WASHINGTON, D.C., May 17 — Today, Internet2, operator of the nation’s largest and fastest, coast-to-coast research and education infrastructure, announced the recipients of several awards and scholarships, in recognition of outstanding service and contributions to the community and the Research and Education (R&E) industry at large. The awards were presented at the 2016 Internet2 Global Summit in Chicago. Award recipients include:

William (Brit) Kirwan Mentorship Award

James (Jim) Donald Bruce

The Internet2 William “Brit” Kirwan Mentorship Award is presented annually, beginning this year, to a member of the Internet2 community who embodies the spirit of William “Brit” Kirwan’s role as a mentor to countless professionals in the research and education (R&E) community. Kirwan is well known for his ability to connect people in higher education and inspire others, and for giving his time to serve the community.

The recipient of the 2016 William (Brit) Kirwan Mentorship Award is James D. Bruce. He is a consultant to academia and industry. From 1987 to 2003, Bruce was Vice President for Information Systems and Chief Information Officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is currently Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus. As CIO, he was responsible for directing the evolution, integration, and effective use of computing and communications resources throughout MIT in support of planning, management decision-making, education, research activities, and day-to-day operations.

After leaving MIT, Bruce developed an executive mentoring development program for leaders in higher education, which has trained more than 2,000 next generation IT professionals.

“Jim has been instrumental in building and inspiring a community of IT leaders across higher education,” said Dave Lambert, Internet2 president and CEO. “He has challenged individuals to become better, more effective leaders and fostered greater collaboration within universities, and between other institutions.”

“Jim has mentored many, probably hundreds. His influence across the CIO leadership is immense, and he makes us not only better leaders, but better people,” said Sue Workman, vice president information technology services, chief information officer, Case Western Reserve University.

“Eleven years after the IT Leadership program and despite the fact that Jim has all but retired, he continues to be my active, trusted, best and most impactful mentor,” said Cathy O’Bryan, director, client support, University Information Technology Services, Indiana University. “Across those years, I’ve made three major career transitions with increasing responsibility in higher education IT and never have I made those decisions without Jim’s counsel. His ability to instill confidence, provide insight and communicate successful strategies for personal growth and change is unequaled. Jim Bruce is one of those rare mentors who empowers you to believe that you can do better than the best dream you have ever imagined. Somehow you explore ‘stretch’ goals that you thought (if you ever thought about them at all) were impossible. As a coach he has both the expertise and the personal insight to ask the right questions at the right teachable moment in the most constructive manner possible.”

Prior to becoming Vice President for Information Systems in July 1986, he was Director of Information Systems. Professor Bruce was also program manager for Reengineering at MIT from 1994 to 1998. From January 1979 to June 1983, Professor Bruce was Director of the Industrial Liaison Program. There he managed MIT’s activities to provide industry with efficient, timely access to its research and staff resources.

Early in his tenure as CIO at MIT, Professor Bruce was a leader in the development of MIT’s Athena computing environment that revolutionized educational computing. Athena both transitioned student computing at MIT from time-shared computers to graphics-based, high performing workstations, and opened up the use of educational technology to new learning applications in a broad range of fields.

A decade ago, Bruce was a founder of NEARnet, the first academic and research IP-based network for the New England states. He was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Consortium for Scientific Computing, which operated the John von Neumann Center, one of the original National Science Foundation supercomputer facilities. From 1999 to 2002, he chaired the Network Planning and Policy Advisory Committee for Internet2, and was a member of the Board of Trustees. Professor Bruce also served as a member of Apple’s Higher Education Advisory Committee, Microsoft’s Higher Education Advisory Council, and Akamai’s Education Advisory Board.

Internet2 President’s Award

Douglas S. Gale

Each year, Internet2’s President and CEO, Dave Lambert, presents the President’s Leadership Award to recognize an individual within the Internet2 community for exceptional leadership and service exemplifying the essence of Internet2 membership, enabling services and achievements beyond the scope of any individual institution that benefit the national and global research and education community.

The recipient of the 2016 President’s Award is Douglas S. Gale, who passed away in October, 2015. “In retirement,” Gale founded the Internet Legacy Institute in 2010 to preserve and archive information and original source materials about the creation and evolution of the Internet. He served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at two research universities (the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and George Washington University) and as a tenured faculty member in both Computer Science and Physics. During his career he authored over 80 publications. His career also included service as a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation where he received the Director’s Award for Program Officer Excellence for his work on the NSFNET initiative.

Gale was nationally recognized as one of higher education’s network visionaries, an early developer of the Internet. He was involved in its changeover from a limited access research network to a world wide publicly accessible network. He played a key role in the creation of the Internet, Internet2, and several national and regional dark fiber networks. An early advocate of higher education dark fiber networks,  Gale served as Director of OARnet, a regional Internet Service Provider, he was the architect of two, the Third Frontier Network in the State of Ohio and the Five Colleges Dark Fiber Network in Massachusetts.

Gale served on the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Research and Education Networking (CREN); the Board of Directors of CAUSE; the Board of Directors of the MINDS Institute that developed software for the K-12 sector, and the Akamai Technologies Education Advisory Board.

“From the beginning, Doug was committed to the development of the network for the R&E community. Whether in recognizing the value of “dark fiber” when many of his colleagues did not yet appreciate its value, or in his tireless work to bring regional and later national groups together with a common purpose of creating a significant and transformative asset to benefit higher education research and scholarship anywhere in the country, Doug made a difference,” said Lambert. “Doug was a friend and a mentor to many in our community. When he dedicated himself and his personal resources to the creation of the Internet Legacy Institute it was just an extension of what he had been doing for all of us over the years – making sure the work of the IT R&E Community would stand as a testament of the contributions of thousands of IT professionals who had shaped the global research, scholarship and future of advanced Internet technology.”

Gale’s wife, Henrietta Gale, will be in attendance at the Internet2 Global Summit to accept this award on his behalf.

About Internet2

Internet2 also operates the nation’s largest and fastest, coast-to-coast research and education network, with Internet2 Network Operations Center powered by Indiana University. Internet2 serves more than 90,000 community anchor institutions, 305 U.S. universities, 70 government agencies, 42 regional and state education networks, 84 leading corporations working with our community and more than 65 national research and education networking partners representing more than 100 countries.

Source: Internet2