Albright Creates New Professorship In Engineering
November 27, 2000
University Park, Pa.– Gifford H. Albright, founding head and professor emeritus of the Department of Architectural Engineering, has endowed a professorship in the College of Engineering.
The Gifford H. Albright Professorship of Architectural Engineering will be used to attract and support an outstanding young faculty member in architectural engineering. It will provide its holder critical financial support and encouragement.
Income from the endowment will allow a young faculty member to direct his or her initial energies to the classroom and establish a commitment to teaching. The endowment also will provide initial funds for new areas of research, preliminary investigations, and conceptual development of research ideas; provide equipment funds for teaching and research laboratories; and offer early recognition for outstanding accomplishments.
In addition to being the founder of the architectural engineering department, Albright received his B.A.E. in engineering from Penn State in 1953, and an S.M. in building engineering from M.I.T. He served as special projects officer in the United States Naval Civil Engineering Corps and was cited for his outstanding research activity in facilities design.
Albright’s most far-reaching innovation may be his pioneering in the 1960s of MODCON—his acronym for Man Machine System for the Optimum Design and Construction of Buildings. At the University, he established the computer-aided drafting design (CAD) laboratory and created the country’s first course in Integrated Building Systems based on computer applications.
Because of his pioneering work with CAD, the Engineering News-Record featured him on their cover, and he was honored as one of 38 building professionals throughout the world who made the most significant contributions to the construction industry.
Albright also established the College’s Engineering Copy Center, which serves the entire University and the public.
From 1983 to 1988, Albright served as program director of the National Science Foundation’s Structures and Building System division, where he was cited for outstanding and superior performance. He also served three years as executive director of the Penn State Consortium for the Advancement of Building Sciences.
In 1989 he was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his developments in computer-aided design and modeling, as well as heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and air quality control. In 1991 Albright was named a professor emeritus of architectural engineering. As professor emeritus, he served as a member of the planning
committee for the Bryce Jordan Center, board member and president of the Penn State Faculty Staff Club, and co-chair of the Penn State Forum lecture series. He is a member of the Mount Nittany Society and a recipient of the Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award from the Penn State College of Engineering.
Contact: Curtis Chan Phone: (814) 865-5544 E-mail:
