Strategic and collaborative partner in the development and crafting of executive communications, including speeches, $1M+ donor proposals, personalized correspondence, video scripts, articles for print and web, and other advancement communications in support of the Institute’s $1B capital campaign, Transformative: Campaign for Global Change.
Advancement communications speechwriter for the Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Vice President for Institute Advancement.
Prepared remarks for State of the Institute addresses, Transformative Campaign Events, VIP Donor Recognition Events, Reunion & Homecoming Events, Scholarship Galas, Society of Families Receptions, Rensselaer Greater New York, West Coast, and New England Executive Council Events, Accepted Students Receptions and Celebrations, Alumni Association Events, Dedication Ceremonies, and other special events.
Writing Sample #1
RENSSELAER RETURNS TO PHILADELPHIA: STATE OF THE INSTITUTE ADDRESS
Remarks by Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
I am delighted to join you here in Philadelphia at this beautiful and historic venue. The greater Philadelphia region is home to nearly 2,100 active alumni and alumnae, and 450 parents of current Rensselaer students. Across the region, these alumni, alumnae, and parents are working for some of the most innovative companies and organizations in the world, including Lockheed Martin; Merck; W.L. Gore and Associates; Boeing; Comcast; The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson; DuPont; Public Service Enterprise Group, or PSEG; The Dow Chemical Company; and Exelon Nuclear; to name but a few.
Just as Pennsylvania attracts many of our talented graduates—Rensselaer attracts some of the best and brightest students from Pennsylvania. For admission into this fall’s incoming Class of 2023, we received more than 700 applications from students from across the Commonwealth.
Indeed, demand for a Rensselaer education has never been higher. We had over 20,400 applications for a place in this year’s freshman class—the Class of 2022—which was a record, and five percent higher than the previous year’s record number.
We were able to select an extremely diverse and strong group of students. The Class of 2022 includes more women, international students, and underrepresented minorities than any class in our history. Such demand is not surprising given the quality of our academic programs:
- For nearly two decades, Rensselaer has been ranked nationally as a top 50 university by U.S. News and World Report;
- Forbes recently ranked Rensselaer 14th on its list of the nation’s best STEM colleges and universities.
- Importantly, our academic programs are very highly regarded. Our Information Technology and Web Sciences program has been ranked first in the nation by College Choice, among undergraduate programs at national colleges and universities;
- Our Master’s of Business Analytics has been ranked third by TFE Times;
- Our School of Engineering was recently ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today, and College Factual ranked eight of our engineering degree programs in the top 10 nationwide;
- Our undergraduate Physics program is ranked sixth by College Factual;
- Our Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences program is ranked sixth by TheBestSchools.org; and
- Our School of Architecture is ranked 13th by DesignIntelligence.
Our accomplishments under The Rensselaer Plan, and under the current Rensselaer Plan 2024, are the result of a 20- year investment in the development of the people, programs, platforms, and partnerships that ultimately have led to a comprehensive change in every aspect of the Institute
Undergirded by the paradigm of The New Polytechnic, we have transformed Rensselaer and made Rensselaer a transformative force in the world. The term polytechnic comes from the Greek—meaning “skilled in many arts.” As The New Polytechnic, we educate our students for deep knowledge in their chosen fields—but also for intellectual agility, multicultural sophistication, and a global view—in other words, for the kind of perspective that crosses borders, and that fosters creativity, innovation, empathy, and leadership.
We are able to do this because, as The New Polytechnic, Rensselaer serves as a great crossroads for collaborations across disciplines, sectors, geographies, and generations—collaborations animated by the most advanced tools and technologies—and focused on addressing the greatest of global challenges and opportunities. In sum, a strategic and ethical focus, collaboration, and advanced platforms define Rensselaer education and research today.
Rensselaer leads the way in areas of research that are of fundamental significance in the 21st century. Our focus is on five signature thrusts—crucial areas of multidisciplinary research based upon the growing interface of the basic sciences and engineering with the humanities, arts, social sciences, and design—that provide the basis for innovative solutions to today’s global challenges. These include:
- Human health and the prevention and mitigation of disease;
- Food, water, and energy security;
- Development of new sources of clean and renewable energy;
- The allocation of valuable natural resources;
- Establishing a sustainable and resilient national and international infrastructure;
- Bolstering national and global security; and
- Climate change.
