PERU - St. Bede Academy alumnus Angelo Perino, along with his wife, Andrea and their family, have made a gift to the school’s newly constructed Science Center and Legacy Project.

In recognition of the gift, St. Bede Academy has named the building the Perino Science Center. The official public dedication will take place on Sunday, Aug. 19 beginning with a celebratory mass at 2:30 p.m. followed by a ribbon cutting and open house.

“We are immensely grateful to the Perino family for their latest example of their extraordinary support of St. Bede Academy. The loyal friendship and leadership of our St. Bede family in support of the Legacy Project have helped to secure St. Bede’s future,” said Abbot Philip Davey, O.S.B. “The Perino Science Center will enhance a wide array of much-needed science classrooms and activity space for our students and have a lasting impact for many generations to come.”

Designed to enhance the overall St. Bede experience, the 17,500-square-foot Perino Science Center will be a focal point of students’ academic life, offering state of the art physics, chemistry and biology labs and vastly expanded study and student activity space to serve students throughout the year. It will also accommodate the school’s hospitality needs for fundraisers and summer camps.

“As we worked on campus planning in recent years, the need for a new science center and commons, integrating student and academic life, continued to be an essential addition to our campus,” said Dr. Ted Struck, Superintendent. “Angelo and Andrea and our Legacy Project supporters share that vision with us and have put student life first in their support of St. Bede’s future with their generous gifts to accomplish this project.”

The Science Center’s spacious state-of-the-art laboratories for biology, chemistry and physics total nearly 4,500 square feet of dedicated space for academic learning.

The new addition is also home to a 2,800 square-foot student commons, which offers plenty of space for place to students study independently or in small groups. New bathrooms and an elevator complete the commons area, which offers updated facilities and ADA accessibility. Located adjacent to the commons area is the Collaborative Learning Lab, which will support the innovative STEM-related courses but also offers the flexibility for multi-purpose use for students. The mezzanine level, which connects to the first floor of the Academy and overlooks the new main level, offers areas for students to study and interact.

After graduating in 1980 from St. Bede Academy, Perino went on to the University of Notre Dame graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Computer Applications and also achieving a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University in Chicago.

He currently holds the position of North America Enterprise Applications Delivery Leader for IBM.

The Perino family includes one son, Angelo and three daughters, Anna, Catherine and Gabriela. Perino, Andrea and two of their children who are also St. Bede graduates, Angelo ’06 and Anna ‘09, will attend the upcoming dedication and ribbon cutting event on Aug. 19.

The mass, dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Perino Science Center will be followed by an open house and tours. The public is encouraged and invited to attend.

The Perino Science Center will open in its entirety to students, faculty and staff on the first day of school Thursday, Aug. 16. “I cannot wait to see how our students will bring the new addition to life and use the new labs and spaces to further enrich their experience at St. Bede,” commented Abbot Davey.