Professor Richard “Rick” Kline is this year’s recipient of the Pace University Bronze Medal Jefferson Award for outstanding community service. Through his teaching of Problem Solving using LEGO Robotics, his extensive involvement with the robotics programs sponsored by the FIRST organization, and his mentoring of participants in the Seidenberg Summer Experience, among many other robotics-related activities, he has excelled in fostering a strong sense of fun and excitement among young people in the exploration of science and technology.
Co-founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr., and Sam Beard, the Jefferson Awards began in 1972 as a Nobel Prize for public service. Today, their primary purpose is to serve as a “Call to Action for Volunteers” in local communities. The Jefferson Awards are a prestigious local and national recognition system honoring community and public service in America.
Former Seidenberg recipients of this prestigious award included James Lawler (2009-10) and Jean Coppola (2008-09).