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Paying It Forward

Issue Date: 
May 23, 2011
Robert O. Agbede (ENGR ’79, ’81G), president and CEO of Chester Engineers Inc., in Moon Township, pledged $50,000 to support a need-based scholarship for students from underrepresented groups—including African Americans and African émigrés—aspiring to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Agbede developed the fund to mark the 100th anniversary of Chester Engineers, which he acquired in 2003 and transformed into the largest Black-owned environmental engineering firm in the United States. The scholarship continues his dedication to paying forward the financial support he received as a young Nigerian immigrant pursuing a career in engineering. His company also supports the ACS-Chester Engineers Scholarship, an endowed gift established in 1944 that is currently worth $1.3 million. A May 18 pledging ceremony at Pitt’s University Club included Agbede (left, seated); Pitt Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement Albert J. Novak Jr. (right, seated); Akin Iroko (right, standing), CEO of TVL Consulting Limited, a Nigerian strategic management firm; and Emmanuel Chike Nwanze (left, standing), current president of the Institute of Directors, a Nigerian business organization, and CEO of Icon Stockbrokers Limited in Nigeria. Nwanze and Iroko were part of a Nigerian delegation participating in a weeklong program on leadership, ethics, and corporate governance hosted by GSPIA’s Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership. Robert O. Agbede (ENGR ’79, ’81G), president and CEO of Chester Engineers Inc., in Moon Township, pledged $50,000 to support a need-based scholarship for students from underrepresented groups—including African Americans and African émigrés—aspiring to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Agbede developed the fund to mark the 100th anniversary of Chester Engineers, which he acquired in 2003 and transformed into the largest Black-owned environmental engineering firm in the United States. The scholarship continues his dedication to paying forward the financial support he received as a young Nigerian immigrant pursuing a career in engineering. His company also supports the ACS-Chester Engineers Scholarship, an endowed gift established in 1944 that is currently worth $1.3 million. A May 18 pledging ceremony at Pitt’s University Club included Agbede (left, seated); Pitt Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement Albert J. Novak Jr. (right, seated); Akin Iroko (right, standing), CEO of TVL Consulting Limited, a Nigerian strategic management firm; and Emmanuel Chike Nwanze (left, standing), current president of the Institute of Directors, a Nigerian business organization, and CEO of Icon Stockbrokers Limited in Nigeria. Nwanze and Iroko were part of a Nigerian delegation participating in a weeklong program on leadership, ethics, and corporate governance hosted by GSPIA’s Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership.