by PSU Foundation
March 23rd 2021
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The Portland State University community was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Dorothy Lemelson. Lemelson’s generosity helped to build STEM education and innovation programs designed to empower young inventors at Portland State and around the world.
“By inspiring young people to imagine new possibilities, Dorothy Lemelson changed the world hundreds of times over,” said PSU President Stephen Percy. “The impact of her vision and generosity will be forever remembered at PSU. Our thoughts are with her family as they celebrate Dorothy’s remarkable life and legacy.”
In 2017, The Lemelson Foundation helped to launch InventOR, a program within the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship designed to increase the number of inventors and entrepreneurs across Oregon. The annual competition awards grants to student innovators who use technology to invent the future and to consider new solutions to pressing issues. Thanks to support from The Lemelson Foundation, the competition has had enormous impact.
“Dorothy Lemelson’s commitment to supporting invention at the college level will be felt for years to come,” said Juan Barraza, director of student innovation at the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship. “Now more than ever we need to support and nurture the next generation of innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs — and she lived and breathed that truth.”
Lemelson believed that any person could become an inventor when given the right tools. She was a strong supporter of Oregon MESA, a PSU program providing students from diverse backgrounds with opportunities to engage in invention by tackling real-world problems, as well as Invention Bootcamp, a free summer program designed to inspire high school students from underserved communities to go to college, pursue STEM careers and become inventors.
“Dorothy was herself a remarkable designer and a problem solver, and she deeply understood the power that comes from cultivating creative thinking,” said Sarah Schwarz, president of the PSU Foundation. “She was a magical person.”
In 2017, Lemelson received the Simon Benson Award for Philanthropy in recognition of her lifetime of commitment to invention and inventors everywhere.