History

Launched in 2007 through a $20 million gift (with a matching requirement--please use the search term 'Gordon') by The Bernard M. Gordon Foundation - the largest gift ever made to MIT's School of Engineering for curriculum development - the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program is creating a national model for preparing the engineering leaders of the 21st century.

Immediately following its inception, the GEL Program began gathering input from industrial and academic partners to design a novel program and curriculum.  As the program was formed, a series of workshops, held at MIT, brought together program stakeholders with diverse views of engineering leadership. This group included: alumni, students, faculty, industry leaders, military leaders, community leaders and those from other leadership programs at MIT.  GEL's foundational document, the Capabilities of Effective Engineering Leaders, emerged as a consensus of this group.

With continued support from original benefactor, Bernard M. Gordon (MIT Alum, B.S. ’48, M.S. ’49), additional generous donors, and MIT's School of Engineering, the GEL Program has grown to reach over 150 MIT undergraduate students each academic year. GEL has now expanded to include a professional education component for working engineering leaders and is also expanding to include coureses for graduate students. GEL continues to innovate and refine its curriculum as it strives toward its mission and vision.