Honored with Townsend Harris Medal for Exemplary Contributions
The City College of New York’s Alumni Association Board of Directors unanimously voted to award Bernard Adler, PE, the 2023 Townsend Harris Medal.
Bernard is a Senior Transportation Consultant in LaBella’s White Plains office with over 50 years of experience in transportation planning and traffic engineering. He started his own business in 1991, which is now part of LaBella Associates. He has worked with clients in government, real estate, healthcare, education, religious, and cultural institutions for both the public and private sectors.
The Townsend Harris Medal is named after the founder of the City College of New York, Townsend Harris. Established in 1933 by the Class of 1906, Townsend Harris Medals are awarded each year at the Alumni Association’s Annual Alumni Gala Dinner to not more than seven alumni for outstanding postgraduate achievement in their chosen fields. Candidates are selected from nominations by a special committee comprised of former recipients of the medal and subject to final approval by the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Chosen among nearly 100 nominees, this medal symbolizes the Alumni Association’s recognition of Bernard’s exemplary contributions.
As a licensed Professional Engineer in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, Bernard’s contributions to the profession over the years have included:
- Being a Fellow at the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
- Serving as ITE’s Metropolitan Section of NY/NJ President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary, as well as on many committees
- Serving as Director of ITE’s District One
- Serving as International Director of ITE
- Being a Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), a Past Member of the Transportation Research Board, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- Serving as President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary of the City College of New York’s Engineering School Alumni
- Receiving the 2022 Leon Goodman Distinguished Member Award from ITE’s Met Section, the Ivor S. Wisepart Engineer of the Year Award from ITE’s Met Section, the Harvey Boutwell Distinguished Service Award from ITE’s District One, the Outstanding Engineer in Government from the Westchester County Chapter of NSPE, and the Alumni Service Award from the City College of New York Alumni Association
- Being a past adjunct Professor of Civil Engineering at Manhattan College
- Being a former Commissioner of Traffic for the City of White Plains, NY
- Founding Adler Consulting, Transportation Planning & Traffic Engineering, PLLC
- Being formerly employed by AIL Division of Cutler Hammer Computran Systems Corp., the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission, Wilbur Smith & Associates, Raymond Keys Associates, and The Chazen Companies (now LaBella Associates)
The medal was presented to Bernard and six other honorees at the 143rd Annual Alumni Gala on November 9, 2023, in the Great Hall at the City College of New York.
Please join us in congratulating Bernard on this outstanding honor!