Mr. Levy, who holds four patents and has eight more pending, received the prize at a May 1 luncheon at the Faculty Club from Dr. Lester C. Thurow, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Economics. Professor Thurow, of the Sloan School of Management, chairs the Lemelson-MIT Prize Board, which oversees the selection process. The prize program was established by Jerome H. Lemelson. With more than 500 US patents to his credit, he is the nation's most prolific living inventor.
Young people represent an untapped resource of creative and entrepreneurial energy.
We need to inspire them to develop new products and socially responsible, marketable solutions to contemporary dilemmas. Mr. Levy did his undergraduate work at MIT and was a UROP student in 1986 when he met Professor Alexander H. Slocum of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, one of those who recommended Mr. Levy for the prize. He did his master's thesis with Dr. Slocum, the Alex and Brit d'Arbeloff Associate Professor, then took a position with Apple. Myron Spector, a professor at Harvard Medical School, also recommended Mr. Levy for the prize. That he has not yet completed his graduate education is all the more remarkable to me.