From left, President George Rupp, Z.Y. Fu, and Zvi Galil

The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science held its 1999 Awards dinner on Monday, Oct. 25 to honor a generous benefactor and a distinguished alumnus.

More than 400 people gathered in the Low Memorial Library Rotunda to celebrate Columbia Engineering. President George Rupp bestowed the Columbia University Distinguished Achievement Award on Z.Y. Fu for his support of the University through scholarships, an endowed chair and his landmark $26 million gift to the School. In addition, the Egleston Medal, the highest honor from the Engineering School Alumni Association, was given to academician and researcher Eliahu I. Jury.

"I am privileged to have the opportunity to publicly thank Mr. Fu for his wonderful support of the School," said Zvi Galil, dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, in his remarks at the dinner. "With Mr. Fu's transforming gift, the School is being catapulted into the forefront of engineering schools. We have had four major interdisciplinary centers funded ... and we continue to attract the brightest and most accomplished students in the world."

At the ceremony, President George Rupp said, "We see the common thread that runs through so much of Mr. Fu's philanthropy, both here at Columbia and in China: an emphasis on investing in human capital, a recognition of the importance of helping men and women of promise to achieve their full potential, whether in school or in the most advanced engineering laboratory."

Zvi Galil, dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, left, with Egleston Medal winner Eliahu I. Jury

Z.Y. Fu, who built and expanded the Tokyo-based Sansiao Trading Company from an import-export business into a wide-ranging international operation, has been instrumental in enhancing education and research at Columbia for many years. His gifts have included the endowment of the Fu Foundation Professorship in Applied Mathematics and his ongoing support for the Fu Foundation Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to Columbia College and Engineering School students of Chinese descent.

Eliahu I. Jury, who received his Doctor of Engineering Science degree in 1953, is considered a pioneer in the development of z-transforms, a basic tool in the theory and practice of digital signal processing. In addition, he initiated the field of discrete-time systems before the advent of digital technology. He is professor emeritus of electrical engineering at both the University of California, Berkeley and at the University of Miami.

"For more than four decades Dr. Jury contributed to the intellectual life of academia as teacher, researcher and mentor. His work has influenced a vast array of technological fields, from control systems to image processing," said Tullio Borri SEAS'51, president of the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association.

The dinner was jointly hosted by the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association and the Asian Columbia Alumni Association and sponsored by more than 30 corporations. The keynote speech was given by Robert W. Lucky, vice-president of applied research at Telcordia Technologies. Gregory Basso SEAS'68 and Robert E. Hanson CC'55, SEAS'56 were given Crossed Hammers Awards in recognition of their outstanding service to the Alumni Association.