Case All-Stars
PRESENTING OUR 2024 AWARD WINNERS
Stories by Robert L. Smith
The Case Alumni Association will honor seven distinguished alumni for their accomplishments and for their service to Case and to humanity at Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, November 15-17. These awards represent the highest honors bestowed by the CAA, the nation’s oldest independent alumni association of science and engineering graduates.
The 139th awards program begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, in Strosacker Auditorium. It follows the Dean’s Reception in nearby Nord Hall. All are welcome at both events.
Let us introduce you to our 2024 Case All-Stars!
GOLD MEDAL AWARD
Engineering’s guiding light
As a researcher, educator and dean, Ken Lutchen helped put more heart into the profession.
To Ken Lutchen, MS ’80, PhD ’83, great engineers are more than technical experts. They are students of history. Supporters of the arts. Lifelong learners.
The “societal engineer,” as he calls them, are men and women who innovate and solve problems to build a better world. Lutchen made that philosophy a cornerstone of his programs at Boston University, where he was a long-time Dean of the College of Engineering. He also promotes such ideals as a writer, speaker, and thought leader.
For his impact on engineering and for the honor he brings to the profession and to Case, Lutchen will receive the Gold Medal at Homecoming 2024. It is the highest honor bestowed annually by the Case Alumni Association.
To accept the award, the biomedical engineer will return to a campus where he said his engineering skills and principles were shaped. He credits “giants in the field,” like professors Gerald Saidel and P. Hunter Peckham Jr., for showing him the wonders of interdisciplinary engineering and teaching him the hard work of research.
In University Circle in the early 1980s, he met and mingled with other bright students from different majors and worlds, played intramural sports, and “spent a lot of time de-stressing in The Euclid Tavern. It was a wonderful experience and a great time in my life,” he said.
Lutchen came to Case Institute of Technology from the University of Virginia, intrigued by biomedical engineering. CIT had one of the nation’s first BME programs and he was eager to learn how to apply engineering principles to heal and help the human body. He had a lot to absorb.
In one of his first experiments, inserting a catheter for a pulmonary exploration under the watchful gaze of a physician, the patient fainted. The incident made plain the human side of biomedical engineering. It’s a lesson he never forgot.
“I can tell you my advisor, Jerry Saidel, probably went through dozens and dozens of red pencils trying to teach me how to write technically,” he said. “I thought I was good. I was terrible. He taught me how to write.”
Saidel also had him shadow graduate students on complex projects, where he gleaned experimental data to test out models.
“I later learned the most powerful leaders are the ones who understand how to get the data,” he said.
He took his new skills to Boston University, where he shaped the College of Engineering as a professor, department chair, and finally dean from 2006 to 2023. After serving as BU’s interim provost and chief academic officer, Lutchen was recently named senior advisor to the president for strategy and innovation. His responsibilities now span the university, but he learned long ago the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and education.
“Receiving the Gold Medal award from the Case Alumni Association means the world to me,” he said. “In many ways, it’s me who should be rewarding Case for what they did to prepare me for my successful life.”
SAMEUL H. GIVELBER 1923 FELLOWHSIP AWARD
A passion for fellowships
Lee Swanger is helping Case to compete with the best.
Twice a year, Lee Swanger ’68, PhD, makes the trek from his home in Coral Gables, Florida, to Cleveland to visit his alma mater. If you see him striding briskly across the Quad, it’s because his return to campus is no stroll down memory lane. He’s here to meet with Swanger Fellows, top students he is supporting in their quest to become Case scientists and engineers.
Fellowships helped Swanger to achieve success as a materials scientist and an engineering consultant. Now he strives to ensure that today’s Case students enjoy the same opportunities and more.
In recognition of his enriching role in the Case community, Swanger will receive the Samuel Givelber 1923 Award, which honors an alumnus who promotes fellowship and kindness in the Case tradition.
That’s a role that Swanger pursues with fervor and effectiveness.
“Case is an up-and-coming university. And I want to see Case get the reputation it deserves,” he explains. “It just isn’t widely enough known.”
Part of the solution, he believes, is bolstering graduate education. Top graduate students help to attract top faculty, he says, creating a “cascading system” that results in research discoveries and renown.
Working with Dean Venkataramanan “Ragu” Balakrishnan, Swanger helped to create Swanger Fellowship. They amount to $5,000 signing bonuses for prized recruits. To a young scholar, such a bonus can be enticing and even life changing, Swanger says. It was for him.
The valedictorian of nearby Willoughby South High School came to Case Institute of Technology on an academic scholarship and majored in metallurgy. A Hertz Fellowship led him to Stanford, where he earned his advanced degrees. He embarked upon a fulfilling career as a metallurgical engineer, a researcher and an innovator for General Motors Research Labs and Gould’s Clevite Engine Parts Division.
Today, he’s the principal engineer at the Miami laboratory of Exponent, Inc., for whom he serves as an expert witness in lawsuits, often patentinfringement cases. He has testified at more than 100 trials. In addition, he provides engineering assistance to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and gas and electric utilities.
Swanger also shares his industry insights with faculty and administrators at Case. It’s where, he says, he was first exposed to world-class teachers and continues to meet world-class students.
“So I am happy to continue to support the Case School of Engineering for as long as I can,” he said.
YOUNG ALUMNI LEADERSHIP AWARD
‘Sure, I can help’
Prince Ghosh likes to say yes to Case.
As an admissions ambassador, Prince Ghosh ’19 is a cut above. When the university needs someone to speak to admitted students in the New York City area, or seeks an alumnus to animate a summer send-off, Ghosh often gets the call.
Prospective students see a bright smile and an easy manner. They also hear an upbeat review of the Case experience.
“For the curious minded, there is no better university in the world,” he likes to say.
Ghosh, a busy entrepreneur, also shares his insight with students and young alumni as a mentor and a volunteer for the Case Alumni Association. In recognition of his dedication and his service, he will receive the Young Alumni Leadership Award at Homecoming 2024.
He lives in Manhattan, where he is the co-founder and CEO of Factored Quality, a platform that matches brands with quality control resources around the world. It’s another in a series of startups that trace to his Case days, where he explored entrepreneurship and much, much more.
“My experience at Case was nothing short of magical,” he said. “I learned more than I could imagine about things I didn’t even know I was curious about.”
He earned degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering while taking classes in philosophy, poetry, and art. He conducted research, interned at NASA, and was active in student government.
An immigrant from India who grew up in New Jersey, Ghosh credits his parents and Case with launching him toward the American dream. Tapping campus resources like Sears think[box] and the Great Lakes Energy Institute, where he was a ThinkEnergy Fellow, Ghosh researched wind technology and grew excited about running a business. He co-founded Workbench Technologies, a supply chain platform, and then Factored Quality, which counts hundreds of customers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
“I credit so much of who I am as a person to my time on campus,” Ghosh said. “Case taught me to be curious. It taught me to be thoughtful. It taught me to stretch myself in ways I never thought of.”
Now he steers other young people toward those opportunities as often as he can.
THOMAS P. KICHER ’59, MS ’62, PHD ’65 MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD
Tech trailblazer
Jeni Barovian rode the tech boom and helped other women come along.
Jennifer “Jeni” Barovian ’99 credits Case with launching her into a long, rewarding career at Intel, where she has witnessed an array of technological transformations — and often played a role in leading them.
The computer engineer and business strategist wants more women and minorities included in that experience. So she shares her time as a mentor and an advocate, including for women at the Case School of Engineering. She will receive a Thomas P. Kicher Meritorious Service Award at Homecoming 2024.
The award will enshrine her family even more deeply into the Case tradition. Her dad, Bernie Barovian, graduated from Case Institute of Technology in 1972. Mom, Pam Barovian, earned an education degree from Western Reserve in 1973. Aiming to become a graphic artist, Jeni Barovian fell into computer technology. She said it appealed to her passion for tech and for creating change.
“I also just love learning how things work, and an engineering degree afforded me the opportunity to do that,” she said.
Her diversity of experience at Case, including internships and co-ops, made her “highly employable” as the dot-com era boomed. She joined Intel as a rotational engineer and rose with the company. She’s been responsible for engineering, product management, and business strategy, often in growth areas. In her 25 years with the semiconductor giant, Barovian witnessed the dawn of the Internet age, the advent of cloud computing, and now the emergence of artificial intelligence.
“What kept it really new and exciting is the fact that over that quarter century, I have been a witness and a party to several major technology transformations,” she said. “That’s really kept me on my toes and kept me learning.”
Today she leads business strategy as head of market for Altera, a standalone Intel company that develops field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), flexible integrated circuits important to many industries. She lives in Phoenix with her two daughters, Gray, 17, and Juliana, 20, whom she says make her laugh every day.
She’s long been an advocate for more diversity in tech, “not just women, but all underserved populations,” arguing the impact of her field is too powerful for anyone to be left out
In 2021, she was the inaugural winner of Intel’s Executive Inclusion Advocate of the Year Award. Meanwhile, she has served on the leadership team of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing for more than a decade, including as general co-chair — the highest volunteer role.
“Everyone can serve as a mentor, no matter what phase or stage of your life you are in,” she likes to say. “You can always pay forward to the next generation.”
THOMAS P. KICHER ’59, MS ’62, PHD ’65 MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD
Team builder
Shaped by Case, Ray Floyd gets people working toward a greater good.
Twenty years after graduating, Raymond C. Floyd ’70 returned to campus for a meeting of the Visiting Committee of the Case School of Engineering. He dropped in on his old track coach, Bill Sudeck, who was at work at his desk. He looked up and without missing a beat he said, “Big Floyd, good to see you again!” recalled Floyd, who described the encounter as an example of Case’s personality.
“You tended to build relationships with people,” he said.
Floyd kept those relationships going for decades. While helping to design manufacturing strategy for the likes of Exxon, the tall, amiable chemical engineer shared his insight with the dean’s office and with the Great Lakes Energy Institute, among others.
