It is perhaps the most prestigious and visible award for engineering education in the country and it is a real honor for the School of Engineering to have Tufts' Gordon Institute recognized in this way," Dean of Engineering Linda Abriola said.
"Our plans are that the awarded money will be used to strengthen the curriculum and infrastructure of [the Gordon Institute]," she said.
While now an integral part of Tufts, the Gordon Institute was not always part of the university. With funding and other help from Bernard M. Gordon (H '92), it was founded in 1984 in Wakefield, Mass. to assimilate technically-trained people into the business world as leaders. It became affiliated with Tufts in 1992. Winston, Goldberg, and Levy each helped found the institute.
Abriola said that the award will improve the already stellar reputation of the institute.
"We expect that the publicity surrounding this award will help to increase the visibility of TGI and its programs," she said.
The Bernard M. Gordon Prize was inaugurated in 2001 by the NAE "to recognize new modalities and experiments in education that develop effective engineering leaders," according to the NAE's Web site. The winner of the prize is selected by a panel of members of the NAE.
To apply, the founders of the Gordon Institute needed to submit the goals of the institute, references from those involved, and evidence of development. Their credentials also had to be validated by University President Lawrence Bacow.
"One of the factors that set in my own mind the Winston, Goldberg and Levy nomination apart from others was the tremendous student feedback we received about the quality and the value of their program," University of California, San Diego Professor Frieder Seible, chair of the 2007 Selection Committee, said
Although the prize and the institute share the same name, Winston said the connection did not cause the institute to receive the award.
"[The Gordon Institute] would have received the award regardless of the name," he said.
Seible agreed. "Members with a potential conflict excuse themselves from the voting. This has been the case for example with Bernie Gordon himself where he did not participate in any of the votes this year," he said.
Bernard Gordon is notable on the Tufts campus for more than the prize and the institute. Appointed to the Tufts Board of Trustees in 1996, he currently serves on the Committee for University Advancement, the Audit Committee, and the Board of Overseers for the School of Engineering.
In all, he has donated over $35 million to Tufts - most recently for Sophia Gordon Hall, named after his wife.
