Sometimes, life comes full circle. Back in September 1986, John Bilello and his wife, Mary, moved to California from New York when the opportunity emerged for John to serve as the founding dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Cal State Fullerton. His main role was to hire new faculty and develop faculty leadership while establishing research programs for the college.
John led ECS from 1986-89 before he was recruited by the University of Michigan to serve as a professor of material sciences and engineering and a professor of applied physics. In addition to his distinguished teaching career, John served as director of the Center for Nanomaterial Sciences until he retired as a professor emeritus in 2004. John and Mary, a clinical nurse and nursing instructor, still reside in Michigan.
With the University of Michigan playing in the January 2024 Rose Bowl, John and Mary came to town to cheer on the team and to visit the CSUF campus and the College of Engineering and Computer Science. They were introduced to a small group of students and faculty who shared their research, were provided a tour of the ECS buildings, and had lunch with Susan Barua, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. John was on the hiring committee for Barua’s first faculty position and they shared fun memories about the interview process.
Shortly after, John and Mary decided to make a donation to establish the John and Mary Bilello ECS Innovation Scholarship.
Both John and Mary are first-generation college graduates and they credit their parents for instilling in them a strong work ethic. They both earned scholarships and worked summer jobs —John in construction and Mary in waitressing — to help put themselves through college and build their careers.
“We want to pay forward the opportunity for others whose family circumstances warrant help to complete an education. We are particularly interested in helping those who are first-generation like Mary and me,” said John.
The first John and Mary Bilello ECS Innovation Scholarships will be awarded in fall 2024 and spring 2025 to five extraordinary students. The College of Engineering and Computer Science is grateful for John and Mary’s example of supporting first-generation ECS students. The college hopes that these students will graduate, have a positive impact as problem solvers in their engineering and computer science careers, and will one day pay it forward to create a scholarship for the next generation of ECS student scholars.
To learn more about the John and Mary Bilello ECS Innovation Scholarship, contact Toni Miller at tamiller@fullerton.edu.