Excellence honored at EAS Society Gala
A prominent shipping executive and alumnus and a highly respected Stevens dean received
top awards at the Edwin A. Stevens Society Gala this past fall.
Spyros M. Polemis ’61, managing director of Seacrest Shipping Co. Ltd., a ships
broker based in London, and a leader in the international shipping industry, received the
Stevens Honor Award, given by Stevens and the Stevens Alumni Association in recognition of
notable achievement in a field of endeavor. Dr. Dinesh Verma, dean of the new School of
Systems and Enterprises at Stevens, received the President’s Leadership Award, which
is presented to a distinguished individual who has rendered exceptional service to Stevens
and for significant achievements and dedication to his or her field. The School of Systems
and Enterprises was founded this past year at Stevens.
The gala was held at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park, N.J., in recognition of members
of the EAS Society, Stevens’ prestigious donors group.
As his audience—which included his nephew, Peter Louloudis ’85, M.Eng.
’87—greeted him with a warm standing ovation, Mr. Polemis, who traveled from his
home in London, thanked Stevens and the SAA for this “great honor.”
“It’s quite a humbling experience to be recognized by your fellow man,” he
said. “These are memories of one’s life that will remain with a person
forever.”
He praised Stevens as a “great institution” that taught him to think, approach
problems and set him solidly on his career path.
“I owe much to Stevens,” said Mr. Polemis, who took a quote by Winston Churchill
and altered it, in a tribute to his alma mater.
“Never in the field of higher education was so much owed by so many to so few
dedicated professionals,” he said.
Mr. Polemis serves as chairman and managing director of Seacrest Shipping Co. Ltd., the
London representative of a large group of shipping interests. He has spent 45 years in the
shipping business and his company—which also has offices in Mr. Polemis’ native
Greece and in New York—operates the ships of the world and manages new building and
repair projects in shipyards around the globe.
Mr. Polemis also serves as head of the world’s leading shipping organizations: as
chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the international trade
association for merchant shipowners, concerned with all regulatory, operational and legal
issues, and president of its sister organization, the International Shipping Federation,
the international employer’s organization for the shipping industry that deals with
labor affairs and training issues. In his prestigious positions, Mr. Polemis represents
the collective interests of shipowner associations from 40 countries, while ICS membership
is comprised of national shipowners’ associations representing more than half of the
world’s merchant fleet. Mr.
Polemis joins some prestigious company in receiving the Stevens Honor Award. Past honorees
include General Motors co-founder Charles Stewart Mott, Class of 1897; 20th century artist
Alexander Calder, Class of 1919, and aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky.
Throughout the evening, Mr Polemis received good wishes from an admiring crowd.
“It’s like a homecoming,” he said. “It feels great because I live in
Europe” and get back to Stevens rarely.
Mr. Polemis did journey back for his 40th class reunion in 2001 and enjoyed a visit last
December, to see the newly renovated Davidson Laboratory. In November, he revisited the
lab—which he praised—and attended a meeting of the Stevens’ Center for
Maritime Systems Advisory Board, where he’s a member.
He recalls having a “good experience” at Stevens, praising his education but
also noting, with a twinkle in his eye, that he didn’t really need to study for long
hours. So he played soccer, badminton and interfraternity sports—enjoying a rich
college career.
Dean Dinesh Verma, honored with the President’s Leadership Award, is a professor of
systems engineering and founding dean of the School of Systems and Enterprises at
Stevens—founded in 2007 on the heels of Stevens’ tremendously successful
Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management. Previously, he served as
technical director at Lockheed Martin Undersea Systems, as a research scientist at
Virginia Tech and as a consultant.
“It has been an awesome ride; I’m so grateful to be here,” said Verma, who
has been with the Institute for seven years.
He thanked his colleagues and then took a few moments to enthusiastically introduce his
new school to his audience, many of them alumni.
Stevens’ School of Systems and Enterprises offers classes on campus, but also at
sites across the country and world. Employees at NASA, the National Security Agency and
the Federal Aviation Administration take the school’s courses, Verma said. The school
has students taking its master’s level classes on job sites in Texas, California,
Maryland—even Norway.
Stevens President Harold J. Raveché noted in his remarks that “this evening is
really about leadership”—from the honorees to the EAS members themselves.
Providing a quick Stevens update, Raveché said that the school will enjoy “very good
fiscal performance” in 2007, with tremendous help from new Provost George Korfiatis.
Undergraduate enrollment is more than 2,000, the highest ever, he said, and the number of
research proposals and funding are also at an all-time high.
An endowment that has been historically low holds Stevens back from growth, Raveché said,
so the school aims to double its endowment in the near future.
“We are on an ascent,” Raveché said. “The Institute is transforming
itself, and we need you to join us in this transformation.”
—Beth Kissinger |
