RIT Professor Emeritus Authors Revised RIT History Book

Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus Dane Gordon has completed work on a revised and enlarged edition of the history of RIT, titled Rochester Institute of Technology: Industrial Development and Educational Innovation in an American City, 1829-2006.

Gordon’s book, which is in its second edition, formally launches during a book release celebration at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5 in the Alexander S. Lawson Publishing Center on the second floor of RIT’s Wallace Library. It is the first book to be published by the new RIT Press imprint.

Gordon spent 10 years researching and writing the first edition of the book, which was published in 1982. That project covered RIT’s first 150 years. The new book takes the RIT story into 2006 and concludes with the announcement of the retirement of RIT President Al Simone.

In the new edition, Gordon draws from hundreds of interviews, institute committee reports, letters, publications, journals and news accounts.

New material in this edition includes several significant milestones and moments in the university’s history, among them are the acquisition of Eisenhower College, the launch of the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies, the founding of new colleges such as the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences and the first offering of doctoral programs at RIT. It also includes a section on the 1991 CIA controversy.

At 712 pages, the new book is substantially larger than its 428-page predecessor. It also includes a section of color photographs. The book can be purchased by visiting http://carypress.rit.edu, www.amazon.com and RIT’s Campus Connections bookstore.