Our first signature research thrust is in Biotechnology and the Life Sciences. Our research in this arena, combined with our expertise in big data and data analytics, has resulted, for example, in the first physiological test for autism, making earlier diagnosis possible.
By applying data analytics—based on levels of certain metabolites found in a blood sample, we can accurately predict whether a child is on the autism spectrum, and to some degree even where on the spectrum they land.
A subsequent breakthrough by Rensselaer researchers was reported last month in the publication Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. They now have successfully applied their big data approach to evaluating possible treatments for autism, and can compare data from before and after different treatments, and look for correlations between those results and any observed changes in adaptive behavior. This breakthrough will help to refine the development of interventional therapies and accelerate the assessment of their effectiveness.
Other breakthroughs by our scientists and engineers in Biotechnology and the Life Sciences include anti-bacterial coatings for medical devices, and bioengineered therapeutics—among them, special molecules—including a contamination-free form of the anticoagulant heparin, and specialized stem cells to aid in the treatment of diseases including Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis.
Our second signature thrust is in Computational Science and Engineering, where our focus is on artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing, neuromorphic and quantum computing, big data, and data analytics which are important in and of themselves, and also support research and innovation across a broad spectrum of disciplines.
Through our focus on Energy, the Environment, and Smart Systems, our third signature thrust, we are exploring renewable technologies, energy efficiency, and the understanding of global environmental change to preserve the health and biodiversity of the planet.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $3 million to Rensselaer for its carbon capture research geared toward the development of “novel and enabling carbon capture transformational technologies.”
Carbon capture is an important challenge at the intersection of energy, the environment, and sustainability. Rensselaer was one of only eight universities in the country to receive such funding. The funding will support the efforts of Chemical and Biological Engineering Associate Professor, and the Priti and Mukesh Chatter ’82 Career Development Chair, Miao Yu, whose work is focused on a new, cost-effective, and scalable approach to capturing carbon dioxide before it leaves coal-fired power plants, and enters the atmosphere.
Through our fourth signature thrust, focused on Media, the Arts, Science, and Technology, we are facilitating new approaches to networking, advanced simulation, sensor design, haptics, and multiscale modeling and simulation.
Last month, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering made $2.6 million in funding available for an interdisciplinary team of collaborators at Rensselaer—and those with ties to Rensselaer—to pioneer the use of virtual reality technologies to train and objectively evaluate aspiring colorectal surgeons—without putting patients at risk. On average, first-time surgeons need to conduct between 50 and 100 operations to achieve a level of proficiency in a surgical procedure.
The project is being led by principal investigator Professor Suvranu De, the J. Erik Jonsson ’22 Distinguished Professor of Engineering—who is Head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, Director of the Center for Modeling, Simulation, and Imaging for Medicine, and who has joint appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and in Information Technology and Web Science within the School of Science.
A highly multidisciplinary project involving engineering, haptics, computer graphics, artificial intelligence, surgery, and human factors, the virtual reality-based simulator, with both visual and tactile feedback, is a major advancement in medical education, standardized training, and objective performance evaluation.
In the future, the team will take this advance even further by creating the first Virtual Intelligent Preceptor—an intelligent cognitive agent that will help surgeons to learn critical technical skills.
Our fifth signature research thrust is focused on Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, which is leading to the development of robust, affordable, and sustainable methods for manufacturing new functional hybrid materials, and the hierarchical systems and products upon which they are based.
This past January, a team of Rensselaer researchers pioneered a new microfluidics-assisted technique for developing high-performance macroscopic graphene fibers—materials that are woven like typical fabrics, but that can integrate advanced functions such as energy storage and conversion, sensors, color change, and drug release, and that can respond to external stimuli.
This microfluidics-assisted technique has the potential to accelerate the development of wearable, smart clothing, taking full advantage of the outstanding electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of graphene. Historically, it has been difficult to simultaneously optimize the thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of graphene fibers, but the Rensselaer team has demonstrated their ability to achieve all three.
In support of these signature thrusts, since the launch of the Rensselaer Plan, we have invested over $750 million in creating state-of-the-art platforms for research, teaching, and student life, including 32 research centers, and numerous laboratories and maker spaces, as well as recreational, performance, and other
student-centered spaces.
student-centered spaces.
The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies contains world-class laboratories for molecular biology, analytical biochemistry, microbiology, imaging, histology, tissue and cell culture, proteomics, and scientific computing and visualization.
