The Leaders
This page will include a brief overview of the president and vice-president of Poly leading up to the merger and also one of President Bugliarello, who was the first president after the merger. These include headlines on the resignation of the VP and president before the merger, Mr Edward Quirin and Dr Arthur Grad. This shows how the leadership was in a tumultuous state after the merger was agreed upon.
The first article states that the vice president of Poly resigned. This was the first important resignation from the directors of Poly. It does not state a specific reason as to why he resigned, but it can be assumed that it was mainly because of disagreements he and the president had with the trustees. This was the time in which the terms of the merger were being finalized. From a subsequent article, it was actually Mr Spruck that succeeded the vice presidency and served during the time of George Bugliarello, an important figure in the history of post merger Poly which will also be featured in this exhibit.
The second article headline reads "PRESIDENT GRAD RESIGNS OFFICE", in February 8 1973. It lists that his reasons for resignation were "misunderstandings and conflicts - over his economic measures". He briefly talked about tenure grants which was a very sensitive and conflicting topic when merger negotiations were being finalized. It states that the year 1971, was Dr Grads first year at Poly, and that it was the "worst year for job placement since the Depression. An interim president was installed and the search for a new leader began.
The third headline reads "Presidential Search Begins". It states that it would be appropriate that the individual chosen "to assume the presidential office will be someone with little or no prior connection to Poly".
The fourth article in this page reads “New President Appointed”. This article announces that the new president of Poly will be Dr George Bugliarello. He was the individual that took up the mantle during the first years of the merger. He previously served as the Dean of Engineering at the University of Illinois. The article states that Dr Bugliarello had extensive experience and has a generally optimistic tone towards his new appointment.
The fifth section in this page includes a brief biography of Dr Bugliarello. This was obtained from a New York Times article that was published after his death at 83 years old. He was born in Italy and obtained an engineering degree there. Subsequently he received an M.S in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota and later a Ph. D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He went on and became a Professor at various universities. He realized early in his position that went on to last 21 years, that it was necessary to redevelop the land around Poly in order for it to be able to survive and most importantly compete against other engineering institutions around the US. He managed to obtain support from both private and public entities that paved the way for a revitalization of downtown Brooklyn. He can be considered as the individual that first conceived the idea of Metrotech Center, and that without him, Poly and subsequently Tandon, would be very different from what it is today.