On multiple fronts, Harvard is moving forward to meet the many challenges and opportunities presented by the computer and communications revolution. Central for the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences is the new computer science and electrical engineering building, Maxwell Dworkin. Architects are finalizing their plans this fall and a groundbreaking is slated for next spring.

The new building will enable the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences to double the size of its faculty æ an important goal as an ever-increasing number of students are enrolling in computer science courses. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students in these fields will be together in one space for the first time, an arrangement that will facilitate collaboration on study and research.

Current research projects undertaken by professors in the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences range from programming and graphical languages (such as computer speech recognition) to designing and implementing digital, analog, and mixed integrated circuits for signal processing and computing systems; and operating system performance software versatility and adaptability.

Robert H. Lessin '77, MBA '78, and Naida S. Wharton Lessin added to the building project's momentum with a $2.5 million gift. In recognition of the Lessins' generosity, Harvard is naming Maxwell Dworkin's largest interior space the Robert and Naida Lessin Forum. Classes, symposia, and conferences will be held in the Lessin Forum.

"Networked computers and new information technologies are having an increasingly profound effect on how we live, work, and learn," said President Neil L. Rudenstine. "We are deeply grateful to Bob and Naida Lessin for their support in helping us move energetically forward in an area of such clear importance for the future."

Lessin, who paid for much of his college education by working as a computer programmer, is a classmate of Steven A. Ballmer and William H. Gates III, who together contributed 80 percent toward the cost of the new building that will bear their mothers' maiden names. "What Steve and Bill are doing is great and I'm proud to be part of it," said Lessin.

"The construction of the building and provision of a large lecture room with increased capacity comes at the right time," said Paul C. Martin, Dean of the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "Enrollments in our computer science courses are steadily increasing; several courses have expanded in the past couple of years."

Dean of Harvard College Harry R. Lewis believes this increase is directly related to the College's continued efforts to attract top faculty and students.

"We are witnessing a surge in enrollments in all undergraduate computer science courses æ in some cases by more than 50 percent in one year," Lewis said. "This is due, I think, both to the increased strength of our faculty and the quality of our teaching, and increasing awareness by our students of the importance of information technology to the future of society.

"We are thankful to the Lessins for providing the funding for a state-of-the-art space for instruction and discussion in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science," he continued. "There is no facility today in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences that has the capabilities comparable to those that will be available in the Lessin Forum."

Lessin himself is deeply interested in how information technology is impacting society. "I'm a great believer in a rather dramatic restructuring of business society," Lessin said. "No matter what endeavor future Harvard graduates pursue, they will be influenced by the incredible digitization of society. Harvard, as great as it is, cannot maintain its position as an educational leader without intensively training undergraduates to take advantage of the opportunities technology offers."

After graduating from the Business School, Lessin joined Morgan Stanley's investment banking division and became managing director. In 1994, he was named vice chairman of Smith Barney, where he headed the firm's investment banking operation. Last January, Lessin ceded some management responsibilities in order to concentrate more on personal venture capital opportunities.

Naida Wharton Lessin, a graduate of Wellesley, shares her husband's enthusiasm about Harvard as her father, brother, sister, several uncles, and cousins attended the College and her mother did graduate work at the University as well.

It was Naida and the three Lessin children æ Sam, 14, Danny, 11, and Kara, 4 æ who convinced Bob Lessin of the values of personal computing just a few years ago. "Although Bob was a talented computer programmer in junior high, high school, and college, he abandoned it until we bought computers for the house a few years ago and talked him into trying them out. Now, he's 'laptop-obsessed' and we joke that sometimes the best way to communicate with each other æ even when we're sitting just three yards away æ is via e-mail!"