The Center for Computational Innovations houses one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world and the most powerful supercomputer at an American private university. The center is supporting research in a broad range of fields across the Institute, including advancing semiconductor technology by taking it to the nanoscale, and the modeling and simulation of complex systems—both physiological and biological.
The Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems is developing next-generation electronic and optical devices, manufacturing and robotics, integrated biomaterial devices, energy harvesting and storage, electric transmission and distribution, responsive and adaptive built environments, and nanostructured composite materials—advancing research that spans the range from fundamental discovery to systems-level assembly and manufacturing.
The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) is a beautifully designed, marvelously engineered, and technologically advanced masterpiece—for both performance and research. Here, researchers, artists, students, and visitors come together to inquire, experiment, develop, and experience the ever-changing relationship between our senses, technology, and the worlds we create around us. The linkage of EMPAC to the other centers I described is propelling Rensselaer to the scientific, engineering, and artistic frontiers of the 21st century
With the right people, programs, and platforms in place, our partnerships have grown substantially. Our research enterprise has grown from just $35 million in 1999 to over $105 million today, an increase of 176 percent.
We are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in both research and education, fostering collaborations that are stimulating the development of new technologies to radically improve the diagnosis and treatment of human disease.
Through the Rensselaer Institute for Data Exploration and Applications, also known as IDEA, and in partnership with IBM, we have created the Center for Health Empowerment by Analytics, Learning, and Semantics, also known as HEALS.
Bringing together data analytics, state-of-the-art machine learning, and the technologies of the Semantic Web— which provide a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries—HEALS is a five-year $20 million effort to prevent the progression of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension.
We also are partnering with IBM on The Jefferson Project at Lake George, which is located an hour north of our Troy campus. Housed within the Margaret A. and David M. Darrin ’40 Fresh Water Institute, The Jefferson Project aims to understand and manage threats from human activities—that include pollution from road salt, the introduction of invasive species, and excess nutrients—in order to preserve and protect one of the world’s most pristine natural ecosystems, which is an economic cornerstone of the New York state tourism industry.
The Jefferson Project combines Internet-of-Things technology, predictive analytics, and basic science to create a comprehensive model for environmental monitoring and prediction—helping us to understand the lake as a system of systems, and to gain new insights into managing freshwater resources around the globe. As the project has matured, it is now expanding to other lakes with a particular focus on addressing the global threat of harmful algal blooms.
Our multi-year partnerships with IBM also include our Cognitive and Immersive Systems Laboratory, or CISL. CISL, which is housed within EMPAC, is bridging human perception with intelligent systems in a human-scale, immersive, interactive environment—to create smart boardrooms, classrooms, and other spaces dedicated to group collaboration.
Using communities of cognitive (artificially intelligent) agents, smart sensors, and data analytics, these are rooms that see, hear, anticipate, and inform the human occupants—in multiple modes—with the goal of vastly enhancing group decision-making and learning.
The Mandarin Project is a prime example of how we are leveraging technical breakthroughs in the CISL to create pedagogical innovation that is at the forefront of advanced research in cognitive and immersive classrooms for cyber-enabled language learning.
The Mandarin Project engages students by making them players in a semester-long group game narrative—and uses mixed-reality and immersive environments that recreate the experience of being at locations such as the Beijing airport, or a Chinese teahouse. Not only do our students learn more quickly with this innovative approach, but also learn within a cultural context where mannerisms, and other visual and aural cues, are essential to comprehension.
It is profoundly gratifying to see how prescient we were in the development of The Rensselaer Plan—identifying the areas of research and technological innovation that today are at the leading edge—and in the implementation of The Plan within the paradigm of The New Polytechnic.
As The New Polytechnic, we are highly attuned to the opportunities created by emerging disciplines and continue to expand our academic requirements and offerings to incorporate them. Rensselaer is the first university in the nation to include a two-course “data dexterity” requirement in its core curriculum. This means that no matter what field of endeavor they choose, our graduates will be able to use data analytics to manipulate diverse datasets to define and address complex challenges. And that is not all we are doing!
There are a number of new academic offerings. We have a new focus on Quantitative Health Economics in our Economics Department. We are developing a new Bachelor of Science program in the Lally School in Quantitative Finance and Analytics, and a new academic program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Last October, we celebrated the launch of our new Bachelor of Science in Music with a historic performance by the Rensselaer Orchestra at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall in New York City.
