LoBello gift aids FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science

Published July 4th, 2008

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR

Longtime Florida Atlantic University donors and Boca Raton residents Peter and Kerry LoBello have shown a commitment to fostering diversity in the field of engineering with a gift of $50,000 to FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.

With this most recent gift, they have established the LoBello Innovation Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund at the college.

Under the direction of the college dean, the fund will support two undergraduate students each year.  Preference will be given to qualified female students in an effort to address the underrepresentation of women in the field of engineering, FAU officials said.

Scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum G.P.A. of 3.0 or above and be participants in FAU’s Innovation Leadership Honors Program (ILHP).    

“The ILHP will give future engineers the business and communication tools that are essential to success,” said Peter LoBello.  “The field has changed dramatically.  Engineers have been taken from the back room and are expected to demonstrate industry leadership expertise in their interactions with CEOs, accountants and attorneys.  This program will help bridge the gap between what is considered technical and what is viewed as soft skills.

“The LoBello scholarship will provide educational opportunities to women who enroll in the ILHP, thus fostering diversity in a field in which men are prevalent,” said College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Karl Stevens.

The college’s Executive Advisory Council conceived FAU’s Center for Innovation Leadership and its academic piece, the ILHP.  A member of the Executive Advisory Council since 1998, LoBello has served as its chair since 2005.

Slated to launch in fall 2008, the ILHP will be housed in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The program complements the curriculum by providing a combination of new courses, a leadership development workshop series and special enrichment activities. 

Starting out as an engineer in aviation, LoBello shifted his focus to industrial turbines.  In 1990, he and his family moved to Boca Raton. 

As the first tenant of the Florida Atlantic Research & Development Park on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, LoBello found a home base for his company, Jet Turbine Service.  Eventually LoBello sold his company to Siemens, but his interest in the university continues.

Friends of the university since 1998, the LoBellos are FAU Football Founders, sponsors of the FAU Marching Band, and have given to the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters.  Peter LoBello is currently an FAU Foundation Board member.