The University of Toledo and SSOE Group to Celebrate the Opening of the College of Engineering’s SSOE / DiPofi Family Office of Student Success, Opportunity, and Engagement with Ribbon-Cutting
TOLEDO, Ohio, October 13, 2023 – SSOE Group (www.ssoe.com), an internationally ranked architecture and engineering firm, is proud to announce that the combined multi-year gift announced last October to The University of Toledo College of Engineering from SSOE and SSOE’s CEO Vince DiPofi, PE, and his wife, Sandra will come to life next week. The College will be holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the grand opening of the SSOE / DiPofi Family Office of Student Success, Opportunity, and Engagement on the first floor of Nitschke Hall, located at 1610 N. Westwood Avenue, Toledo, Ohio 43607, on Friday, October 20, 2023, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
As announced in October 2022, this gift will primarily support personnel and programming in the SSOE / DiPofi Family Office of Student Success, Opportunity, and Engagement—formerly known as the Office of Engineering Inclusive Excellence. This 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 that SSOE and the DiPofi family made builds upon a solid 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 will help fuel those existing initiatives and create new ones like Summer Bridge programming at the college.
“Our college has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with SSOE. This upcoming grand opening is the culmination of a generous gift by the DiPofi’s and SSOE to The University of Toledo College of Engineering to empower a more diverse future. The gift helps ensure that every student has access to the support, resources, and tools needed for academic and career success,” said Dean Mike Toole of The University of Toledo College of Engineering.
“For over seven decades, SSOE has been a proud supporter of The University of Toledo,” said DiPofi. “We believe it’s important that corporate and educational institutions maintain and nurture long-term relationships like this. For this reason—combined with our ongoing commitment to DEI and advancing the AEC industry—we’ve decided to make this combined contribution to the University of Toledo. For SSOE, this is a renewal of an existing commitment. I’m honored that the DiPofi Family name is now a permanent part of UToledo’s College of Engineering. Not only did each of my siblings and my father (six in total) graduate from UToledo, but both my brothers also graduated with engineering degrees, and I have a nephew graduating next year in engineering. The College of Engineering at UToledo has been a big part of the DiPofi Family for over 40 years. What we do today will ultimately help the engineering profession, our industry, and SSOE’s clients in the future—the vision for this gift is multi-faceted.”
For additional information on the multi-year gift, click here.