THE KEN OLSEN SCIENCE CENTER OPENS AT GORDON COLLEGE

Gordon College formally opened the Ken Olsen Science Center in Wenham, MA on Saturday, September 27th. There was an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 1000, including a large contingent of DEC alumni and students who are already enjoying the beautiful and well equipped classrooms and laboratories. The building is magnificent - a wonderful tribute to a great leader.

The ribbon cutting took place at 10 AM and then everyone was invited to the Chapel for a short program. Dr. R. Judson Carlberg, Gordon College President, welcomed everyone to the event, then gave a summary of the contributions that Ken Olsen had provided the college over his 30 years on the board. He described Ken as a true friend of the college, one who understood the connection between science and faith, how he lived his life, and the example he set for everyone. Carlberg was followed by Kurt Keilhacker, the Chairman of the Gordon College Board of Trustees who recalled the role Ken played as a Board member and how influential he was with his colleagues on the Board.

Dr Carlberg introduced and recognized all who had participated in the planning and development of the Ken Olsen Science Center and the events of the day.

The keynote lecture was given by Dr. Francis Collins, the individual who headed up the development of identifying the human genome. His topic was Genomics and the Human Condition. His lecture was extremely interesting and revealing. One of his key points was that without the use of computers that DEC developed we would not have made the progress we did in identifying the entire human genome. He held the attention of the audience for over 40 minutes with his animated lecture and his humor. He concluded by having everyone standing and singing a familiar hymn while he played a very accomplished guitar accompaniment.

After some closing remarks by Dr. Carlberg and the reading of a citation by Senator Bruce Tarr from the Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Senate, we were invited to tour the Ken Olsen Science Center and enjoy refreshments.

The building is about 80% complete and it is magnificent. The classrooms and laboratories are bright and well equipped. The faculty has very nice office spaces as well. The Center houses the classes for biology, chemistry, physics and psychology. The Digital Loggia is very spacious and has many artifacts and pictures of the Digital years. There is a spacious auditorium and other large spaces for meetings and student activities.

Gordon College is participating in the development of a PBS tribute to Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation to be aired sometime in the next several months. The producers were able to get many former DEC employees to share their thoughts about Ken and DEC at this event. The taping for this special was started last summer and there was a showing of some of the early taping presented in the auditorium. We will post the date and time on this website when we know when the special will be aired. Gordon College will use different parts of the special for recruiting and fund raising. The Ken Olsen Science Center clearly places Gordon College on the forefront of scientific education, exploration and entrepreneurship. The College has done Ken Olsen, Digital Equipment Corporation and education proud!!

As a final note, Gordon College is in the process of raising the additional funds to complete the Ken Olsen Science Center, which they hope to finish next year. They welcome any donations, large or small for this endeavor. Many DEC alumni have contributed to date and several rooms have been named for generous DEC contributors.

Peter Koch
The Digital Alumni, Inc.

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