2005 Recipients
Marshall S. Levine '55
Marshall Levine, WPI takes great pride in your accomplishments in the invention of medical devices and the development of medical device companies.
A graduate of Classical High School, you earned your bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at WPI, where you were a captain in ROTC, leader of the ROTC Band, a tennis player, and a member of the Glee Club, Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, and the student chapter of ASME.
Upon graduation from WPI, your first jobs we re in production engineering and design engineering at Pratt & Whitney. You then worked in sales engineering and marketing consulting for other companies.
In 1970 you co-founded Geometric Data Corporation, a subsidiary of SmithKline, to market the HEMATAK instrument, for which you shared a patent with company co- founder Melvin Miller. This computerized microscope quadrupled the speed of differential blood tests, facilitating the detection of a variety of illnesses, particularly leukemia. You now hold 14 patents for medical devices.
In 1979 you founded and served as president of Thermal Data, a company you formed with Larry Katzman '69. Thermal Data developed the Residential Energy Computer to promote residential energy conservation. At about the same time, you and a friend co-founded the Institute for Human Development, a nonprofit organization that employs more than a hundred Philadelphia residents to recondition furnaces.
In 1987, after spending some time as a self-employed consultant, you took a break to complete a 10,000-mile sailing trip with four crew members on your 38- foot sloop 'Free Spirit.'
Since 1992 you have been chairman of Alpha Scientific Corporation, a manufacturer of medical instruments, including a blood dispensing device used in more than 1,500 hospitals in all 50 states. Company president is your son David; your son Daniel, who graduated from WPI in 1992, serves as vice president.
Marshall Levine, your initiative and mechanical engineering talent make you a credit to WPI. It is an honor to present you with the Robert H. Goddard Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
Philip G. Baker '65
Phil Baker, for more than 30 years your career has been a journey of intellectual curiosity, innovation, and leadership.
In 1965, after earning a bachelor's degree in physics from WPI, you received a National Science Foundation traineeship and scholarship from Yale University, where you earned an M.S. in engineering. You briefly considered teaching, but instead joined Polaroid Corporation, where you spent 16 years, earning more than 25 patents.
As a senior optical engineer you co-invented, with founder Edwin Land, a significant improvement to optical systems, and you collaborated with Ansel Adams on the development of new product concepts. As a principal design engineer you directed the development of products in the United States and Japan, while also teaching a management seminar in optics and earning an MBA from Northeastern University.
In 1983 you joined Atari Inc., where you developed consumer telephony products in the newly formed AtariTel division. Subsequently, as director of the video games division of Imagic Inc., you led a team that created 16 software titles for PCs and game machines.
When a venture capital/incubator group asked you to develop technology to produce color slides for presentations, you agreed, then co-founded Presentation Technologies Inc. to market ImageMaker and ImageMate; WPI was one of your first customers. You later played key roles in new product and market development, and created international manufacturing and business relationships for such firms as Seiko, Apple Computer, and Polycom.
In 1988, you co-founded Think Outside Inc. with Bob Olodort. The company's flagship product, the Stowaway Portable Keyboard handheld devices, became a million-seller in its first year and won nearly every major new product award. In 2001, you and Olodort received the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the consumer products category.
You have shared your knowledge as a guest lecturer on entrepreneurship and product development at several California universities. Now a consultant, you continue to serve on the board of directors at Think Outside and write the technology column for the San Diego Daily Transcript.
Phil Baker, for your innovative approaches to technical challenges, outstanding leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit, it is with great pleasure that WPI presents you with the Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
W. Todd Akin '70
Todd Akin, WPI commends you for your more than thirty years of dedicated public service to the people of Missouri and the nation.
Your bachelor of science in management led you to serve your country from 1970 to 1980 in the U. S. Army as a member of the Army Combat Engineers. Following your military service, you held management positions at IBM and at Laclede Steel.
