Part of the same entity from 1889 until 1970, Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary are today two distinct institutions located in Wenham and South Hamilton respectively. They have history and a Christian tradition in common, and their presidents meet regularly to discuss shared donors and endowments.
Both also are valued contributors to the lives of their community and the region. Two instances:
Gordon-Conwell announced recently that it will seek to carve out two soccer fields for the use of the town's children. It also has plans to allow residents to audit courses at the school beginning in the spring semester.
That's in addition to the $100,000 it contributes annually to the town to help compensate for the 40 or so children of seminary students who attend the Hamilton-Wenham schools.
It's a welcome gesture by an institution that like most in higher education these days, is struggling to make ends meet.
Unbeknownst to most, Gordon College's leafy campus on Grapevine Road is at the center of the rapidly growing "green chemistry" movement in the United States.
During a recent meeting with local journalists, Irv Levy, who chairs the school's chemistry department, spoke of how a presentation by a student inspired him, along with several colleagues, to get involved in the effort to promote "cleaner, cheaper, smarter chemistry."
Levy points out that for every pill one consumes, about 400 times as much material has been used in the production process. One of the principles of green chemistry is to make the manufacture of medicines and similar products more efficient.
The science and engineering programs at the college received a major boost this fall with the dedication of the new Ken Olsen Science Center. And that's only one facet of a comprehensive program that encompasses everything from foreign study to contributing to the quality of life in urban centers like Salem and Lynn.
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