By: Eli Freund, Director of Communications, UConn School of Engineering

After postponing the 2021 induction ceremony for the University of Connecticut Academy of Distinguished Engineers because of the rise of COVID-19 cases, UConn Engineering celebrated the Academy Class of 2021 in a ceremony in the Student Union Ballroom on May 12.

The 10 inductees for the Academy Class of 2021 come from a variety of impressive backgrounds, including a former economic and technology policy advisor in the Obama Administration, a retired senior executive at ExxonMobil, and the COO of the San Jose Water Company.

Like previous induction ceremonies, the night was filled with stories of perseverance, great times at UConn, and family legacies.

One of those family legacies belonged to Andrew Gere ’92, COO of San Jose Water Company, who’s daughter is currently a student at UConn.

“I’m proud to say that my daughter is here tonight and is a student here at the University of Connecticut in Environmental Studies, with a focus in sustainability, and I hope one day she’ll end up with a career in water.”

Dipayan P. Ghosh ’10, Co-Director of the Digital Platforms & Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, reminisced on a near-failure that turned into a great memory. 

“The one memory that stands out the most is this test we were studying for in our signals and systems class, and we were just dreading it. Four of us were up all night in my dorm room, and I literally didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. We get to the exam, and the TA that’s supposed to be proctoring doesn’t even show up. We’re sitting there for half an hour and then Professor Peter Willett comes in and said the exam was cancelled because the TA overslept. Thank you Professor Willett for cancelling that exam, I definitely would have failed it.”

The bios of all of our inductees can be found by clicking here. For more information on this year’s ceremony and the Academy in general, please click here.