PHS Student Earns Feigenbaum Scholarship
 Attorney Emil George presents the award to Mark Eddy on Thursday afternoon at the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield High School graduate Mark Eddy has won this year's Feigenbaum Scholarship.
The $5,000 award is given annually to a city student who excels in engineering and technology by the Feigenbaum Foundation and General Systems Co. in conjunction with the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce. The scholarship was started by Donald and Armand Feigenbaum 10 years ago.
The Feigenbaum brothers started the engineering firm General Systems in 1968 and the South Street company has grown to become internationally recognized.
Here in the Berkshires, the Feigenbaums are known as philanthropists contributing to numerous causes but most notably donating more than $1 million to renovate the Berkshire Museum. The museum later opened the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation in their honor.
The scholarship recipient is chosen through an interview process. Eddy was chosen this year and will be studying chemical engineering and engineering management at Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology in the fall.
"I know that the brothers would be very pleased," said attorney Emil George, a director of the Feigenbaum Foundation, who presented the award at the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce offices on Thursday. "They would be impressed with the work that you've done."
Eddy, son of Kenneth and Bette Anne Eddy of Elaine Drive, was the student speaker at his graduation from Pittsfield High earlier this month. A high honors student, he was awarded a number of scholarships and awards, including the Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award from the University of Rochester.
Donald Feigenbaum died earlier this year but the scholarship will live on. Eddy said this isn't the first time the Feigenbaums have helped him. The brothers allowed the high school to hold the science fair in the Hall of Innovation, helping many of Eddy's classmates move on to state competitions.
Eddy said he was saddened by Donald Feigenbaum's death this past March at age 87. Armand Feigenbaum a quality control expert, remains president of General Systems.
"This is just an extreme honor to receive his today," Eddy said. "I hope to make you proud in the future."
During the short ceremony, Chamber of Commerce President Michael Supranowicz said science education is more important now more than ever because of the types of jobs that will be available in the future.
Tags: academic award, graduation 2013, PHS, scholarships, science,