We continue to invest in Clustered Learning, Advocacy, and Support for Students (CLASS), and in The Arch. The Arch offers our students significant opportunities to test their acquired knowledge out in the world before they graduate. Under The Arch, rising Rensselaer juniors remain on-campus the summer after their sophomore year, taking the full complement of junior-level classes, while benefiting from the undivided attention of their professors and our Student Life staff. This allows them to spend a semester or more away from campus during the traditional junior year, and still graduate in the usual timeframe.
The extended “away” semester of The Arch enables our students to pursue their interests and passions—whether in the United States or overseas—and to enhance their professional development, whether through an internship or launching a business, a volunteer or research experience, or an approved Individual Learning Experience.
I ask that you consider what opportunities might exist for our talented and dynamic students to work within your companies and organizations here in Pennsylvania during their away semester.
We are in the midst of a Capital Campaign to continue to raise funds to support our students, our faculty, and our campus infrastructure. As part of the rollout of our Capital Campaign, Transformative: Campaign for Global Change, we have been visiting and engaging with members of the Rensselaer community across the country and around the world, including in Florida, California, New York City, Boston, Switzerland, China, and Germany, to name a few. Throughout our travels, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the state of the Institute, and great support for the three pillars of the Campaign. These pillars are:
Eliminating the gap between student financial need and the scholarships and fellowships we are able to provide—aid that enables the majority of our students to receive a Rensselaer education.
Endowing more professorships to attract and retain the best academic talent, and to expand our tenured and tenure-track faculty to 500 in critical areas of research and teaching; and
Physically and technologically upgrading and expanding our campuses, including building a new multidisciplinary Center for Science, expanding the Jonsson Engineering Center, completing phase two of the East Campus Athletic Village, and repurposing the ’87 Gym.
I encourage you to stay connected with the Campaign, and our progress, through our giving website, and our social media platforms.
Why do we do all of this? The answer is straightforward.
The world truly needs that particular combination of qualities that our students possess—audacity, creativity, pragmatism, and the refusal to be daunted by the scale of the problems that confront us. That is what we nurture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in a framework attuned to the realities, challenges, and opportunities of our time, while positioning the Institute for its third century of leadership in research, education, and technological innovation.
I hope that you will partner with us to ensure that the most inventive, ingenious, and dedicated young men
and women on Earth continue to emanate from our classrooms, laboratories, and maker spaces for generations to come.
and women on Earth continue to emanate from our classrooms, laboratories, and maker spaces for generations to come.
Writing Sample #2
DEDICATION CEREMONY
Nancy Deloye Fitzroy ’49 and Roland V. Fitzroy Jr. Admissions Building
Nancy Deloye Fitzroy ’49 and Roland V. Fitzroy Jr. Admissions Building
Remarks by Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
I would like to thank all of you for joining us for this very special occasion. Dr. Nancy Deloye Fitzroy, of the Class of 1949, is a true pioneer—as evidenced, in part, by an illustrious legacy of “firsts.” She is:
- The first woman to graduate with a degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;
- The first woman in the United States to serve as president of a major professional engineering society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); and
- The first woman to receive the Davies Medal for Engineering Achievement, which recognizes a Rensselaer alumnus or alumna with a distinguished career of engineering achievement, public service, and technical and managerial accomplishments.
- There have been a number of other accolades as well. Nancy has been the recipient of the following:
- The Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award in 1972;
- The Demers Medal for outstanding service to Rensselaer in 1975;
- An American Society of Mechanical Engineers Centennial Medallion in 1980;
- An honorary doctor of science degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1987.
- In 1988, she was chosen as an Honorary Fellow of Britain’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers;
- In 1990, she received an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Rensselaer;
- She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1995;
- Received the Distinguished Service Award from the Rensselaer Alumni Association in 1996; and was again recognized in 1999 when she was inducted into the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame;
- She was elected a fellow of ASME and received an ASME Honorary Membership in 2008.
Throughout her professional career, Nancy has always taken on the greatest challenges posed by the new and emerging technologies of her time. How is it that Nancy decided to pursue a career in engineering at a time when there weren’t many women in the field?
Initially, in fact, Nancy did not want to go to college at all. She recalled, “All of the careers that were thought of for women—librarian, secretary, this, that—I crossed them all off!”
As a student, Nancy gravitated toward science and mathematics, fields which she described as “simply fun.” She even gave up a study hall to take a celestial navigation class with her mathematics teacher, Mr. Goodwin. In all of these courses, Nancy was the only female student in class—a situation she would grow accustomed to over the years.
