Eager UMass iCons Program applicants, proud current and past students, and grateful faculty gathered in the Integrative Sciences Building on Wednesday, November 6th as a group with a common purpose: to make change. The annual UMass iCons Integrative Science Fall Workshop centers on a grand problem of our time and brings in an expert problem solver in this area to facilitate a workshop in the ‘iCons way’ --- using an integrated scientific approach.
What most at this event didn’t know was they were about to witness another iCons tradition in the making.
Recently, a generous gift to the program from the Mahoney Family made possible the creation of, among other things, an executive director position to lead the Umass iCons Program into the future. This group was to witness the ceremony to announce the Mahoney Family Sponsorship and "install" Scott Auerbach as the first Mahoney Family Sponsored Executive Director. And in true iCons fashion, the opportunity to do things a little differently was not wasted. As Associate Dean Connor made the official ‘installation’, Dr. Justin Fermann, previous iCons Director, passed a symbolic (blow)torch to Executive Director Auerbach to use to light a glass lamp.
The news of the Mahoney Family Sponsorship was welcomed with great enthusiasm by all those present. Auerbach spoke for a few minutes, thanking the Mahoney Family for their great vision and generosity, and talked about the very positive and enduring impact that this gift will have on iCons, its students, on education on the UMass campus, education across the Commonwealth, and across the Country -- establishing UMass Amherst as a national and international leader in interdisciplinary education.
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