School of Engineering Infinite Mile Awards

Congratulations to the 2004 recipients.

WELCOME BY DEAN THOMAS L. MAGNANTI:

Hello, I am Tom Magnanti and as Dean it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the fourth annual School of Engineering Infinite Mile Awards Ceremony.

First, I would like to thank each member of the Dean’s Office who helped organize this marvelous event: Catherine Avril, Lisa Bleheen, Lauren Clark, Mary Anne Gowen, Marielle Risse, Brian Tavares, and Sandy Tenorio, with special thanks to Donna Harding for coordinating the effort and keeping the team on track.

I also want to thank the former Infinite Mile Award winners who served on the selection committee, which was convened this year by Sheila Kanode. They are Kim Bond Schaefer, Dick Fenner, Ping Lee, and Karin Janson-Strasswimmer. Thank you!

This wonderful event is billed as our Infinite Mile Awards Ceremony, but I prefer to think of it as a Festival. According to the dictionary, a festival is an occasion devoted to joyous community observances held annually to celebrate the harvest of an important product. As many of you know, for the last four years we have gathered in this room, at this time of year, for the same purpose. We have music, present awards, and serve refreshments (including delicious cake) â€“ sounds pretty festive to me. But more to the point, we are here to celebrate a very important product, namely, the extraordinary efforts of the School’s staff.

So I welcome you to the joyous occasion of the School’s fourth annual Infinite Mile Awards Festival. The joy comes from recognizing the outstanding individuals you will soon hear about and it comes from our deep gratitude to those of you who took the time to so eloquently praise the contributions of your co-workers. The Institute is a very busy place, as we all know, and it is gratifying to see so many of you belie the familiar adage that MIT is a no-praise zone.

Pearl S. Buck might have captured the nature of today’s festivities much better than I when she wrote, “The secret of joy in work is contained in one word â€“ excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.” As I think you will agree, each one of our award winners today has learned the secret of joy in work.