In 1988 you were elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, where you served six terms and where you became the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. In 2000 you were elected to the U. S. House of Representatives to serve the Second District of Missouri. As a Congressman, you serve on the Armed Services Committee, the Science Committee, and the Small Business Committee. You currently chair the Small Business Subcommittee on the Workforce, Empowerment, and Government Programs.
While engaged in serving our nation, you are raising your six children with your wife, Lulli, and you've found time to be active in the Boy Scouts of America, a leader in your church, a former board member of Missouri Right to Life, and a member of the board of Mission Gate Prison Ministry. In 1984 you obtained your master of divinity degree from Covenant Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church of America.
You have received the Taxpayer's Friend Award from the National Taxpayers Union and the "Hero of the Taxpayer" award from Americans for Tax Reform. You've been recognized by the Small Business Survival Committee as a Champion of Small Business.
Todd Akin, WPI is proud to add to these accolades by presenting you with the Robert H. Goddard Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
Michael J. Dolan '75
Michael Dolan, you have served the petrochemical engineering industry with honor and distinction. Your career spans the globe, as does your impact on the industry. You are a renowned leader in the field and a source of great pride to your alma mater.
In addition to your bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, you earned an MBA from Drexel University in 1985. You have worked in the industry for your entire career, beginning in 1975 as a technical service engineer at UOP in Des Plaines, Illinois. Your career at UOP later included work in R&D and then as a field technical service engineer in refineries in this country and abroad.
You joined Mobil in Paulsboro, New Jersey, in 1980, working in the research labs on a variety of planning, research, and technical service positions. In 1989 you were named technical manager of Mobil's Refinery in Adelaide, Australia. You returned to New Jersey two years later to manage the chemical section of Mobil's central engineering company in Princeton.
In 1993 Mobil Chemical Company moved you to Houston in a progression of strategic planning and business management positions in the aromatics, olefins, and polyethylene business. In 1998 you were named vice president and general manager for petrochemicals in the Americas.
When Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, you became the Middle East and Africa regional director of ExxonMobil Chemical, located in Brussels. In 2001 you were named executive vice president for ExxonMobil Saudi Arabia. You returned to the United States in 2003 as deputy to the president of ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Company. Last year you were named president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company and vice president of the Exxon Mobil Corporation.
You have further served your industry as a past director of the American Plastics Council, the Society of Plastics Industries, and the American Chemistry Council. At your alma mater, you have been a valued member of the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board.
Michael Dolan, in gratitude for the leadership you exemplify and with great pride in the successes of your career, WPI presents you with the Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
Judith Nitsch '75
Judy Nitsch, you are one of WPI's most successful and honored graduates. You serve your alma mater and your fellow engineers as a role model and mentor. You are particularly effective in two arenas: practicing civil engineering and inspiring women to become engineers.
Your career has been phenomenal. Having earned your bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, you began work at Schofield Brothers, and for eight years you were the only woman engineer in the firm. Your rise was meteoric: after only three years, you were promoted to branch manager; when you passed the professional engineering exam, you became Schofield's first woman vice president; at age 26 you were a member of its board. In 1982 you joined Allen & Demurjian; by 1984 you were a stockholder. The firm was renamed Allen, Demurjian, Major & Nitsch.
In 1989 you seized the opportunity to start your own firm, Judith Nitsch Engineering Inc. (JNEI). Again, your hard work brought fame and success. In 1996 JNEI was named by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the county. Today JNEI is the largest civil engineering firm in New England owned by a woman. Your clients include Harvard University, the University of Virginia, the Central Artery Tunnel, the New England Aquarium, and Logan International Airport.
You have served your profession as president of both the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section of ASCE; in each case you were both the youngest president and the first woman p resident. The recipient of many young engineer awards, you've also received the American Society of Civil Engineering's Parcel- Sverdrup Engineering Management Award. Most recently, you received the Society of Women Engineers' 2004 Entrepreneur Award.
