Growing up in Salisbury, Dave Rommel attended elementary school at what was then Salisbury State College.
Nearly six decades later, he joined SU graduates at the 2024 Spring Commencement to receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service from SU President Carolyn Ringer Lepre.
“Dave Rommel has been a leader in the greater Salisbury community and beyond for many years,” said Lepre. “Dave’s dedication to the people of the Delmarva Peninsula is admirable, and we are proud to recognize him as a member of the SU community.”
Rommel began his career in business in 1976, joining his father’s Rommel Electric Company. Today, that and multiple other businesses – including Rommel Construction, Rommel Infrastructure, Rommel Harley-Davidson, Rommel’s Ace Hardware and The Farfield Company (an electrical/mechanical contractor) – fall under the umbrella of the Rommel Companies, for which he serves as owner and CEO.
SU has been a constant in his life since an early age. His mother graduated from the University in 1944, fostering familiar ties. In addition to his time at the campus demonstration (elementary) school, he also spent much of his youth playing and practicing on the University’s basketball courts.
In 2017, with his wife, Patsy (a former SU student), he announced a $5.5 million gift to publicly launch “We Are SU: The Campaign for Salisbury University,” the largest such initiative in campus history, which he also chaired. Some $500,000 of that gift was earmarked to help the University provide a space for student entrepreneurs in downtown Salisbury, dedicated as the Dave and Patsy Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship at SU Downtown in 2021.
Pictured (from left) SU President Carolyn Ringer Lepre; Rommel; Dr. Christy Weer, Perdue School of Business dean; and Jason Curtin ’98, SU vice president of advancement and alumni engagement, and executive director of the SU Foundation, Inc.