Margaret McDermott HM '90 received the Catherine N. Stratton Medal in the Arts during a reception at her home in Dallas. The award features a stylized portrait of Stratton, and is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the Council for the Arts at MIT or the arts at MIT. McDermott is a major benefactor in the arts at MIT. Together with her late husband, Texas Instruments co-founder Eugene McDermott, she commissioned Alexander Calder's "The Great Sail" - the 40-foot-tall sculpture that stands in front of the Green Building. McDermott has also funded the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts, among the country's most esteemed arts awards, and her generosity supports student scholarships and faculty chairs. The award was designed by Suzana Lisanti, senior communications strategist, and created in the MIT glass lab by instructor Peter Houk. In attendance at the reception were Margaret McDermott, Mary McDermott Cook, Irwin Grossman '52, Bill '60 and Jean Booziotis, Tom '57 and Effie McCullough, Margaret Anne Cullum and Susan Cohen, director of the Council for the Arts. Letters of tribute to McDermott from MIT President Susan Hockfield, Associate Provost Philip Khoury and Brit d'Arbeloff SM '61 were read and a champagne toast was given, followed by lunch. Photo / Susan Cohen
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 24, 2008 (download PDF).
