Building the Future

SSOE’s current CEO, Vince DiPofi, PE, is also a UToledo alum who graduated with a mechanical engineering degree in 1985 and was named Distinguished Alumnus by UToledo’s College of Engineering in 2019. Further progressing our legacy of collaboration with UToledo, SSOE, along with Vince and his wife Sandra, have committed to a combined, multi-year gift to UToledo. Over the next five years, SSOE and the DiPofi family will continue the inspiration between the two institutions that began with the firm’s founder, the late Al Samborn.

This contribution primarily supports personnel and programming in the SSOE / DiPofi Family Office of Student Success, Opportunity, and Engagement. That team, housed in UToledo’s College of Engineering, helps ensure every student has access to the resources and tools needed for academic and career success. The contribution also includes funding for scholarships that will target high-performing students belonging to groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in engineering professions as well as classrooms.

The investment SSOE and the DiPofi family have made builds upon a strong foundation in UToledo’s College of Engineering, awarded the Diversity Recognition Program’s Bronze Award by the American Society for Engineering Education, and takes a more comprehensive view of the student experience—from K-12 outreach and STEM education to admissions and student retention. The gift helps fuel those existing initiatives and creates new ones like Summer Bridge programming at the college.