Support from Initial Program Leaders

Each of these awarding organizations benefited significantly from active, insightful leadership during the period of establishing the Mentoring Award. Provided below are a few of the supportive ideas and comments garnered from the top leaders during this process.

The Mentoring Award program recognizes and honors diverse professionals in engineering and the applied sciences who, as exemplary mentors and advisors, have significantly and consistently supported the personal and professional development of others. In a university setting, these efforts will have included students and colleagues; in industry, government, or service organizations, they will have included a variety of less-experienced personnel.

Each award consists of an individually engraved, three-inch bronze medallion, a certificate of merit and a significant financial award. The universities and Tau Beta Pi each add their annual honorees to perpetual commemorative plaques. The annual Tau Beta Pi award includes a matching gift in the honoree's name to a university chapter of the society, and the Tau Beta Pi and ASME awards include travel stipends.

For additional information, each institutions' own web site and directory listings should prove helpful.

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President Richard Brodhead, Duke University

"The connection between faculty and student remains at the heart of our educational mission, and these awards speak to the importance of that relationship. Your gift strengthens Duke in providing recognition for outstanding teaching, research, mentoring, and advising.

"Recipients of the medallions for these awards will be our finest scholar-teachers."

Dean of Engineering Kristina Johnson, Duke University

"Your gifts enable the Pratt School of Engineering to recognize outstanding faculty contributions to undergraduate and graduate teaching, mentoring, advising and research... Just as important...is an affirmation to Duke's students that they are joining a professional community of distinction and commitment.

"For both his passion for engineering education and his focus on mentoring and advising undergraduate students, Dr. Michael Gustafson clearly personifies the spirit of the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising."

President William Brody, Johns Hopkins University

"Thank you for...the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising in the Whiting School of Engineering. This support will help provide well-deserved recognition of faculty who provide outstanding guidance to our Engineering students. I understand that you will also be providing award medallions to the recipients, and I am grateful for your thoughtfulness. This dedication to Hopkins helps keep this institution at the forefront of higher education and academic research."

Dean of Engineering Nick Jones, Johns Hopkins University

"Thank you so much for...the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising. The Whiting School is very fortunate to be able to recognize...the importance of mentoring our Engineering students.

"Generations of our engineering students stepped up to confront the many challenges of the twentieth century. Your timely support is an investment in our latest faculty and students who continue to discover and apply pioneering solutions to the contemporary issues before us. You are helping the Whiting School provide an engineering education with an edge – the edge necessary to meet the demands of the twenty-first century. I understand that you both will be coming to campus...for lunch with Lester Su before the Convocation. I hope to see you then, and once again, thank you for your commitment to Engineering at Johns Hopkins."

President Susan Hockfield, M I T

"Thank you so much for...the handsome medallion... I am delighted that you enjoyed the campus visit and that you welcomed the opportunity to become better acquainted with Tom [Magnanti, Dean of Engineering] and Phil [Clay, MIT Chancellor].

"I deeply appreciate...the Capers and Marion McDonald Award in the School of Engineering. Your commitment both to MIT and to the importance of mentoring in the educational experience is exemplary. I know that Tom Magnanti is especially...looking forward to selecting the first award recipient in June. Once again, I send my thanks...and my best wishes for continued success..."

Dean of Engineering Thomas Magnanti, M I T

"Bob [Cohen], ...this award is presented to a faculty member in the School of Engineering, who – through tireless efforts to engage minds, elevate spirits, and stimulate high quality work – has advanced the professional and personal development of students and colleagues...

"You have been characterized as a mentor par excellence. You have contributed widely to our engineering community. In addition to successfully advising and mentoring a large group of your own graduate students, you have mentored a decade of graduate students while serving as the department's Graduate Officer. You have advanced the professional and personal development of many more students and colleagues... across the Schools of Engineering and Science.

"You have earned much respect and recognition for your contributions to the profession, and to the greater community. We are proud to present you with this award for your many years of dedication and commitment to your students, to your colleagues, and to MIT."

President Drew Faust, Harvard University

”Although Harvard over the decades has tended not to trumpet its own work in engineering and technology, it’s clear that it has been home to some extraordinary leaders in that domain. We can only imagine what the future may hold, now that engineering will take the more visible and central seat at our University’s academic table that its importance demands.”

