The Dean's Award for engineering achievement is given this year to Mr. Robert H. Goldsmith, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Exten Industries, Inc. in San Diego, for his career-long achievements as an engineer in industry.

Bob Goldsmith received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University at Buffalo in 1951. After three years working at Allied Chemical & Dye in Buffalo, Goldsmith entered the army for a two-year stint working in engineering physics for the Transportation Corps at Fort Eustis in Virginia. In 1956, he began what would be a 26-year career with General Electric Company, starting as an engineer, supervisor and manager in advanced component development for aircraft engines, and ending up as Corporate Vice President. Early in his professional career, Mr. Goldsmith earned an MBA at Xavier University in Cincinnati, which has served to complement his engineering expertise in the corporate world. Since working with G.E., he has held the positions of Vice Chairman and COO of Precision Forge in California, President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer at Rohr, a manufacturer of engine nacelle systems for jet airplanes which under his leadership achieved the position of number 273 in the Fortune 500, and is now Chairman of Xenogenex, Inc., a subsidiary or Exten Industries, and Chairman, President and CEO, of Exten Industries itself, whose principal business is the development of an artificial liver. In addition to his salaried positions, Mr. Goldsmith serves on the boards of directors of these two corporations as well as on the board of San Diego Gas & Electric.

Equally as important to Mr. Goldsmith as his professional activities are his community services. He currently serves on the board of the YMCA of San Diego County and the California State University Foundation Regional; he is a Community Trustee of Sharp Hospital, and a member of the Select Panel of the California Council on Science and Technology's Project California, which is defining the action agendas for development of 200,000 to 500,000 California jobs related to the transportation industry. Previously, he served on the boards of the Community Hospital of Chula Vista, the San Diego Economic Development Corporation and the United Way of San Diego County, chairing their $30 million campaign in 1990.

A native of Buffalo, Bob Goldsmith is married to Catherine, who whom he lives in San Diego. He has seven grown children, "living all over the United States and Canada," he says, and six grandchildren. He identifies himself as a "struggling golf addict," but is unclear as to whether he struggles with the addiction of with his handicap.

We are pleased to have alumni Robert H. Goldsmith here with us today to accept the 1994 Engineering Dean's Award.