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Citing Major Contributions in Science and Music, College President Awards Houghton Medal to Wilson and Eleanor Greatbatch
HOUGHTON, N.Y.– In 1883, Houghton College
founder Willard J. Houghton signed his correspondence, “Yours for
fixing up the world,” a vision for the college that bears his name
and is celebrating its 125th anniversary. To commemorate the
occasion, Houghton College President Shirley A. Mullen conferred
special honor on a couple whose contributions have markedly advanced
the founder’s vision.
During ceremonies at the college’s Wesley Chapel, Dr. Mullen awarded The Houghton Medal to Wilson and Eleanor Greatbatch of Williamsville, N.Y. Wilson Greatbatch worked with Houghton science faculty in the development of the pacemaker, and Eleanor Greatbatch oversaw the endowment of the Houghton Masters in Music program and construction of the college’s newest building, the Center for the Arts, which houses The Greatbatch School of Music.
“Over the course of the past 35 years, the Greatbatches have enabled Houghton’s science program and Houghton’s music program to move to greater levels of capacity and excellence through their support for building the Paine Science Center in the 1970s and more recently for building the Center for the Arts,” Dr. Mullen said.
“The Greatbatches have also understood that buildings are important only to the degree that they enable programs to happen and learning to take place.”
Mr. Greatbatch’s research on the implantable heart pacemaker, a widely used medical device that helps regulate heart rhythms in patients needing cardiac care. Pacemakers, a breakthrough in cardiac health, have been implanted in millions of people worldwide and have improved and saved countless lives.
Mr. Greatbatch partnered with (now retired) Houghton College Professor Bernie Piersma, who performed basic materials research at the Allegany County campus and found noncorrosive materials to protect electrodes attached to the device.
Mr. Greatbatch’s work, in addition to supporting the physical science facilities, helped expand an emphasis on science programs at Houghton and fueled research work among Houghton’s faculty and students. Today, plans are in the works to further expand the science facilities that Mr. Greatbatch helped to build through new and updated classrooms and laboratory facilities, which are expected to bring new areas of study and research to the campus.
Mr. Greatbatch holds more than 200 patents, some related to the pacemaker, but others to technology designed to fight AIDS. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush awarded Greatbatch the National Medal of Technology.
FROM SCIENCES TO MUSIC
In 1999 the Greatbatches’ investment in Houghton’s music department provided the platform for launching Houghton’s first master’s program. Graduate students can be endowed to study music at Houghton because of Mrs. Greatbatch’s generosity.
“Many years ago, Eleanor Greatbatch heard a music group from Houghton College at her church and wanted to come here, but did not have the money,” Dr. Mullen said. “Because of her husband’s groundbreaking work in the sciences and its application to medical technology, Mrs. Greatbatch was eventually able to endow a music program so gifted students, such as she was, would be able to study their first love, regardless of the ability to pay. She ‘fixed up the music world’ so that in the future, students wouldn’t suffer the closed door that she did.”
The Houghton Medal was conferred during the 2008 Homecoming Convocation at the college’s Wesley Chapel. The theme for the weekend is, “Celebrating the Journey, Transforming the World.”
“The medal,” the president explained, “is presented in recognition of individuals who have sought consciously, out of their Christian conviction, to be agents of life and hope in our world, and who imagine the world as God intended it to be and attempt to make that vision come true.”
More than 1,000 people attended the ceremonies including alumni, faculty, students and community members.
“As we celebrate today, I can think of no great example of people who have given their all to help Houghton in its task of ‘fixing up the world,’” Dr. Mullen said. “Indeed, in fixing it up, Houghton people are helping to transform our world into a better, greener, more just place for all of humankind.
“The Greatbatches are models we should look to because they have carried Willard Houghton’s vision forward in a transformative, passionate and compassionate way, and we at Houghton College humbly recognize this and are deeply grateful.”
