For more than a decade, the most distinguished teaching awards in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester have been presented during the annual fall convocation. This year the namesake for the Goergen Awards—Trustee and alumnus Robert B. Goergen—will be honored with a significant award of his own.
Goergen will receive the Charles Force and Marjorie Force Hutchison Medal, the University's highest alumni award, on Friday, Sept. 5, in recognition of his outstanding career achievements and his service to the University.
"Bob Goergen has lived a life exemplified by our University motto, Meliora," said University President Joel Seligman. "His leadership of the Board of Trustees, his generosity that renewed the College's athletic center and made our biomedical engineering and optics building a reality, and the Goergen Awards for our esteemed faculty, staff, and programs show the breadth of his commitment to excellence," said Seligman.
The Award for Distinguished Achievement and Artistry in Undergraduate Teaching, the Award for Curricular Achievement in Undergraduate Education, and the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Learning all bear the Goergen name. He and his wife Pamela have supported the awards since 1997. The awards' presentation is the centerpiece of the College Convocation that begins the academic year.
A trustee since 1982, including his 12-year tenure as board chair, Robert Goergen is the chairman and CEO of Blyth Inc., of Greenwich, Conn. One of the nation's most highly regarded business executives, he also is recognized as a leading educational philanthropist. A successful entrepreneur, Goergen also is the founder and chairman of The Ropart Group, a private-equity investment firm based in Greenwich.
He has been a key volunteer and a major benefactor of the University for several decades. The Robert B. Goergen Athletic Center and the Robert B. Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics are both named in recognition of his support.
He graduated from the University in 1960 with a degree in physics. He also holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.