Kelly Turbin still remembers the moment he realized just how well Cal Poly had prepared him for the real world.
In his first week at his new job, fresh out of the civil engineering program, he glanced at the task list, then opened his class notes. There it was: step-by-step guidance that matched the work in front of him.
“I emailed my professors to thank them,” he recalled. “My seismic analysis class had literally walked us through the exact process I was doing on my first project.”
Two decades later, Turbin, now the owner of a successful structural engineering firm in Mill Valley, credits his Cal Poly education for giving him a hands-on foundation that translated seamlessly to the workforce. That same gratitude has inspired him to give back — not just to the college that shaped his career, but also to the football program that made his Cal Poly journey possible.
For Turbin, supporting the John Madden Football Center was just the beginning. That initial act of giving grew into the creation of the Susan Turbin Scholarship Endowment, a fund dedicated to helping civil engineering students with financial need.
“I am incredibly grateful to have received a scholarship to Cal Poly; college would not have been possible for me without it,” he said. “Supporting scholarships feels like the best way to give back and help others who are in the same position I once was.”
Turbin grew up in Greenbrae, Marin County, where his aptitude for math and problem-solving began to take shape. As a student at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, he was the kid who built gadgets like makeshift trolley systems to pass pencils across the classroom.
“I always wanted to design stuff,” he said, a statement that foreshadowed his future in engineering.
He also knew he wanted to play football. After shining as a running back in high school, Turbin began fielding scholarship offers. When he shared the news with his neighbor, affectionately known as Dr. Bob, the physician encouraged him to choose Cal Poly, extolling the value of its engineering program.
“Dr. Bob said, ‘You should go,’ so I did, Turbin recalled with a grin.
For Turbin, Cal Poly was both a proving ground and a place of discovery. “It’s brutally hard,” he said, reflecting on the rigorous program. “But that’s exactly what you want when you are training people responsible for life safety. The program demands excellence, and not everyone makes it through.”
Balancing the pressures of football with the intensity of a civil engineering workload pushed him to develop invaluable time management skills — a lesson he carried with him far beyond graduation.
Some of his favorite memories came from Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing approach. In his concrete class, he tested the limits of reinforced concrete, and for his thesis, he studied material degradation using a hollowed-out fridge from a frat house turned into a liquid nitrogen-powered freezer.
“It was all part of the hands-on learning that made Cal Poly so unique,” he said.
After graduating with his master’s, Turbin landed his first job at a structural engineering firm just a mile from his childhood home. The position, which he found through MustangJobs, allowed him to live at home and save money. He worked there for five years, until the 2009 recession forced the company to close. With a young family to support, Turbin took a leap of faith and started his own business.
The early years were challenging, but by 2012, he had learned from his mistakes and found his footing. Today, Turbin Structural Engineering is thriving, with its focus on high-end residential structural design — a blend of art and engineering that allows him to apply both creativity and expertise in his work.
Grateful for the opportunities that shaped his journey, Turbin is now paying it forward through the Susan Turbin Scholarship Endowment.
Named in honor of his mother, who raised him on her own starting when he was 12, the scholarship is designed to support civil engineering students with financial need. Set to begin supporting students in fall 2025, the endowment aims to provide opportunities for those who might not otherwise afford a Cal Poly education — a way for Turbin to give back to the institution that framed his story.
The scholarship also reflects the ripple effect of generosity. Turbin’s initial donation to the Madden Football Center reconnected him with 20 former teammates he hadn’t seen in decades, sparking a wave of renewed engagement among them. For Turbin, it’s a testament to how giving back can inspire others to do the same, creating lasting impacts for future generations of Cal Poly students.
By Emily Slater