Your contributions to WPI are legion. In 1989 you were the first alumna to be elected to the WPI Board of Trustees, serving as alumni trustee until 1997 when you were elected trustee-at-large. Under your leadership as chair of the Physical Facilities Committee, WPI built the Campus Center, developed a Master Plan, and is now planning a new Recreational Center. In 2003 you agreed to chair an advisory board for the programs for women on campus. You continue to inspire not only WPI's women students, faculty, and staff, but the entire campus and the world of civil engineering.
Judy Nitsch, in recognition of your entrepreneurial abilities, your professional achievement, your leadership of your field and of your alma mater, and your work in bringing more women to engineering professions, we salute you. It is with great pride and gratitude that WPI presents you with the Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
Eric A. Hahn '80
Eric Hahn, you are an icon for the Information Age, a high-tech visionary, and a role model for WPI students and alumni who dream of changing the world of technology. Your career began at WPI, where you were one of a few early majors in the exciting new field of computer science.
Upon graduation, your career both mirrored and influenced the leading edge of the computer field. At Bolt, Beranek, and Newman you worked on the Arpanet, precursor to the Internet. As vice president and general manager of Convergent Technologies, you helped make Unix the most widely employed multi- user general purpose operating system in the world. You ran the cc:Mail division of Lotus, which developed commercial e-mail software for personal computers.
Your success grew. You founded and served as CEO for Collabra Software, a leading provider of software that helped business people work together. In 1995, Collabra caught the attention of the rapidly growing Netscape Communications, which bought your company. You then served as chief technical officer for Netscape, guiding the company's technical direction and long-range product strategy. In fact, you were the chief proponent of Netscape's open source strategy. You served Netscape as a member of its executive committee and as general manager of the company's Server Products Division.
In 1998, you founded Inventures Group, an early-stage venture firm in Palo Alto. After almost two decades as an entrepreneur, you began investing in, joining the boards of, and directing a small group of emerging companies. Your success is apparent in the list of increasingly well-known companies served by Inventures: Red Hat, Opsware, Good Technologies, and RemarQ. And you continue to push the technological envelope, having founded two new companies, Proofpoint and Lookout Software, that were subsequently acquired by Microsoft.
You truly are a leader in the computer field and the high-technology revolution. You have generously made certain that this fascinating history is preserved for the future, serving as a trustee and major supporter of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
You have supported your alma mater not only through your leadership, but also through your generous gifts of resources and time. WPI is particularly grateful for your assistance in establishing its Silicon Valley Project Center, securing opportunities for current and future students to experience the high-tech environment of Silicon Valley.
Eric Hahn, it is with great pride and pleasure that WPI presents you with the Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
Chartsiri Sophonpanich '80
Chart Sophonpanich, you are renowned internationally for your expertise, acumen, and leadership in banking. Your success brings pride and recognition to this university.
Following your graduation from WPI with a degree in chemical engineering, you went on to earn master's degrees in chemical engineering and management at MIT. After working for two years at Citibank, you joined Bangkok Bank Limited in 1986. In 1994 you were named president of BBL, where you have earned the respect of other bankers, business associates, and the citizenry of Thailand.
During the financial crisis of the late 1990s, when banks around the world were failing, you maintained direction and a steady hand, keeping BBL a Thai bank, succeeding where others were unable to do so. Your skill in resolving bad loans without the intervention of foreign banks, and your vision for combining traditional and new management concepts, kept Bangkok Bank in the forefront and earned you seven major awards from domestic and international institutions.
In 2001 you were named Banker of the Year by Money and Banking magazines, and in 2002 you were elected chairman of the Thai Bankers Association. You serve as a board member of Visa International, a member of the committee to oversee the Thai Asset Management Corporation, a director of Thai Airways International, and a member of the International Human Resources Development Foundation.
Chart Sophonpanich, it is with great pride that the Alumni Association of Worcester Polytechnic Institute presents you with the Robert H. Goddard Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.
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