ARLINGTON, Va., March 28, 2002 – Engineer Eli Fromm of Drexel University has received the first Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering.

Fromm, the Roy A. Brothers University Professor and director of the Center for Educational Research at Drexel, received the inaugural award for implementing revolutionary ideas that are showing dramatic results in student retention and minority involvement in engineering studies.

Noticing that more and more students were dropping out of engineering programs, Fromm felt that a major cultural change was needed in undergraduate education. He recruited faculty members from science and the humanities in an experiment to teach other disciplines side-by-side with engineering in a more hands-on laboratory atmosphere.

Fromm’s new program began at Drexel in 1987, then expanded to seven other academic institutions. Pieces of the curriculum are working their way into engineering school accreditation criteria. Participating schools have had an 86 percent increase in the retention of freshmen. The number of engineering degrees has shot up among woman by 46 percent, Hispanics by 65 percent, and African-Americans by 118 percent.

The Gordon Prize is named after Bernard M. Gordon, who created the world's first commercial digital computer and is best known for developing high-speed analog-to-digital capabilities that are found in a vast array of today's technologies. The prize recognizes inventiveness in engineering and technology education, and will be awarded every two years.

The Gordon Prize is underwritten through a gift of stock from the Gordon Foundation to the NAE. It carries a gold medallion and a cash award of $500,000 divided equally between the recipient and the recipient's institution.

Contact:
Mark Bowman
(703) 528-2430

More information from the NAE