In recognition of his long and dedicated service, Floyd will receive a Thomas P. Kicher Meritorious Service Award at Homecoming 2024. It will be added to an impressive trophy case. A member of the American Manufacturing Hall of Fame, Floyd this year was awarded the Baldridge Foundation Award for Leadership Excellence.
He attributes much of his success to Case, where he learned how to be a teammate.
“We did laboratories as teams. We did projects as teams. We studied in study groups,” he said. “So I actually left Case with four years’ experience being a member of a team. That proved to be very valuable.”
For the next 40 years, he designed strategies for businesses looking to be cleaner, leaner, and more efficient. He did that as a vice president for Exxon Chemicals and as SVP of Suncor Energy, a job that took him and his wife, Marsha, to northern Canada, where he became a hockey fan.
Now retired in Houston, Floyd continues to share his energy and his team building skills. He chairs the board of Queensbury Theater, a musical theater company and a school of performing arts, and he and his wife volunteer at the local food pantry of Catholic Charities.
Meanwhile, he continues to support the Great Lakes Energy Institute as vice chair of its advisory board. It’s another Case relationship that he is proud to have.
THOMAS P. KICHER ’59, MS ’62, PHD ’65 MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD
Laying a foundation
Warren Gibson is enhancing the education of Case civil engineers.
As a multi-faceted civil engineer, Warren Gibson ’65, MS ’69, PhD ’71, knows the importance of laying a strong foundation — for a structure and for a program.
Partly through his energetic efforts, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering features upgraded structures, concrete and geotechnical labs — not far from the Warren C. Gibson Library. The proud alumnus also designed a bequest that will support the program far into the future.
In recognition of his extraordinary support, Gibson will receive a Thomas P. Kicher Meritorious Service Award at Homecoming 2024. He said the award is especially meaningful because it is named for his late mentor and friend.
“Tom Kicher’s contributions as a professor and a dean are well known, but those of us who knew him personally, as I did going back into the 1960s, knew that he was just a plain nice guy,” Gibson said.
Gibson followed a childhood dream from Cleveland Heights to Case Institute of Technology, where he said he learned the kinds of technical and management skills that allowed him to launch and run a successful engineering firm, CSA Engineering.
He still recalls the lessons of professors like Adel “Tony” Saada, with whom he also discussed the stories of Ayn Rand and the plays of Moliere.
“He was a remarkable teacher, but I would say he was also a larger-than-life fellow,” Gibson said.
He credits Case for a lifelong love of learning.
After he sold his company around 2000, Gibson went on to faculty positions at Santa Clara University and San José State University and pursued a master’s degree in economics. He also taught high school math.
He has contributed financially to Case and the Case Alumni Association for more than 40 years.
Gibsons’ final bequest will endow the Alfred and Mary Gibson Fund — named for his grandparents. It will provide graduate fellowships and general support for the civil engineering department and its infrastructure. Gibson has another, larger goal as well.
“I want to try to spread the word that the opportunities in civil engineering today are just enormous, more than ever before, even in my time,” he said. “You can have a great career in civil engineering.”
THOMAS P. KICHER ’59, MS ’62, PHD ’65 MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD
Steadfast friend
Ron Cass on the job is something to count on.
His first home at Case was the Zeta Psi house, which the university was using as housing. He liked it so much he pledged the fraternity, then remained active for decades and recently served as its international president.
Other groups have felt the staying power of Ron Cass ’84, including the Case Alumni Foundation and the Case Alumni Association. Cass has served on their respective boards for a combined 18 years and helped shape the foundation into one of Ohio’s largest grant-making institutions.
In recognition of his steadfast service, he will receive a Thomas P. Kicher Meritorious Service Award at Homecoming 2024.
Cass came to Case Institute of Technology from Chicago on an academic scholarship and discovered a world to his liking. Engineering majors populated his fraternity house. The cultural institutions of University Circle broadened his ken. Both helped set the stage for a mid-career pivot.
After a dozen years as a software specialist, he launched Big River, a startup that brought e-commerce tools to nonprofits to help with fundraising.
“The idea was to make the online experience for donors better, easier, more user friendly,” said Cass, who soon renamed the company Donor Point. Last year, Donor Point was acquired by Scanco, a large supply chain management company, where Cass is now an executive vice president.
Many of the institutions where he volunteered also grew and prospered, shaped by his attention. As president of the Case Alumni Foundation, Cass helped to introduce governing systems and donor management protocols. The endowment more than doubled during his tenure, to about $90 million.
Cass hopes alumni see the significance of a strong foundation and what it portends.
“It represents the legacy of Case, its past and its potential for the future,” he said. “Its greatest impact, of course is in the lives of the students. That’s why it’s important to support the Case Alumni Foundation. You’re giving directly to the students who will benefit from your gifts.”
Find information on the awards program and all Homecoming events at casealumni.org/homecoming.
@2020 Case Alumnus Magazine
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