Only after I arrived did I discover that, at the time, the Minneapolis campus had the largest student population in the country. For this reason, and because I wanted to attend what I believed in my naivete to be a smaller school, I chose the University of Minnesota. Professor Pfeffer urged me to continue my education at the University of Wisconsin, though at the time the University of Minnesota was the top-rated chemical engineering program. Because, at that time, CCNY did not have a graduate program, I had no idea that some engineers went beyond the bachelor's degree, nor did I know why a graduate degree would be useful in chemical engineering. In my junior year, he encouraged me to go to graduate school. I entered CCNY in 1958 and was mentored by a young faculty member, Robert Pfeffer. Unlike many present college students, I graduated without any debt. I did receive a New York Regents Scholarship of $250 per year that was sufficient to pay for the small enrollment costs and to purchase all of my books. Although I considered applying to various colleges to study engineering, my family's financial situation made attending the tuition-free City College of New York (CCNY) and living at home my only option. I attended local public schools, including Brooklyn Technical High School. I grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and remain proud of my New York City background, though less so of the resulting accent.
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