February 21, 2008
News View Article
Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to U.S. Steel Dean of Pitt's Swanson School of EngineeringGerald D. Holder honored by Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania with 2008 Metcalf Award
Gerald D. Holder, the U. S. Steel Dean of the University of
Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, was honored with the 2008
William Metcalf Award from the Engineers’ Society of Western
Pennsylvania (ESWP) for lifetime achievement in engineering. Holder
received the award at ESWP’s 124th Annual Banquet Feb. 20 at Heinz
Field. The banquet—which took place during National Engineers Week
(Feb. 17-23)— featured as keynote speaker Pennsylvania Governor Edward
G. Rendell and as special guest speaker Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan
Rooney.
Now in his 27th year at Pitt, Holder is a renowned
authority on gas hydrates, a potential energy source composed of gas
molecules trapped in hydrogen-bonded water molecules. Holder serves on
the Congressional Advisory Panel on Methane Hydrates, which advises
Congress on the potential future use of gas hydrates for energy. In
addition, Holder has served on more than 20 national panels and
committees for the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of
Energy, and the American Chemical Society, among others. He also has
worked for or consulted with several major corporations, including
ExxonMobil, General Motors, and Alcoa.
Since becoming the ninth
dean of Pitt’s engineering school in 1996, Holder has overseen a period
of unprecedented growth at the school in students, reputation, and
resources. In 1995, the Swanson School received less than 800 freshman
applications. In 2007, more than 2,200 freshmen applied with a record
35 percent of those applicants residing outside of Pennsylvania, a
reflection of the school’s growing national reputation. More than 450
freshmen enrolled this year, with a class average SAT score of 1312 and
with more than half of the students having graduated in the top 10
percent of their high school classes. In 1996, the average SAT score
was 1195 and only 32 percent of incoming engineering students were in
the top 10 percent of their graduating high school classes.
Also
during this time period, the school’s faculty members have gained
greater recognition for groundbreaking research. For example, last
year’s “Scientific American” 50—a ranking of the nation’s top
scientific researchers—included Michael Sacks and William Wagner of the
bioengineering department for their work in regenerating cardiovascular
tissue using biodegradable scaffolds. Anna Balazs, a chemical
engineering professor, recently published two articles in a single
month in “Science,” a prominent academic journal in which publishing
one article is a notable accomplishment. Also, Kent Harries, an
assistant professor in the civil and environmental engineering
department, is a widely cited expert on bridge construction and design
who was featured in scores of media reports around the world following
the collapse of the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis.
During
Holder’s tenure as dean, research grants awarded to engineering faculty
jumped from less than $20 million in 1996 to currently more than $55
million. Also, more research is leading to successful new technologies
and companies. In 2007, the Ligonier-based company Powercast beat out
more than 20,000 new products from around the world to win the “Best in
Show for Emerging Technology” at the International Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas. The company’s radio frequency power-harvesting
device is based on basic technology licensed from Pitt and developed by
Marlin Mickle, the Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor of electrical and
computer engineering and telecommunications and the executive director
of Pitt’s RFID [Radio Frequency Identification] Center of Excellence.
The
school also has generated unprecedented philanthropic support under
Holder’s leadership. Over the past decade, the school received more
than $90 million in outright cash support, compared to $18 million in
the previous decade. The school now has a $98 million endowment, up
from $48 million in 2000, and it has successfully met a $100 million
campaign goal, which has been expanded to a goal of $175 million.
The
school also was renamed the Swanson School of Engineering in December
2007 in recognition of the largest individual donation in the
University’s 220-year history. John A. Swanson, founder of
Canonsburg-based ANSYS, Inc., and a 1966 Pitt PhD engineering graduate,
received the honor in recognition of his more than $41.3 million in
support, all of which was committed during the course of Pitt’s current
$2 billion capital campaign.
Holder earned his PhD in chemical
engineering from the University of Michigan in 1976. That same year, he
joined the chemical engineering faculty at Columbia University. He left
Columbia for Pitt in 1979, and in 1987 he was appointed chair of the
Pitt engineering school’s chemical and petroleum engineering
department. In 1999, three years after Holder became the school’s dean,
U. S. Steel endowed a permanent chair for the dean of the engineering
school.
The Metcalf award, presented each year since 1963, takes
its name from ESWP founding member William Metcalf, a pioneer in steel
manufacturing. The award goes to an outstanding engineer in a field
normally associated with Western Pennsylvania, such as steel, aluminum,
coal, glass, or electrical equipment. A plaque recognizing the winners
of the Metcalf award hangs in the Pittsburgh Engineers’ Building at 337
Fourth Ave., Downtown.
Founded in 1880, the ESWP promotes
interaction throughout the technical community in Western Pennsylvania
to advance the professions of engineering, architecture, and applied
sciences through technical activities, public service participation,
and social organizations. It also supports the needs of industries,
communities, and government in Western Pennsylvania.
