When the School of Engineering dedicated its new Biomedical Engineering Building April 18, it recognized the funding sources that made such a large project come together.
There were the usual institutional sources and donors, such as the university, the State of New Jersey, and, most notably, the Whitaker Foundation, which made a $3 million facility challenge grant alongside a $2 million programmatic grant for faculty recruitment, research, and teaching.
But there were two very personal gifts that merited special recognition: one from Eva Gottscho and another from the Yellin family and close friends.
Eva Gottscho pledged $1.5 million to equip an undergraduate teaching facility, the Ira S. Gottscho Packaging Engineering Laboratory, in honor of her late husband. Unlike many donors, the Gottschos had no personal ties to Rutgers. But Ira, a Brooklyn native who moved his family’s packaging machinery business to New Jersey, had seen a need to train packaging specialists to serve area industries. In 1965, he began funding a packaging program at Rutgers to fulfill this role.
The automatic imprinting technology he developed enabled companies to track and control inventory and label package contents for freshness – an achievement embraced by the state’s pharmaceutical and medical device industries. When Ira passed away in 1971, Eva took over the company and led it through growth and technological change. The company continues to operate in Union, New Jersey, and Eva lives in nearby Short Hills. In the new Rutgers lab she is funding, students will learn how to design packages that protect goods from physical and environmental damage.
The biomedical engineering department named the building’s administrative conference room after the Yellin family, which included Professor Arthur Yellin and his son Lawrence, a 1982 Rutgers electrical engineering graduate. Arthur passed away in 1999; two years earlier, his son Larry died in an automobile accident caused by a drunk driver. The accident also claimed Larry’s sister, Nancy, a Rutgers alumna; his wife, Robin; and infant son, Nathan. At this time, Larry was a practicing physician and had served as such in the Army during the first Gulf War.
When one of Larry’s roommates, Paul Sorkin, learned about naming opportunities for the proposed Biomedical Engineering Building in 2002, he contacted Larry’s mother, Civia Yellin, and other Rutgers roommates. Together they set out to raise the $50,000 needed to name the conference room to honor the deceased family members.
“I couldn’t just pull out my checkbook and write a check for $25,000 or $50,000. We are middle-class people,” Yellin said. “The tragedy was of such a magnitude that we received lots of condolences, so I got back to everyone and asked them to contribute. Most offered us gifts of $10, $15, or $25, while a handful gave $500 to $1,000.”
Roommates Sorkin, Sean Dolan, and Andy Kinney called and wrote letters to everyone they could think of from their college years. “We couldn’t do events like a golf outing or a dinner dance,” Sorkin said. “People were too spread out.”
Together they amassed $20,000 in two years, but there was a long way to go. By this time, Civia Yellin was on a mission. Her brother had a store that sold mugs and stuffed bears imprinted with children’s names. She took some to a flea market near her home in Delray Beach, Florida, and found they sold well. She expanded her efforts, getting stock from suppliers and going to every church and temple festival she could find.
“This became my business for three years,” Yellin said. “I made $25,000. Paul, Sean, and Andy were absolutely surprised! The project kept me going, and I always had friends helping me.”
At a private ceremony the morning of the dedication, Yellin and her son Joel – Larry’s younger brother and also a Rutgers engineering alumnus – met with engineering faculty and staff to consecrate the new Yellin conference room. They were joined by Jay Hamelburg, a family friend who had worked with Arthur for 30 years, and his wife, Miriam; along with Paul Sorkin, Sean Dolan, and their families. Joel, a student of Jewish faith and culture, offered a blessing for the room, and said the event was especially appropriate in a season when people of many faiths celebrate miracles and renewal.
“This room will be where the faculty conducts its business-setting curriculum, hiring staff, and welcoming visitors,” said Mike Klein, dean of the School of Engineering. “It will always remind us of the Yellin family as many academic years play out in the future.”
The 80,000-square-foot brick, steel, and glass building west of the Busch Campus Center will bring together offices, classrooms, and laboratories once scattered among several buildings. Large, open research laboratories will support group interaction and house instrumentation such as high-resolution electron microscopes. The department’s major research thrusts are tissue engineering, biomechanics (including orthopedics and rehabilitation), and computer-aided medical imaging.
Biomedical engineering has become the third largest engineering department on campus, with 70 bachelor’s degree graduates last year. In contrast, the department graduated only 14 students as recently as 2001. The new building will accommodate enrollments of more than 100 undergraduates per class.