When MSOE needed to make a commitment to purchase the land that eventually became the location for the Kern Center, Dr. Eckhart and Ischi Grohmann stepped forward. With their propitious gift, the property was acquired and the incredible Kern Center project moved forward.
Eckhart Grohmann emigrated from Germany to the U.S. in 1962. In 1965 he acquired the Aluminum Casting and Engineering Co. and grew it from a small foundry of 35 employees to a major foundry of ten times that scale. Dr. Grohmann is also an eminent entrepreneur, having developed several additional businesses including Central Control Alarm Corp. and Hom-Med Inc., among others.
Longtime supporters of MSOE, the Grohmanns also created the remarkable Grohmann Museum on our campus to house Dr. Grohmann's gift of his best-in-the-world Man at Work collection of industrial art. The collection includes more than 700 paintings and bronze sculptures that document the history of work over 400 years.
Eckhart Grohmann is an MSOE Regent and holds an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from MSOE.