Charleston – Dr. Bernard Gordon, Chairman of NeuroLogica Corporation of Danvers, Mass., and his wife Sophia have made a $1.5 million gift via the Gordon Foundation to The Citadel School of Engineering. This generous contribution will support scholarship, program, equipment and classroom enhancements to advance the college's highly ranked engineering program.

Dr. Bernard and Sophia Gordon

After accompanying his colleague, Dr. Eric Bailey, Citadel Class of 1984, on a visit to The Citadel campus earlier this year, Gordon was impressed with the leadership component of the college's undergraduate program, and particularly the discipline and dedication he observed among the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.   These observations inspired him to make a gift that will have a transformational impact upon the quality and continued success of an engineering program that is already nationally recognized. 

According to Colonel Dennis Fallon, Dean of The Citadel School of Engineering, "our engineering curriculum is underpinned by a rigorous academic program and significant opportunity to develop principled leadership skills.  To have our programs recognized and so generously supported in this manner by a figure of Dr. Gordon's prominence in the field will only enhance our sense of pride in the program and what it will be able to accomplish in the future."

This gift will endow the Bernard Gordon Electrical Engineering Leadership Scholarship to support three students each year whose academic excellences promises future leadership in the field.  Funds will also support new programs through the School of Engineering Excellence Initiative, including the Bernard Gordon Principled Leader in Engineering Seminar, a lecture and dinner series that will bring recognized leaders in the profession to address senior students, as well as seed money for The Citadel's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Program, enabling the college to reach out to rural middle school students to promote these vital disciplines. 

Additionally, this contribution will provide essential new equipment for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department for the next five years as well as renovate an existing classroom in Grimsley Hall to create a first-class, technologically state-of-the-art conference and seminar room, to be named in the donor's honor.

A prominent scientist and inventor, Gordon received his B.S and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1948 and 1949.  Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Analogic Corporation, he is considered the "father of analog to digital conversion" for his inventions and contributions to signal translation, medical tomography and other high-precision instrumentation. 

Holding more than two hundred patents worldwide, Gordon has contributed to the development of the world's first commercial digital computer, the first alphanumeric dot matrix display, and scanning devices that would become the core of modern medical imaging and counter-terrorism technology. 

Today, Gordon remains active as entrepreneurial innovator.  Turning his talents toward the human brain, he founded NeuroLogica Corporation with fellow engineer and inventor Dr. Eric Bailey, who earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Citadel in 1984 and currently serves as President and CEO of the company they formed. 

Dr. Bernard Gordon and Dr. Eric Bailey, '84, (third and fourth from left, respectively) take review at The Citadel dress parade during their visit to campus in April 2008.

Together, they developed the CereTom CT, the world’s first and only portable head and neck CT scanner that can be brought bedside to the patient in the OR, ER, or ICU to diagnose time-sensitive and life-threatening brain ailments.  This new product, which has already been credited for saving thousands of lives and received the prestigious Medical Device Excellence Award, is also installed in the ICU at the MUSC campus in Charleston, South Carolina.

Renowned for its strong undergraduate program and exceptional career placement rate, The Citadel School of Engineering is ranked No. 34 among the nation's best undergraduate engineering schools in this year’s U.S.News & World Report college rankings. In addition, the civil engineering program was ranked No. 8 in undergraduate engineering specialty programs. 

This gift to The Citadel resonates deeply with Dr. and Mrs. Gordon's lifetime philanthropic commitment to the education of engineering leaders.  This passion has led to the establishment of the Gordon Institute, now part of Tufts University; the Gordon Professorships of Engineering Innovation and Practice at MIT; the Gordon Center for Systems Leadership Engineering at the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology; and the Bernard M. Gordon Prize at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington, D.C., an annual award of $500,000 recognizing contributions to engineering education innovation.  

Awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Reagan in 1986, and elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1991, Gordon has been honored by the Engineering Societies of New England, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Franklin Institute, the Museum of Science, and Eta Kappa Nu among others. He holds several honorary doctorate degrees in engineering and science, and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Lahey Clinic and a Trustee of Tufts University.

For more information:    Jarret Sonta
                                  (843) 953-6919
                                  jarret.sonta@citadel.edu