24 ICSA TODAY 22
If you have been enjoying the recently enhanced ICSA
website, that is due in large part to the efforts of Alex
Gawkins, cochair of ICSA’s technology committee. Alex is one
of those rare people whose mere presence seems to make
everything better. He is a quiet man, yet he is the one who
notices that someone needs a ride home from a meeting
or he adjusts his pace unobtrusively to accommodate the
slower walkers or, unasked, he brings treats to the gathering.
Or he converts 25,000 files so that they are easily accessible
on the ICSA website! Alex is that decent man, the gentlest of
gentlemen.
As I write this, an image of Putin looms up on the screen, and
I am reminded of the life-and-death battle Alex has had to
wage since childhood. He explains that, as a Jewish boy in the
anti-Semitic USSR, “I was beaten up every single day. Because
my name was Izraitel, when anything negative appeared on
the news about Israel, the beatings were worse.” Teachers
were no help. They either turned a blind eye or joined in
verbal taunts. This brilliant boy was denied prizes and awards
that were rightfully his because of his name.
I wanted to join extracurricular clubs, but was
rejected. Instead, I engaged myself in running the
chemical, photography, and pyrotechnic laboratory
with friends. I graduated high school with college-
level math and physics.
In spite of efforts to hold him back, Alex won the Ukrainian
State television competition in physics—twice. Not
surprisingly, one of his favorite sayings, attributed to
Mark Twain, is “I never let my schooling interfere with my
education.”
When the USSR unraveled in 1991, chaos ensued. “Everything
was corrupt. Everybody bribed everybody else. Nothing
was normal.” Trying to survive after college, he encountered
difficulties. His relatives, who had already left the Soviet
Union for a better life in the United States and Israel, had the
resources to help him, but chose to abandon him instead.
Because of the chaos in the former Soviet states, Alex became
a “stateless person” when he left Ukraine for Latvia, unable
to find employment, shelter, or medical care. He survived
by staying in friends’ and relatives’ apartments. These harsh
Profile On...
Edited by Mary O’Connell
Alex Gawkins
Alex Gawkins enjoying the Old Town (Gamla Stan) in Stockholm during the ICSA 2015 Annual Conference
If you have been enjoying the recently enhanced ICSA
website, that is due in large part to the efforts of Alex
Gawkins, cochair of ICSA’s technology committee. Alex is one
of those rare people whose mere presence seems to make
everything better. He is a quiet man, yet he is the one who
notices that someone needs a ride home from a meeting
or he adjusts his pace unobtrusively to accommodate the
slower walkers or, unasked, he brings treats to the gathering.
Or he converts 25,000 files so that they are easily accessible
on the ICSA website! Alex is that decent man, the gentlest of
gentlemen.
As I write this, an image of Putin looms up on the screen, and
I am reminded of the life-and-death battle Alex has had to
wage since childhood. He explains that, as a Jewish boy in the
anti-Semitic USSR, “I was beaten up every single day. Because
my name was Izraitel, when anything negative appeared on
the news about Israel, the beatings were worse.” Teachers
were no help. They either turned a blind eye or joined in
verbal taunts. This brilliant boy was denied prizes and awards
that were rightfully his because of his name.
I wanted to join extracurricular clubs, but was
rejected. Instead, I engaged myself in running the
chemical, photography, and pyrotechnic laboratory
with friends. I graduated high school with college-
level math and physics.
In spite of efforts to hold him back, Alex won the Ukrainian
State television competition in physics—twice. Not
surprisingly, one of his favorite sayings, attributed to
Mark Twain, is “I never let my schooling interfere with my
education.”
When the USSR unraveled in 1991, chaos ensued. “Everything
was corrupt. Everybody bribed everybody else. Nothing
was normal.” Trying to survive after college, he encountered
difficulties. His relatives, who had already left the Soviet
Union for a better life in the United States and Israel, had the
resources to help him, but chose to abandon him instead.
Because of the chaos in the former Soviet states, Alex became
a “stateless person” when he left Ukraine for Latvia, unable
to find employment, shelter, or medical care. He survived
by staying in friends’ and relatives’ apartments. These harsh
Profile On...
Edited by Mary O’Connell
Alex Gawkins
Alex Gawkins enjoying the Old Town (Gamla Stan) in Stockholm during the ICSA 2015 Annual Conference
