Gerald E. Speitel Jr.
John J. McKetta Professor of Engineering and
Chairman, Department of Civil Engineering
Dear Alumni, Corporate Partners, and Friends:These are exciting times in civil, architectural, and environmental engineering as we strive to meet the challenges of maintaining, modernizing, expanding, and securing the vast infrastructure system that underpins modern society, while simultaneously focusing on sustaining our environment for future generations. Powerful new tools are becoming available to address these challenges; examples include continued advances in computation and information technology, new construction materials, modern sensing technologies of various sorts, and a broad array of new analytical techniques to help us characterize and understand materials and our environment in ways unheard of in just the recent past. The primary key to success, however, is educating today’s engineers with the highest degree of quality possible, both to meet current challenges and to anticipate and creatively address those in the future. The Department of Civil Engineering has been educating such engineering leaders for a century. Today, we are one of the largest civil engineering departments in the country, with over 9,000 living alumni and over 1,000 current students. We boast more than 50 faculty, and our undergraduate and graduate programs are both ranked 3rd nationally.
Our goal, as we begin our second century, is to maintain and build upon the excellence that is a rich part of our history. Top quality students, faculty, and facilities are the essential ingredients of success, and appropriate financial resources are needed to provide these ingredients. Thus, we are launching a three-year Centennial Campaign, with a goal of $5 million, to expand the endowment of the department and to enhance our teaching and research facilities. Preparing for the future will ensure that our second century is as rich in accomplishments and achievements as our first. Unfortunately, the State of Texas provides only 20% of the department’s annual budget.< State appropriations alone cannot fulfill the aspirations and responsibilities of a leading program. Private support provides the essential resources to realize excellence, and it is for that reason that this campaign is being undertaken.
We have made, and can continue to make, a big difference in the world around us. I invite you to join us in this effort through your participation in the Centennial Campaign.
Sincerely,
Gerald E. Speitel Jr.
