Samuel Lebreault A-6

Samuel Williams Lebreault Batista was born on a hot summer day on August 5, 1956.  He was born in the coastal town of Barahona, Dominican Republic.  His father (Salvador) named him after the famous baseball player Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams.  However, he was christened as Samuel to honor the Israelite judge and Prophet Samuel.  From the onset, Samuel was a precocious kid who excelled in all areas of academia and various sports.  This talent became more evident during his junior high school and college days.  He lettered in tennis and volleyball, but made his college baseball team before turning his attention to varsity volleyball. 

Samuel migrated to the United States at the age of 13.  His mother enrolled him in the Newark public school system; Broadway Junior High School.  Two months later and because of his academic work, Samuel was deemed English proficient by the teaching staff.  Later on that academic year at his junior high school graduation, Samuel received recognition and was awarded the “Citizenship” award. 

After his successful stint at his junior high school, Samuel attended Barringer High School.  It was during this time that his leadership abilities became clear.  He quickly learned to play chess and tennis and became the chess captain that first year at Barringer.  The following year, Samuel became the captain of the tennis, as well.  The last year of high school, Samuel became valedictorian; an honor he shared with two other students in a graduating class of over five hundred students. 

Samuel received numerous awards during graduate night and was salutatorian during the graduation ceremonies.  He was also awarded a full scholarship by Exxon to attend college at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  It was during that night that he was also awarded a 70% scholarship to attend Princeton.  However, choosing to stay by his mother, he opted for the closer school, NJIT. 

At NJIT, Samuel became a tutor during the school year and an assistant teacher to incoming freshmen during the summer.  He also taught high school kids enrolled in Newark citywide programs such as Youth in Action, Puerto Rican Organization, and several others. 

During his college years, Samuel was an honor student while working part time, and enjoying extracurricular activities, such as intramural and varsity sports.  He was a member of the Mechanical Engineers National Honorary Society, the vice president of the Organización Latino Americana, and vice president of the NJIT chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. 

Immediately after completing his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Samuel undertook the task of pursuing a master degree in his field of endeavor.  Toward that end, he became the first student to enter a pilot program between the Union Carbide Corporation and his Alma Matter, NJIT.  This program was set up to expose graduate students to research and development.  Working with an adjunct professor at Union Carbide, Samuel took advantage of this opportunity to explore the characteristics of heat transfer at supersonic speed within a rotating heat pipe.  This technology was being contemplated for use by NASA to easily gather energy from the sun in space crafts.  Samuel successfully completed his master degree from NJIT and proceeded to employ his numerous abilities in the real world of engineering. 

Samuel’s first job was at an engineering corporation where he honed his skills in heat transfer design, hydraulics and rotating equipment selection and calculations.  He acquired experience in the design of petrochemical, refinery, and power plants; including nuclear power plants.  He was given numerous assignments in other states to work at nuclear power plants providing engineering knowledge to commissioning efforts for these plants.  During his tenure with this corporation, Samuel was assigned to help the Dominican government rehabilitate many of its own power plants, including facilities at Haina and Itabo. 

While living in Newark, Samuel became involved in several community organizations and efforts.  He was a member of the Santo Domingo club in Newark, where he became the treasurer and a reporter for its newspaper.  He worked on local campaigns helping candidates, such as Luis Quintana, in an effort to promote Latino candidates into office.  Upon his return from his assignment in the Dominican Republic, Samuel became a Pee Wee baseball coach at the Rick Cerone League.  A devout Catholic, Samuel was a participating member of Sociedad de la Altagracia at both the Church of Perpetual Help and Saint Michael's Roman Catholic Church. 

During the early 1990’s, Samuel made a career change; he went from the private sector to the public sector engineering industry.  For the last eighteen years, Samuel has worked for the State of New York at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  In his capacity as a Project Engineer, Samuel has spear headed numerous design project and undertaking as many construction projects.  He is presently the project manager for several construction projects and a major design effort for a near one hundred million dollar building.  His professionalism and dependency are reflected by the continuously high marks he receives from his superiors. 

During the late 1990’s, Samuel also made a change in his domicile; he permanently left Newark for the wonderful city of Perth Amboy.  Here, Samuel became incredibly involved in the Catholic community of Our Lady of Fatima.  There, he formed part of the legion of servers.  He was a minister of the Eucharist, a minister of the Word, president of the Sociedad de la Altagracia, member of the coordinating body of the charismatic movement, and a member of the parish council. 

In 2001, Samuel married a local girl, Sonia Calderon.  This marriage gave birth to two wonderful children; Saúl and Sarina.  These children are one of the reasons why Samuel is becoming more and more involved in the Perth Amboy community; to make a better Perth Amboy for all children.