Alum Dave Gilmore (Architecture, ‘76) is generously contributing a $20,000 matching gift to the Architecture Department, a place where he learned, grew as a person, and came to feel at home.

“College was some of the best years of my life,” he said, “but it was still a struggle being a student with no money and trying to find my way through. This is about giving back to people like me who started at Cal Poly and maybe didn’t know their way. I want to help take away some of the resistance to things that they can't afford.”

He hopes his gift will inspire other alumni, especially those reaching success in their mid-careers, to step up and get more involved with their alma mater.

“I think those mid-career people are coming to the point of their careers where they’ll be able to start giving back,” Gilmore explained. “Every dollar counts. It doesn't matter how big or how small, it counts.”

Gilmore grew up in Long Beach and was inspired to study architecture by several influential people around him, including his grandparents and a high school teacher who took him around to different architects in Long Beach, all of whom always spoke highly of Cal Poly.

“I applied and made it into Cal Poly,” he said. “I never regretted a moment of that decision.”

Gilmore has fond memories of his time as a student and the support he received from his professors and fellow students.

"Everybody cared about me there. They wanted to see me be successful. And I found that amazing.”

One of his professors, George Hasslein, was instrumental in kicking off his professional career.

“George played a pretty big part of my life,” he explained. “He knew somebody that was interviewing for architects when I graduated and he recommended me. That was my first job.”

That initial job focused on building schools, and after a few years, Gilmore wanted to explore other areas of the discipline, including commercial work. His interest soon landed him at LPA, a 500-person commercial firm that offers a full range of services, where he now works as a Principal and Studio Director. He has been there for 44 years.

“I interviewed at LPA and never looked back,” he said. “The first day I joined the firm, I knew I was going to stay there forever. I just saw the culture, the camaraderie of the people and the energy.”

More than 45 Cal Poly alumni work alongside him at LPA now. Gilmore, who also volunteers as a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council and is helping to launch the Architecture Department Advisory Board, hopes that his matching gift will inspire them, along with other Cal Poly architecture grads, to get more involved with their alma mater.

“I hope I can inspire people to step one: become more engaged with the school and remember all that Cal Poly gave you,” he said. “And then step two: find a way over time to start small then migrate up, and as you get more successful within the profession, to give more. It's not about yourself. It's about giving to the future.”

Help the College of Architecture and Environmental Design meet his match of $20,000 during Poly Gives!

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