UT Austin Dept of Chemical Engineering

ChE Alumni Endowment Drive

Alumni Endowed Excellence Fund (AEEF)

Established by proud Alumni of the Department of Chemical Engineering

Overview

Two dozen committed alumni, who met in 2004, organized and launched the “Chemical Engineering Department Alumni Excellence Endowment Fund” (AEEF).
The goal is to raise, over a ten-year window, $10 million – a portion of which will be used for annual unrestricted opportunities, the majority of which will establish endowments for the ChE department.
The endowment(s), permanent “money in the bank,” will sustain our ChE department far into the future, similar to the McKetta Challenge of the mid-1990s, by providing faculty recruitment funding, endowed scholarships, facility enhancement dollars and general programmatic support.
Bob Hermes (B.S. 1962), former Chairman of Purvin and Gertz, in Houston, Texas, volunteered to be the first chair of this effort.
The AEEF Charter can be found here.

Why is this support needed?

Over the last 15 years, state support for the College of Engineering and the Chemical Engineering Department has slipped from 50 percent of expenditures to under 20 percent.
The decline in support for educational programs is a nationwide trend.
At the same time, the cost associated with recruiting and hiring high caliber faculty has risen and costs the ChE department upwards of $300,000/faculty member.
The same is true for undergraduate and graduate student recruiting – these young people are in demand. Scholarships and Fellowships make the difference in where they decide to go to school.
Colleges and universities are turning to their alumni to help maintain quality by providing private support.

Where are we and how do I make a contribution?

Already more than $5.3M has been pledged / received toward our goal of $10M.
We have hosted more than five alumni functions in Austin, Houston and Dallas, with ChE Chair Roger Bonnecaze and beloved ChE Professor, John McKetta.
Annual contributions to the Friends of Alec, designated to the ChE Department, will count towards the AEEF goal, as unrestricted annual dollars are a critical component of the department’s year to year needs.
Online giving is available at: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/nlogon/vip/ogp.WBX?menu=ENCHE
Alumni wishing to establish named endowments at the $25,000 and higher, may do so by working with Ms. Kelsey Evans in the CoE development office. Again, these gifts count towards the AEEF goal. Click here for pledge form.
The AEEF Charter calls for considerable input from the alumni, in the ways the Department spends gifts received and income from the Endowment distributions. We encourage your comments and suggestions by phone or email.

About our ChE Department

Our ChE Department is a top tier program. We rank #4 among the 104 ABET accredited public departments of chemical engineering in the U.S. ChE is still committed to traditional disciplines of chemical engineering, but we have moved into new areas such as materials science and bioengineering.
The generous support of friends and alumni have allowed us to establish endowed faculty positions, scholarships and fellowships and named excellence funds.
Today’s ChE Department is flourishing under a renewed sense of community, an investment in people and new areas, and a shared vision to become even better. To remain a program of which you can be proud, we need your help to continue to provide the excellent educational environment that played a major role in your professional development.

For more information, please contact Kelsey Evans at:
(512) 471-6151; Fax: (512) 471-3955
kelsey.evans@mail.utexas.edu