Answers Are Abundant, Judgement Makes the Difference

At the Tufts University School of Engineering Graduate Programs Ceremony on May 16, Alexis Abramson, E95, EG98, addressed graduating master’s and Ph.D. students and their loved ones. Her inspiring remarks referenced the current state of the world and how Tufts engineers can use their skills for good.

Throughout her speech, Abramson focused on the importance of judgement. “In a world where answers are abundant, it’s judgement that gives you the edge–and judgement that the world needs most right now,” Abramson said. She encouraged the graduating engineers to think carefully about all the implications before building something and question the impact their work will have on society at large.

According to Abramson, judgement has three essential components. First, judgement requires people to think across boundaries. “The engineers who will move the needle are not the ones who know their own discipline most deeply in isolation. They are the ones who can work across all of it,” Abramson reminded graduates. Second, judgement must be grounded in a secure knowledge of the truth. And finally, judgement should consider the human element and question how engineering decisions will impact humans and the planet.

She concluded by reminding students that Tufts has prepared them well for this type of judgement and encouraging them to use their abilities for good.

Abramson is currently the Dean and Professor of Climate in the Columbia Climate School. A leading expert in sustainable energy technology, she focuses broadly on thermal transport, from designing nanostructured materials to addressing building energy efficiency. Before joining Columbia in 2025, she was dean of Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering. Abramson also recently served as a Technical Advisor to Breakthrough Energy Ventures, launched by Bill Gates. During the Obama administration, she held the position of Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tufts University and earned her Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley.