In This Issue:

Astronaut Alums Take SEAS to New Heights

Biomedical Engineering Meets Art at MoMA

SEAS Establishes New Advisory Board For Entrepreneurship

Philips Electronics Honors Professor Gertrude Neumark

Deodatis Is Named First Calatrava Family Professor

Engineers Without Borders Brings “Power to the People”

Programs That Create Engineers Who Care

Doing Well by Doing Good

BOTWINICK MULTIMEDIA LEARNING LABORATORY

Faculty Notes

TWO SEAS PROPOSALS RECEIVE UNIVERSITY FUNDING

Nayar Elected New Member of National Academy of Engineering

Undergrads Contribute to Research

University Announces New Financial Aid Plan

SEAS Parents Program Formed

SEAS Goes West, Brings Columbia to CA

Reunion Program

Alumni Notes

In Memoriam

Doing Well by Doing Good

Adnan Durrani ’81, a Wall Street executive turned socially-responsible business entrepreneur, delivered this year's Isaacs-Jonas Entrepreneurship Lecture, describing how “I went from the immediate gratification business and into the delayed gratification phase.” As the founder of Vermont Pure Holdings, Crystal Rock Water Co., the second largest bottled water company in the Northeast, and a financial partner in Stonyfield Farms yogurt, Mr. Durrani has proved that profits, social justice, and environmental concerns are not mutually exclusive for a successful business. Profits from his companies support several non-profits.

Through humor and anecdotes, Mr. Durrani illustrated his success as an entrepreneur. After observing bottled water consumption in Europe, he founded Vermont Pure Holdings. Using a marketing strategy that eschewed advertising, his company was able to influence the public's perception without spending money. “We had three trucks and I numbered them 9, 114 and 786,” he said, “so people thought we had a fleet of about 800 trucks.” He also lobbied to provide water for the New York City Marathon and was successful, resulting in an all-out effort by family and friends to label more than 150,000 bottles of water to supply 110 water stations before race day.

Mr. Durrani is currently Chief Halal Officer (CHO) of American Halal Co., Inc., a new venture to supply Halal products, those that meet the standard set by Muslim dietary laws, to American supermarkets. Ten percent of the company's profits will be directed to Profits for Peace, a non-profit foundation for interfaith dialogue. Mr. Durrani is on the Boards of Directors of Social Venture Network; Rural Education and Development Enterprise, a nonprofit organization that builds libraries in Nepal; BKFK-By Kids for Kids; High Speed Video; Everest Corporation; and the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America. He is a co-founder of Social Venture Institute of New York, is on the Board of the University of Bridgeport Engineering School, and is a member of the SEAS Board of Visitors.

The Isaacs-Jonas Entrepreneurship Lecture was established by Gary Jonas ’66 and the late Jonathan Isaacs ’66, ’67. “We wanted to make a difference,” said Mr. Jonas, “so we looked back at our education at Columbia and determined what was missing, and then founded this speaker series to encourage discussion about entrepreneurship.”