Two prominent engineers have been named 2010 Penn State Alumni Fellows. Gary Bello, a 1969 industrial engineering graduate, and Dave Grzelak, a 1971 industrial engineering graduate, were among 23 alumni recognized for their outstanding professional accomplishments in their varied careers.
The alumni were honored at a ceremony Oct. 13 at the Nittany Lion Inn. They now hold the lifelong title of Alumni Fellow, the highest award given by the Penn State Alumni Association.
Bello currently works as a private equity investor and entrepreneur in Lexington, Ky., and is also a principal investor in several central Kentucky companies. He has more than 40 years of experience in manufacturing, engineering, consulting, entrepreneurship and executive management.
From 1983 to 1993, he was vice president of Clark Equipment Company and served as president and CEO of Clark's worldwide forklift subsidiary, Clarks Materials Handling, for four of those years.
Before Clark, Bello worked for General Motors for 15 years, where he became the youngest senior executive in the company.
Grzelak is currently chairman and CEO of Komatsu America Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd., in Tokyo, Japan. Komatsu is the second-largest, fully integrated manufacturer and supplier of construction and mining equipment in the world, manufacturing hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, crawler dozers, off-highway trucks and motor graders.
Grzelak oversees five Komatsu operations in the United States, 2,000 employees and a network of manufacturing plants, engineering development centers and parts depots.