CLARKSTON, Ga. – At age 33, Brian Lovell enrolled at Perimeter College to work on completing a college degree. What he got was a life-changing education, thanks to his involvement in the college’s Honors Program.
Today, he’s giving back, so other students might have a similar experience. Lovell has contributed $25,000 to launch an endowed scholarship for Honors Program students at the Clarkston Campus. The Lovell Honors Scholarship is open to all students who have completed at least 21 credit hours of course work at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College and who have been accepted into the Honors Program. Recipients receive $1,000 to help with tuition, books and other expenses.
Lovell’s own educational journey wasn’t a straight path to a degree.
“I moved to Atlanta in 1987 to pursue a mechanical engineering degree at Georgia Tech.”
He dropped out in 1991 — without a degree.
“I was ill-prepared for the academic rigors of the institution — and the esoteric nature of my chosen curriculum,” Lovell said.
Instead, he entered the automation and controls industry and eventually founded Synergy Automation, a contracting firm in Atlanta. But he said the lack of a degree continued to weigh on him. He sold the company.
“I was tired of nonstop work in pursuit of financial gain, and it was time to pursue new opportunities,” he said. “In 2002, I started taking classes at Perimeter College.”
It was a meeting with Dr. Susan McGrath, Perimeter’s former Honors Program director, that spurred Lovell to take as many Honors courses as he could fit into his schedule.
“I was inspired by her professionalism,” he said.
Lovell excelled in the Honors Program, and was awarded the President’s Award in 2004, before transferring to Georgia State’s Atlanta Campus and earning a bachelor of science in biology. He has since earned a master’s degree in education and is working on a doctorate.
Besides establishing the scholarship, Lovell maintains his connection with Perimeter in other ways. He serves on Georgia State University’s Board of Visitors, and his son, Adam, is currently enrolled in the college’s DeKalb Early College Academy (DECA) program and serves as vice-president of Phi Theta Kappa, an honor society for two-year college students. Adam Lovell is following in his father’s footsteps, taking Honors courses, as well.
Lovell is co-principal investigator for a National Science Foundation project and also is the founder and president of the non-profit Association of Controls Professionals, which establishes national standards of technical skills for the automation and controls industry.
For information on establishing or supporting a scholarship — or supporting Perimeter College in other ways — call 678-891-2550 or email Montrese Adger Fuller at madgerfuller@gsu.edu . Visit the website at https://perimeter.gsu.edu/giving/