The Irving and Sylvia Cort Scholarship

In 2001, Bruce and Lisa Cort, and family, have generously funded a scholarship for the SU Chemistry Department in honor of Irving and Sylvia Cort. The Cort family has ties with Salisbury University through Bruce Cort, alumnus (SU Class of 1971) and the son of Irving and Sylvia Cort.

Yearly scholarships of $1,500 are now available to incoming freshmen majoring in chemistry. The Irving and Sylvia Cort Scholarship awards are for up to four years and $6,000, provided that all eligibility requirements continue to be met by the recipient. The Cort Scholarship is in addition to any other scholarships awarded from Salisbury University, such as the Presidential Scholarship. Consideration for the Cort Scholarship is based on, in part, the combined SAT score and high school academic GPA.

Irving Cort received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Brooklyn College, NY. He attended graduate school at Brooklyn College and the National Bureau of Standards Graduate School until 1941 when he joined the War Department. Over the course of a long career with the U.S. Army, Mr. Cort worked as an Ordinance Officer and a civilian Chemist doing polymer research at the US Army Biomedical Research Labs at Walter Reed Army Hospital which resulted to the creation of what were then modern, natural-looking prosthetic devices for the many amputees returning from World War II. This process and the research that it created resulted in the development of modern vinyl technology. Interestingly, the technology is still used today throughout the world in providing prosthetic devices to amputees. Later in his career, Mr. Cort worked for the U.S. Army Chemical Corps where he was responsible for the development of protective devices such as gas masks, protective suits, decontamination units, and vaccines. He was considered to be an expert in the field of chemical and biological warfare. Additionally, Mr. Cort served as the Principal U.S. Delegate to the NATO working group on the Standardization of Chemical and Biological Protective Devices.