An estate gift of more than $30 million from Richard E. Davis — the largest in the history of the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering — will transform the college’s faculty and facilities, honoring a family legacy that spans a century of service to Texas Tech University, the university announced in a ceremony Thursday.
It also sets a university record for estate giving.
Although Davis was an alumnus of the College of Arts & Sciences, he chose to use his estate to honor his family’s legacy, including his father, Lt. Gen. Waymond Austin Davis, a distinguished alumnus of the Whitacre College of Engineering (WCOE), according to a news release from Tech.
In keeping with Richard Davis’ wishes to advance education and research in the Whitacre
College, the estate funds will establish the following endowed chair and professorship: the Richard E. Davis Endowed Chair and the Lt. Gen. W.A., Josephine, and Austin Davis Memorial Endowed Professorship.
The faculty endowments will fund research and facilitate creative scholarship and may also supplement faculty salaries. To honor his generosity, the endowed chair bears his name, and the endowed professorship honors his father, mother and brother.
“Richard Davis’ extraordinary generosity reflects a connection to Texas Tech that reaches back to our earliest days,” President Lawrence Schovanec said. “Through this historic gift, he has honored his family’s legacy while making an investment that will strengthen Texas Tech for generations. We are deeply grateful for the trust Mr. Davis placed in this university, and we are committed to honoring that trust through the opportunities his generosity will create for our faculty and students.”
Endowed chairs and professorships are among the most powerful tools a university has to Fuel Academic Excellence — attracting and retaining distinguished faculty whose teaching and research elevate the entire institution. The Davis endowments will strengthen the Whitacre College’s ability to compete for the brightest minds in engineering, with direct benefits for students, research and the university’s national reputation.
“We are incredibly grateful and humbled by this monumental gift from Richard Davis,” said Roland Faller, dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering. “This endowment gives the Whitacre College the ability to compete at the highest level, recruiting and retaining scholars and teachers who will define the next generation of engineering research and education. Richard Davis has invested in what this college can become, and we intend to honor that vision.”
Beyond the faculty investments, Richard Davis’ gift will also advance the ON&ON Campaign’s goal to Elevate Campus & Community through direct investment in the college’s academic and research facilities.
The Richard E. Davis WCOE Enhancement Endowment and the Richard E. Davis Renovation Fund will support strategic priorities within the Whitacre College of Engineering, including new construction projects, renovations and facility enhancements, as well as the recruitment and retention of top-tier faculty.
Within the Richard E. Davis Renovation Fund, $10 million will go toward matching funds for engineering facility renovations. The dollar-for-dollar match will allow donors to directly accelerate improvements to learning environments, student spaces and essential infrastructure throughout the college.
“Estate gifts like this one represent some of the most profound expressions of generosity,” said Byron Kennedy, vice president for advancement. “Richard Davis chose Texas Tech as a cornerstone of his legacy, and in doing so, he is elevating the Whitacre College of Engineering, attracting world-class faculty, building best-in-class facilities and inspiring students for generations to come. Gifts of this magnitude are exactly what propel the ON&ON Campaign forward and demonstrate what is possible when donors invest in the future of this university.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech unveils largest-ever gift to Whitacre College of Engineering