It was Mr. Goodwin who urged Nancy to pursue college and, specifically, to consider an education in engineering.
Nancy wrote to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) asking if they could recommend a school where a young woman might study engineering. Rensselaer and MIT each responded by sending her an application for admission.
Nancy’s parents had always wanted her to attend college and were thrilled to learn that she had applied and was accepted by both universities!
Of course, we are very pleased that Nancy chose Rensselaer. She recalled that—at the time—she considered herself shy and introverted, and felt she would be more comfortable in the smaller classrooms at Rensselaer. She also felt that Rensselaer had a better undergraduate school than MIT.
In 1945, when Nancy arrived at Rensselaer, she found herself among numerous World War II veterans. She recalled that many were married and had children and observed how intent they were to make the most of the educational opportunity afforded them by the GI Bill. As in high school, she found herself the only female in her classes, and thought nothing of it.
In 1950, Nancy began her career in Research and Development at General Electric, working at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna. Though she was hired, at first, as an “engineering assistant”— because full-fledged women engineers were unheard of—she soon became known around the world as an expert in heat transfer and fluid flow—and eventually advised many of her male counterparts once they had worked up the courage to seek out her expertise.
While at Knolls, Nancy contributed to the development of a liquid-metal cooled nuclear reactor that would later be used by the United States Navy for its second nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Seawolf.
Nancy left Knolls to work on a new GE assignment in Malta, New York, called Project Hermes. Under contract from the United States Army, the team’s mission was to design rocket engines. Their efforts focused on advancing technologies that had been initially developed by scientists in Nazi Germany as part of its V2 missile program.
The Malta Test Site, which is now the location of the Malta Tech Park, was carved out of a pine forest, where they constructed large cement pits filled with water to help absorb the blast from engines during testing.
There, Nancy met a young engineer named Roland Fitzroy. While Nancy was working on heat transfer for missiles fueled with liquid oxygen and alcohol, Roland was working on their inertial guidance system. It was a fitting place for sparks to fly—and they did. Nancy and Roland soon got married and, as Nancy described, lived their lives together as “two peas in a pod.”
Roland Fitzroy, himself, had a distinguished 41-year career at General Electric, after working in the U.S. government during World War II, including on the Manhattan Project.
In addition to engineering advances in rockets and satellites, Nancy also engineered advances in more commonplace technologies, including toasters. With typical modesty and wit, she has pointed out that toasters can be more challenging than rockets and satellites: while space is relatively uniform, bread is almost infinitely various.
Nancy worked at General Electric until her retirement in 1987. She holds three patents and has authored more than 100 technical papers.
- By any measure, Dr. Nancy Deloye Fitzroy has achieved much:
- Born into a loving family;
- Encouraged to reach for the stars;
- Undaunted by conventions;
- Joined in life by a kindred spirit;
- Passionate in her pursuits;
- Philanthropic by nature;
- Accomplished and recognized; and
- A true inspiration to aspiring young women (and men) seeking to make a difference in the world.
Speaking of those who have been inspired by your life’s work, I would like to share with you, Nancy, two notes that I recently received from beneficiaries of the graduate fellowship you established to support young women pursuing advanced degrees in engineering at Rensselaer. The first comes from Dr. Melissa Holstein of the Class of 2008:
Dear Dr. Fitzroy,
Being a scholarship recipient helped to cover my educational costs and eased the burden on my family—I am very grateful. I currently work at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Devens, Massachusetts, and my boss is another female RPI CHME graduate! Furthermore, we hired another female RPI CHME graduate into our group last year. Dr. Fitzroy, being the first female CHME to graduate from RPI, you paved the way for many more to follow in your footsteps.
The second note comes from Ms. Jessica Funnell, a current Ph.D. student studying biomedical engineering.
Please tell Dr. Fitzroy congratulations and that I am so grateful for her financial support! I am loving my first year at RPI. I have worked hard this year and I am happy to say that I received the NSF graduate fellowship and just submitted my first manuscript! I am looking forward to the rest of my years here.
It is only fitting that the building we are about to dedicate is one which is home to a team devoted to opening the doors of education to those who seek it.
Now, it is my honor and distinct privilege to dedicate this building, the Nancy Deloye Fitzroy ’49 and Roland V. Fitzroy Jr. Admissions Building.