School of Engineering Infinite Mile Awards

Congratulations to the 2003 recipients.

WELCOME BY DEAN THOMAS L. MAGNANTI:

Hello. I am Tom Magnanti, and as Dean I am delighted to welcome you to the 3rd annual School of Engineering Infinite Mile Awards ceremony. For reasons that will become apparent throughout this ceremony, this event is one of the highlights of the year for me and I hope it will be for you as well.

Indeed, it is wonderful to see so many of you here today to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues. Past award winners tell us that one of the most rewarding aspects of receiving an Infinite Mile Award is this event, which certainly provides an opportunity for members of the SoE community to come together to gain an understanding and appreciation of one another’s contributions.

A committee of former Infinite Mile Award winners selected this year’s award winners. The committee members were Deborah Blanchard, Eileen Ng-Ghavidel, Jonathan Griffith and Marie Stuppard. Please join me in thanking them.

I would also like to thank the Dean’s Office staff, who all contribute to the success of this gratifying event. There has been a buzz about this event in the Dean’s office for days.

A bit of statistics.

Today, we will be presenting awards to fifteen individuals who collectively have contributed over 200 years of excellence to MIT. Just our 7 Sustained Excellence award winners, each with 15 plus years of service, have a combined total of 157 years of MIT experience! By the close of today’s event we will have presented 50 School-based IMA awards to recipients who have collectively contributed over 870 years of excellent service to MIT! By next year we will reach 1000 years of MIT experience. Starts to sound like me! This longevity is a remarkable testimony to the quality of the MIT environment and especially the School of Engineering. MIT is an exciting and challenging place to work, but as these events aptly demonstrate, we are also a vibrant and a caring community. With our fifteen award winners today, we celebrate remarkable accomplishments by some simply outstanding individuals and teams.

But today we also celebrate everyone in the School of Engineering. You are a remarkable group!

We extend special thanks to those of you who took the time to submit nominations for your colleagues.

The School of Engineering owes its international reputation for excellence to the contributions all of you make.

Thank you for coming together to support this event and to support everyday, and in so many ways, the goals and aspirations of this simply wonderful institution.

ENJOY!