July 5, 2006

The Allan Hancock College Foundation recently awarded engineering instructor Dominic Dal Bello the Outstanding Faculty Award. He is the first recipient of the award which includes a $500 grant to use toward the engineering program.

"[Dal Bello] exemplifies the excellent teaching that all students receive at Allan Hancock," said Tim Flemming, executive director of the Allan Hancock College Foundation. "Like so many, he works with students beyond the classroom and helps students become successful."

The Foundation initiated the faculty awards to recognize fine teaching—"what we do every day here at Hancock," Flemming added. The college identifies outstanding faculty, and the Foundation recognizes them by issuing a small grant to outstanding teachers or even departments that have enriched teaching and learning.

This award is "the heart and soul of what we do," Flemming said. "It is a way to recognize and demonstrate the caliber and commitment of all teachers and the quality of instruction that makes Allan Hancock College such a great college," he added. "We want to help nurture and continue to do that."

Dal Bello has taught at Allan Hancock College for four years. Students in his engineering program are very competitive when transferring to universities and experience more than a 90 percent acceptance rate to top engineering schools in the state, as well as to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His close work with the college’s MESA (Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement) mentoring program has been instrumental in providing academic support to students who continue to be accepted into prestigious engineering internships.

The AHC Foundation has pursued numerous grants for the college, and has been instrumental in fundraising efforts such as the $4 million capital campaign several years ago—a community effort to raise funds for additional computers and technology for college faculty. The foundation awarded nearly $300,000 in scholarships in the last year alone to deserving students.

"If we could give an award to every deserving faculty, we would," said Flemming. "One day, we hope to be able to do just that."

The foundation is a charitable organization and was organized in 1977 to generate community support for the college. It also supports department projects, special events and special needs such as technology enhancement and renovation projects.

The 25 board members are community volunteers with varied areas of interest who support the goals of Allan Hancock College. Many are alumni.

Gifts from the community to the college can be given in various ways including cash, appreciated stock, real estate, an insurance policy, IRA or pension fund, a gift by will, or in the form of a trust. Those gifts are made to the foundation.

For more information on the Allan Hancock College Foundation, call
925-2004 or visit www.ahcfoundation.org.

- AHC -