Energy Concentration

The Pratt School of Engineering and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences have joined forces to establish the Gendell Center for Engineering, Energy, and the Environment. The center will focus on the "intensive and sustained engagement of students across the disciplines, working in teams that will produce real solutions that have been vetted technically, economically, and environmentally," says Tod Laursen, Pratt's senior associate dean for education and the center's inaugural director.

Named for Jeffrey Gendell '81 and Martha Gendell, who are providing $10 million of the projected $12 million in funds Duke will raise for the effort, the center will offer courses and, eventually, an undergraduate certificate program in energy and the environment. It also will provide a new place where faculty members, students, and industry professionals can work together on basic scientific research and applications for issues ranging from atmospheric chemistry to new energy-saving ideas for homes.