”Now and in the future, our faculty, students, and staff can look forward to pursuing the marvels of modern technology as members of a full-fledged school… We can foresee that our new school will, in decades to come, accomplish remarkable things in the realm of the utterly unforeseeable.”

”…Harvard engineering – Harvard’s new School of Engineering – is all about building bridges. Bridges that connect basic with applied science, and applied science with technology. Bridges that connect science and technology with questions of ethics, of public policy, of how societies progress and how people live and work in our new century. Bridges that connect our new school with an array of other Harvard professional schools – from business to medicine, from design to public health, and beyond. Bridges that connect the University to industry – and to an array of consequential challenges facing the larger world.

”Bridges that connect our faculty with our students, and that join the rigorous pursuit of new knowledge with the education – indeed the inspiration – of those who come here to learn. And who constitute the next generation of scholars and engineers.”

Also, ”Thank you very much for sharing a copy of the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising with me. Student mentoring is a vital teaching priority for Harvard ...delighted that you established this prize at SEAS."

Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti, Harvard University

"”I am delighted...to express my sincere gratitude for your generous gift to establish the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It is a meaningful and thoughtful way to honor faculty who not only contribute so much to the field of engineering, but also take on the critical role of guiding and mentoring our community – be it students, junior faculty, or colleagues.

”As you know... I will spend the next few years developing new SEAS curriculum, and working actively to engage Harvard College students in science and engineering through expanded course offerings. I also expect to work more closely with my graduate students and post-docs on nanostructure physics. I have always considered working with Harvard students a privilege, and I am excited that in the coming years I can place a greater personal focus on teaching and mentoring."

Executive Council President, Dr. Larry Simonson, P.E.; Tau Beta Pi

“On behalf of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, I want to express appreciation for establishing the Capers and Marion McDonald Award to recognize the importance of mentoring to the engineering profession in general and to our organization in particular.

"The awarding of the medallion at our national convention each year gives each member an opportunity to reflect upon the many mentoring experiences that have benefited them in their life journeys, both personal and professional. It also serves as a reminder that as each of us continues to be mentored, we also need to accept responsibility to continue the tradition by serving as mentors for current and future engineers.

"The impact of the McDonald Mentoring Award will positively influence the members of Tau Beta Pi forever.”

Executive Director James Froula, P.E.; Tau Beta Pi

"Capers, thank you very much for all of your vision and great support in establishing the new Mentoring Award, which we hope thrives during the millennium and the challenges that it brings."

"We appreciate very much your support of the program, and I thank you most kindly for the beautiful medallion symbolizing the award that is displayed proudly and prominently in my office to remind me of the job to do. I understand the importance of professional mentoring and am grateful that you have included Tau Beta Pi in your vision to recognize some of the world's outstanding mentors."

"Congratulations to this year's Tau Beta Pi - McDonald Mentor... His tireless efforts...inspire all of us."

President Sam Y. Zamrik, Ph.D.; A S M E

”American political scientist Herbert Simon once said: ‘The engineer is more inclined than others to look for how life ought to be.’ Our stake in the future, literally, is because we have the skills to build it. What are our highest aspirations for the future? ASME has been looking at its role as convener, the innovative networks among members, and our global partnerships.

”One of the key partnerships that connect ASME members to the needs of the world was featured at the Congress keynote in November [2007] when Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders, spoke on engineering for the developing world. His message for the future focused on the worldwide transition to a more holistic and sustainable approach to engineering.

”ASME's partnerships with global business expand networking opportunities for all ASME members. And we've made inroads this past year, through regional initiatives of key interest. For example, the Middle East [and] the Society's cooperative relationships and work efforts in China.

”Another important theme to our global perspective is diversity maturity. In its November [2007] workshop, ASME's Center for Leadership and Diversity explored this topic and how it impacts such key business areas as growth, performance excellence and corporate integrity. Last year, ASME reported on the diversity model for ASME, which challenged us to share a common vision and speak a common language. This is about working together on our vision and priorities to strengthen our profession and the leadership of ASME throughout the world. …about 15 percent [or approximately 18,000] of ASME members are from outside the United States.

”…it is clear that countries outside of the United States are an important source of membership for ASME and also constitute an important diversity component for our Society. Diversity can be looked at from the moral, legal, or equity points of view. As has been said by others, however, it is fundamentally important to recognize that a diverse engineering workforce brings more elegant engineering solutions that improve the quality of life. Ultimately, the case for diversity is made by its impact on the sustained growth of science and engineering. Effective management of diversity in an organization results in synergy that helps create productive working relationships in a pluralistic environment.

”In all these ways, ASME is trying to nurture its highest aspirations for a profession so full of promise. We do it by creating the kind of environment that opens communications, offers opportunities, and continues to look toward the future.”

Committee Chair John Baxter, FREng, FRSE; A S M E

”I am delighted to be the first Chairman for the ASME McDonald Mentoring Award Committee and look forward to seeing the first submissions for the award early next year. Throughout my career I have always taken a great interest in the development of young engineers, and in my current role as the senior engineer in BP and also as the immediate past president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers here in the UK, I have had some unique opportunities to mentor the next generation.

"Very best wishes to you and you wife in the future, and thank you again for sending me one of the medallions."

Sponsors Capers and Marion McDonald

"It was clearly my formative experiences that led to establishing this award program. Times enjoyed with a few great mentors instilled in me a keen sense of just how important these relationships are.

"Most often early in our lives, I think, some of us have had outstanding learning experiences with important people. These may have been intellectual or emotional connections. They are always, however, personal and constructive – and clearly memorable. As I grew older and reflected upon those many times I was lucky to have had, I began to see a pattern. This helped me significantly in reaching out to others and trying to carry on their legacy of teaching and mentoring.

"My own outstanding mentors reflect, I think, that social learning is an experienced-based journey and a tutorial in the true sense. There were many of these outstanding people in my life, and, among others, they include the following:

"In the Carolinas: WalBern McDonald, my father and Personnel Director for the Georgetown Mill of International Paper Company; Rev. Mike Carmichael, minister for the church where I became and Eagle Scout; Prof. Howard Clark, my academic advisor and best friend in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Duke University.

"In New England: Dr. John Hall, superb medical professional and Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at Children's Hospital Boston.

"In Northern California: Bert Voorhees, my first great boss and General Manager of Becton Dickinson FACS Systems; Dr. Mack Fulwyler, Scientific Director of Becton Dickinson FACS Systems; Randy Blair, Senior Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton in San Francisco; Chuck Walker, President of HP Genenchem, joint venture of Hewlett-Packard and Genentech; Dr. Jurgen Vetter, German engineer and second President of Spectroscopy Imaging Systems Corporation (SISCO).

"In Maryland and New York: Sidney Knafel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BioReliance Corporation, for which we completed an IPO in 1997 (NASDAQ: BREL) and where I served as President and CEO for 12 years.

"I also have found that as organizations mature, they often enhance their development as excellent places to learn and grow professionally by openly celebrating the imporance of mentoring and advising, and, frequently, by putting in place formal programs supporting these activities.

"Marion and I now hope that – at least in a few places we have been – through these awards, each organization can better recognize and celebrate the contributions of the excellent mentors and advisors in their midst."

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PAGE IMAGES:

Top Row: (L) Award program medallion, obverse. (C1) MIT President Susan Hockfield with students. (C2) Award medallion on full-length Tau Beta Pi neck ribbon. (R) Duke Dean of Engineering Kristina Johnson with Capers McDonald.

Sidebar: All leaders pictured, in order of list, "Support from Initial Program Leaders" of this page. Additionally, ASME section shows eMentoring communications room and ASME Engineering Without Borders (EWB) field project participants.

McDonald images include Capers and Marion McDonald; also, Capers walking with his father and earliest mentor, WalBern McDonald, on a South Carolina beach in 1980; with Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal, in Scotland in 2000; and with members of a Johns Hopkins MBA Fellows consulting project team and their client, U. S. Baseball Hall of Fame "Iron Man" Cal Ripken, in 2007.

This Web site and all images it contains are being used for limited and noncommercial purposes, principally teaching and personal mentorship. Several ASME images © 2007 ASME International; several Duke images © 2006, 2007 Duke University; several Harvard images © 2007, 2008 The President and Fellows of Harvard College; several Johns Hopkins images © 2005-2008 The Johns Hopkins University; several MIT images © 2006, 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and several Tau Beta Pi images © 2006, 2007 The Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc. McDonald Mentoring Award medallion art © 2005 Capers W. McDonald.

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