September 13, 2001
Troy, N.Y. — Ray Tomlinson, inventor of e-mail, and Alan
Voorhees, world-renowned city planner, are two of eight new
members of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s 2001 Alumni Hall
of Fame.
The newest members will be formally inducted during a ceremony
on campus Sept. 21. The accomplishments of the members of the
Hall of Fame are celebrated in etched windows that line Thomsen
Hall in the Darrin Communications Center on campus.
Ray Tomlinson, from Lexington, Mass., received the George R.
Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award from the American Computer
Museum last year, almost 30 years after he wrote what has been
called the “killer application” of the Internet. Credited with
inventing network electronic mail, Tomlinson is the man who put
the @ sign in e-mail. He earned his bachelor’s in electrical
engineering at Rensselaer in 1963.
Alan Voorhees, a former Rensselaer trustee and Alexandria,
Va., resident, became one of the world’s leading city planners
and traffic forecasters. For the city of Baltimore, Voorhees
undertook the first application of mathematical models for
forecasting traffic and published a landmark paper that has
become the foundation for most traffic forecasting techniques
in use today. He graduated from Rensselaer with a bachelor’s
degree in civil engineering in 1947.
Other 2001 inductees are: Eben Horsford, considered “the
father of American food technology,” Class of 1838; steel
pioneer John Winslow, elected chair of the Rensselaer board of
trustees in 1865; western railroad pioneer Edwin Crocker, Class
of 1833; transcontinental railroad visionary Theodore Dehone
Judah, Rensselaer student in 1837; fire-safety pioneer
Frederick Grinnell, Class of 1855; and premier publisher of
scientific and technical books William Wiley, Class of
1866.
In 1995, the Rensselaer Alumni Association established the
Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame to preserve and celebrate the
long and exceptional heritage of Rensselaer’s distinguished
graduates. This year’s inductees to the Alumni Hall of Fame
brings to 41 the total number of members to date. Since its
founding in 1824, Rensselaer has graduated alumni whose
contributions to society-from the railroad and bridge builders
of the 19th century to today’s entrepreneurs of information
technology-have changed the world. For more information on the
inductees, visit http://www.rpi.edu/dept/NewsComm/sub/fame/
Contact: Jodi Ackerman
Phone: (518) 276-6531
E-mail: N/A