SEAS Hosts Dinner to Honor Professor Ray Pickholtz

More than 90 family, friends, colleagues and former students gathered on October 20th to honor Professor Emeritus Raymond L. Pickholtz for a long and distinguished career.

The dinner and program to honor Professor Pickholtz was held at the City View and Terrace in GW's new Elliott School of International Affairs building. The festive evening began with a cocktail hour during which guests, some of whom had not seen each other for years, enjoyed the chance to become reacquainted and share stories.

The program included remarks from several family members, former students, colleagues and friends, as well as remarks from Professor Pickholtz. Ya-Qin Zhang, one of Professor Pickholtz's former doctoral students and a current vice president of Microsoft Corporation, sent well wishes in a letter that included his indebtedness to Pickholtz. "To me, Ray . . . symbolizes wisdom, confidence, and excellence. He was the reason why I studied at GWU. He is the inspiration to my career. He is a teacher, a coach, a mentor, a friend, and a father figure. He is my hero!"

Also during the program, Professor Can Korman, the chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, presented the first recipient of the Raymond Pickholtz Graduate Scholarship to doctoral student Jinhong Wu. The scholarship was established in 2004 by a lead gift from Professor Pickholtz and by contributions from some of his faculty colleagues and former students.The fund supports a graduate scholarship in communications engineering within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In his remarks, Professor Pickholtz thanked everyone for coming and sharing in the festivities, and he also thanked the colleagues, family, friends, and former students who have made gifts to support the Pickholtz Fund.

For more information on the Pickholtz fund and/or to make a gift to support the Fund, please visit www.seas.gwu.edu/ifaf/pickholtz_scholarship.php.