ExxonMobil contributes more than $250,000 to LU in 2016
Lamar University has received $251,350 in support from ExxonMobil for 2016. The corporation’s Beaumont area contributions committee awarded LU $95,500 for several projects, an amount that is combined with the contributions of ExxonMobil employees who are LU alumni, strengthened further by ExxonMobil’s generous employee matching gift program.
ExxonMobil Beaumont Refinery Manager Fernando Salazar presented the check to LU Provost James Marquart and Srinivas Palanki, dean of the College of Engineering.
“ExxonMobil continues to be an outstanding corporate partner with Lamar University,” said Juan Zabala, Lamar University’s vice president for advancement. “Their generosity is vital to many programs that support education in science, technology, engineering, math and business. Countless Lamar University students can credit their interest and ultimate success in these fields to the generous support of ExxonMobil.”
ExxonMobil employees, who are LU alumni, made good use of the corporation’s generous matching gift program in 2015. The ExxonMobil Foundation grant of $155,850 to Lamar University is the result of a 3-1 match of donations under the Foundation’s 2015 Educational Matching Gift Program.
All together, ExxonMobil has provided $95,500 in grants for a variety of projects and programs at Lamar University:
ExxonMobil is continuing its support this year of the College of Engineering’s Bridging the Process Control, Troubleshooting and Optimization Gaps between Academia and Industry project with an additional $25,000.
ExxonMobil has supported the College of Engineering’s student Ambassador Program for the past 16 years and support continues with a grant of $17,000. In addition to representing their college, ambassadors participate in a wide range of events and activities throughout the year that help introduce prospective students to the possibilities of a career in engineering. Among those events is the Lamar Introduction to Engineering (L.I.T.E.) Summer Program, which ExxonMobil supported with a $15,000 grant. The program introduces middle school students to various types of engineering and STEM concepts while providing them with hands-on learning experiences that enhance their interest early in their education so they feel confident in their decision to choose a suitable endorsement when transitioning into high school. An additional $10,000 grant directly supports undergraduate research in engineering so students can pursue creativity and ingenuity through specific cutting-edge research, and another $5,000 is earmarked for the Engineering Student Showcase where undergraduate students can demonstrate senior capstone design projects and undergraduate research projects.
ExxonMobil supported the Lamar University Early Identification Program with a $10,000 grant. The program helps identify freshmen engineering students with the potential to intern at ExxonMobil Beaumont.
More broadly, ExxonMobil helps students throughout the region learn science through their support of Lamar University’s Teaching Environmental Science in the Three Rivers’ Watersheds program. Now in its 21th year, the program received a $7,500 grant from ExxonMobil. The field-based, graduate-level summer institute introduces the region’s early childhood-12 grade teachers to environmental issues, problems and solutions through first-hand experience and equips them to bring these experiences to their classrooms.
LU’s College of Business ExxonMobil Executive in Residence Program received $6,000 to continue to bring business leaders to the campus to interact with undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the college’s faculty.
Worldwide, ExxonMobil employees, retirees and surviving spouses donated more than $13.2 million to higher education in 2015. Their contributions were matched on a three-to-one basis with the Foundation contributing $3 for every $1 contributed by an individual. Through the program, 869 institutions of higher education collectively received $45.4 million in donations.
The Educational Matching Gift Program, ExxonMobil, and the ExxonMobil Foundation encourages recipient organizations to support and develop programs that encourage students, especially women and minorities, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, as well as provide teacher training initiatives.
The Educational Matching Gift Program also donates to the American Indian College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the United Negro College Fund. Since the program’s beginning in 1962, it has contributed more than $600 million to institutions of higher learning.
