Department Receives $100,000 Gift from Estate of Martin V. Sussman

Dean Abriola, Professor Georgakis and Ann Sussman. Dr. Georgakis is holding a prototype of Professor Sussman's patented Maxwell Demon Bottle, a teaching tool developed to demonstrate the statistical nature of irreversible processes.

In the fall of 2005 the Department was deeply honored to receive the news of a $100,000 gift from the Estate of Professor Martin V. Sussman. This gift has been named the Jeanne and Martin Sussman Endowed Fellowship and Lectureship Fund, and will provide an international fellowship for Chemical and Biological Engineering undergraduates. The Fund will also support a chemical engineering lectureship series, to be hosted by the Department every other year. The Fund will be administered by the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Professor Sussman's daughter, Ann Sussman, is the Trustee for her father's generous gift. An alumna of the Fletcher School, Ms. Sussman met with School of Engineering Dean Abriola and Department Chair Christos Georgakis to provide some background on her father's gift. According to Ann, "the reason Martin decided to make a bequest in his will is that it could provide a foundation for success in the department. He also felt really lucky and thankful to have had such a great experience at Tufts and wanted to give this back to others."

Ann Sussman and the Maxwell Demon Bottle.

According to Professor Sussman's wishes, the fellowship is intended to have an international focus, bringing a variety of students from other countries to the Tufts campus. "Martin believed in the importance of sharing knowledge about engineering internationally. He wanted the science to be available to everyone around the world," she explained.

The Department is extremely grateful for the opportunity to honor Professor Sussman's life in this way, and would like to express thanks for the kindness and generosity of the Sussman family.