In Education: $25-Million Gift Boosts Engineering at Sam Houston State U.
December 28, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
A Sam Houston State University alumnus has pledged $25-million to the Huntsville, Texas, school to support engineering and industrial-technology programs, The Huntsville Item reports.
The gift from Frederick Pirkle is the largest in the university’s history and will fund a new technology center, scholarships and internships for engineering-tech students, and a faculty position.
Mr. Pirkle earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sam Houston State in the 1970s and later founded Therm-Omega-Tech, a Pennsylvania maker of temperature-control valves and devices, many of which he invented.
In other education news, a Yale alumnus has committed $11-million to expanding the university’s art gallery, the Associated Press says.
The gift will finance new exhibition spaces set to open late next year and named for prominent lawyer Stephen D. Susman, who made the pledge in honor of the 50th anniversary of his 1962 graduating class.
