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Harvey F. Brush
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Norman Dann
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Bennett Levin
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The College of Engineering recently honored three people as Alumni Fellows:
Harvey F. Brush ('42 B.S. chemical engineering) of Atherton, Calif.; Norman Dann ('49 B.S. industrial engineering) of Shorewood, Minn.; and Bennett Levin of
Newtown, Pa. all received the award, the most prestigious honor given by the Alumni Association.
Brush retired in 1986 as executive vice president of Bechtel Group Inc., parent company of Bechtel Corp., the world's largest engineering construction company. He worked with Bechtel for more than 40 years in various positions. He also served as president and director of the Bechtel Foundation.
Currently, Brush is involved in several projects related to conservation and energy, as manager of Nanofilm, a company working to develop thin film technology, and as a part owner of PetrolPhysics, which develops techniques for horizontal drilling of oil wells.
Brush was named a Penn State Outstanding Engineering Alumnus in 1984 and honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1985.
Dann has worked as an engineer, consultant and venture capitalist for the medical industry since graduating from Penn State. Shortly after graduation, he and two partners organized a company to manufacture an infant resuscitator (patented by his father), design and fabricate specialized equipment and repair scientific instruments.
In 1960, he founded the Dann Co. to provide
comprehensive services for high-tech medical products. The Dann Co. served a
nine-state
area when it was acquired by Medtronic Inc., in 1971, where he became senior
vice president, a position he held until 1977.
Dann co-founded Pathfinder Consultants in 1977 to provide consulting and advice to the medical devices industry. In the 1980s, he and several partners established the Pathfinder Venture Capital Funds, a privately-held, professionally-managed family of venture capital partnerships that has raised three funds aggregating $98 million.
Dann continues to provide consulting and advisory services to early-stage developing medical device companies.
Levin earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts in 1961 and a B.S. in industrial engineering in 1965 from Penn State.
Levin organized his own consulting engineering firm in 1966 and continued in active practice until his retirement in 1992. He is a registered professional engineer in 24 states, and has been granted two patents for the application of heat pumps for the enhancement of low temperature water storage and heat recovery. Building systems designed by his firm across the country include those in major high-rise hotels, office buildings and residential structures.
He served as a member of the City of Philadelphia's Board of Building Standards for 20 years, and in 1991 was appointed the commissioner of Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections. In 1995, while serving in that position, he was named by Governing magazine as one of America's nine "Public Officials of the Year."
Levin is currently a member of the College of Engineering's Leonhard Center Advisory Board and the college's campaign committee. A railroad restoration enthusiast, he has restored and operates several historic railroad passenger cars.