|
|
|
The Best-Plus-One In many ways, Engineering First is an extension of the late dean Jerome Cohen's forceful personality and exacting standards. Those who knew him well report that he was always looking to move beyond the status quo, to make changes when needed and, much like the program, to home in quickly on the significant points. Cohen, the Frank C. Engelhart Professor of Material Sciences and Engineering, died last November of a heart attack. He had just completed 13 innovative years as dean of the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. At Cohen's funeral, Arnold Weber, former Northwestern president, mentioned tongue-in-cheek that the dean used guilt to leverage Weber's "penurious approach to salary-setting" into a $125 million renovation to the Technological Institute building. "Because we both grew up in New York City in the same generation, we were keenly aware of the powerful motive force of guilt, and, of course, Jerry won that argument," Weber said. On a serious note, he praised Cohen's deep commitment to recruit women and minorities for McCormick. "If Jerry himself was a representation of the traditional white male engineer, he was determined that the social landscape of the profession would change dramatically in the future," Weber said. Cohen's impact on his students was profound. Kevin Peters (GMcC97) wrote just after the professor's death that, had he not been detained for a medical examination, Cohen would have been with Peters in Grenoble, France, to perform one of the first measurements in the field of surface diffuse scattering (Cohen was a pioneer in bulk diffuse scattering). "It is often useful to note the birth of new children when a grandfather passes away," Peters wrote. "Perhaps the birth of this new field is the newest addition to Jerry's legacy." Current dean John Birge acknowledges he is deeply in Cohen's debt. "Engineering First was certainly one of the biggest components of his legacy," he said. "Jerry had the vision and the drive to push it through. ... We have a huge jump on other engineering schools because of him." "He made no small plans," says Stephen Carr, associate dean for undergraduate engineering, "and he always wanted to be the best-plus-one." — P.F. |
