The future held high promise for Peter C. Rossin when he graduated from Lehigh in 1948 with a B.S. in metallurgical engineering. Rossin, a U.S. Air Force pilot during World War II, was offered one of two slots in Bethlehem Steel’s Executive Loop Course. But he turned down the opportunity, saying he was more interested in “new techniques, new metals and new markets.”

Rossin went on to earn a master’s degree from Yale and work at several metals companies. In 1967 he founded Dynamet Inc., which made titanium alloy products for the aerospace, chemical, medical and petroleum industries. In 1997, Rossin sold Dynamet to Carpenter Technology Corp. In 1998, he and his wife, Ada, established a $25-million endowment, the largest gift ever made to Lehigh, to name the engineering college.

“I feel you owe a debt to society,” he said, “and to the institutions that were fundamental to your success.”