Former Da Vinci Science Center Chairman Peter C. Dent has contributed to the organization’s history in a manner that never will be duplicated.
His work to carry on both the legacy of both Leonardo da Vinci and his late uncle, Charles C. Dent, helped actualize a 500-year vision to place an epic 24-foot-tall bronze horse statue in Italy. His subsequent work to merge his uncle’s nonprofit organization – Leonardo da Vinci’s Horse, Inc. (LDVHI) – with the Discovery Center of Science and Technology in 2003 will continue to shape the Da Vinci Science Center’s history and destiny for generations.
Peter Dent took on leadership of LDVHI after Charles C. Dent, passed away on Dec. 25, 1994 – serving as the organization’s President, CEO, and Trustee. Charles C. Dent had founded the organization after reading about Leonardo’s “Lost Horse” in the Sept. 1977 issue of National Geographic magazine.
With Peter Dent’s leadership, LDVHI hired master sculptor Nina Akamu of Beacon, N.Y., who generated the final statue design and brought it to life. What is known simply as The Horse was unveiled to international fanfare on Sept. 10, 1999, in Milan, Italy.
With the organization’s original mission met, LDVHI merged with the Discovery Center in 2003 as leaders of both organizations shared a passion for igniting curious minds by engaging them in active, hands-on learning. Both groups also appreciated how their respective disciplines connected with other elements of the human experience.
Peter Dent became a Da Vinci Science Center Trustee with the merger, and would serve as Chairman of the Center’s Board of Trustees from 2006-2010. His tenure included a dramatic expansion of the Center’s programs and visitor experiences and the introduction of scientific and technical workforce development into the Center’s objectives.
Peter Dent’s professional history also includes his current work as Technology Development Manager for CDG Environmental, LLC, a specialty chemical company in Bethlehem, Pa.; and a ten-year tenure leading the marketing and sales for Electron Energy Corporation, a specialty metal supplier and producer in Landisville, Pa. Peter Dent also held a variety of additional sales and marketing positions with chemical companies and an engineering position with Air Products. Peter Dent also is the brother of United States Congressman Charles W. Dent of Pennsylvania, whose district includes the Da Vinci Science Center.
Peter Dent was honored with the Da Vinci Science Center’s Spirit of Verrocchio Mentorship Award – an award named after a 15th century mentor of a young Leonardo da Vinci – in 2010.
