John Capobianco -Words of Wisdom
John Capobianco was one of the earliest graduate students from the department. He and his family established the Joseph A. and Mary A. Capobianco Memorial Fund at the University of Toledo. The fund benefits undergraduate and graduate students of need and merit in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics (Dept. of Chem., Biochem., Biol., and Env. Sci.). This fund was named after his parents who immigrated to America from Italy in the late 1920’s.
My first year in pre-med at the University of Toledo was a disaster. Not having a
clear vision of my future and lacking specific goals
were the reasons for my academic drift. I understand now that this happens to a
lot of students. Seeking counsel with the university’s career advisor was the approach
that helped me plan my future. During the last two years of my undergraduate studies, I made the Deans List and subsequently was accepted into Graduate School. At that time,
Toledo had just initiated its’ Masters Program in Biology. I was able to complete Graduate School with the help of a teaching assistantship
granted by the state of Ohio.
Following graduation, my wife and I moved to Illinois where I was employed as an Assistant Pharmacologist in the Pharmaceutical Products Division of Abbott Laboratories. At Abbott, I applied the knowledge acquired from my academic studies to various research projects. My first project was in Drug Enzymology, followed by Gastroenterology, Protein Chemistry and finally Anti-infectious Diseases. The latter half of my career was researching anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agents. My expertise was tracking drug transport across bacterial membranes and inhibitor binding kinetics. I retired after 30 years of service, having been promoted three times in that time span.
After retirement, I turned to philanthropy as a means of paying forward, establishing the Joseph A. and Mary A. Capobianco Memorial Fund at the University of Toledo. The fund benefits undergraduate and graduate students of need and merit in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics (Dept. of Chem., Biochem., Biol., and Env. Sci.). This fund was named after my parents who immigrated to America from Italy in the late 1920’s. Coming from a poor farming community they realized the importance of education in achieving success in this new country. Their emphasis on education resulted in all four of their adult children attending college, three of which went to the University of Toledo, my sister (College of Education), my eldest brother (B.S. Ch.E.), and myself (M.S.Biol.).