CEE Celebrates 35th Anniversary

Cambridge, Mass. – Nearly 300 alumni of CEE’s programs with sponsors and partners gathered at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for the Center for Excellence in Education’s 35^th anniversary celebration.

CEE hosted a series of panels and discussions over the weekend, as well as CEE Talks in which alumni of the Center’s Research Science Institute and USA Biology Olympiad discussed interests, careers and ground-breaking research. Watch the recordings on CEE's YouTube channel.

“What an amazing way to celebrate this milestone,” CEE President Joann P. DiGennaro said. “CEE is dedicated to providing programs that nurture students’ excellence and leadership – and it is very rewarding to see the progress and achievements of so many of our alumni. We are thrilled with the work CEE has done and look forward to what the future holds.”

The weekend also included two panel discussions dedicated to CEE co-founder Admiral H.G. Rickover, father of the nuclear navy and civilian uses of nuclear power, and his legacy in engineering, education, science and technology.

Saturday’s events included a panel of Nobel laureates discussing their research and discoveries. That evening, at a formal dinner, Dr. Wolfgang Ketterle, PhD., received the National Medal for Excellence and Bahia El Hariri received the International Medal for Excellence.

Sunday morning featured a CEE Luminaries Discussion with four alumni from CEE’s Research Science Institute: Pinterest Co-Founder and CEO Ben Silbermann (RSI’98), CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang (RSI’99), Google fellow Diane Tang (RSI’90) and Harvard professor Lauren Williams (RSI’94).

“The weekend exceeded all expectations!” DiGennaro said. “Thank you to all of our terrific panelists, presenters and moderators who helped make this weekend so memorable. Thank you also to all of our 35^th anniversary sponsors –the Claude Moore Foundation, Regeneron, Citadel and Citadel Securities, Akamai Foundation, Two Sigma and the Department of Defense. Thank you to those who were able to join us in Cambridge and, of course, to Eric Lander, Ph.D., and the Broad Institute for hosting us. And most of all, thank you to every person who has made CEE a national and international leader in nurturing STEM talent.”