RPI will announce a gift of nearly $6.5 million from Carol and Robert Weissman to support science and engineering students. The gift will be turned into an endowed scholarship for undergraduates, in addition to a fellowship for graduate students in science and engineering.
Robert Weissman, a retired business executive living in Florida, first heard about the Institute through Thomas Friedman’s column in The New York Times. In the column, Friedman quoted President Shirley Ann Jackson in reference to the “Quiet Crisis,” Jackson’s description of the aging workforce in science and technology, and the lack of students working to fill the gap.
With his interest piqued by Jackson’s comments in Friedman’s column, Weissman accepted an invitation to visit the Troy campus, and decided he wanted to be a part of what RPI is trying to accomplish. “I was very impressed with the faculty, students, and campus leadership I met and all that I learned was happening there,” he said in an RPI press release.
The couple has, in addition to the scholarship and fellowship support, included the Institute in their estate plans, all of which support the $1.4 billion capital campaign led by Jackson as part of her Renaissance at Rensselaer.
The first graduate student to be granted with the Weissman Fellowship is first-year graduate student Peter Palomaki. Palomaki is part of RPI’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, focusing in chemical applications for alternative energy.
“Part of what the fellowship will allow me to do is dive right into research next semester,” said Palomaki. “I am very grateful to the Weissmans for this generous fellowship and I look forward to the chance to meet them and thank them in person.”
A celebration will soon be held to announce the Weissman’s gift. The event will also include the unveiling of an honorary plaque to be erected on the campus, as well as a presentation of the Alis Aquilae Medal, which is awarded to donors who have contributed gifts of one million dollars or more to the Renaissance at Rensselaer.
