LSU Receives $20 Million Planned Gift to Benefit Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
January 28, 2015 | LSU Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Largest planned gift in LSU’s history will benefit student athletes, facility improvements
and mechanical engineering students
LSU has received one of the largest gifts in the university’s history – a $40 million
planned gift that will benefit both LSU athletics and academics. This marks the largest
planned gift ever made to LSU.
“This is a significant gift to LSU in so many ways,” said LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander. “When realized, it will ensure that our future engineering students and student athletes will have the resources they need for even greater educational success. Planned giving is essential for the future of LSU, providing a solid foundation of future support for growth and innovation.”
A planned gift supporting LSU is any donation that directs a portion of a donor’s estate to the university. A planned gift is committed during a donor’s lifetime and realized upon his or death.
The $40 million donation, given by an alumnus and lifelong supporter of LSU athletics, will provide $20 million to the Tiger Athletic Foundation, or TAF, with the intent of benefiting student athlete scholarships and facilities and $20 million to the LSU Foundation in support of the LSU College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering.
Over the years, TAF has become a critical element in the success of LSU Athletics by providing private funding for scholarships, new facilities and facility upgrades. In the future, as in the past, donations to TAF will assist the LSU Athletic Department and the university in a variety of ways. In addition to contributions to the athletic scholarship fund, TAF continues to provide funding for academic programs and facilities that benefit all LSU students.
“The tremendous generosity of this donor will affect the lives of LSU student-athletes and mechanical and industrial engineering students for generations to come,” said Richard Perry, president and CEO of TAF. “The donor expressed the motivation behind this record-setting planned gift included the donor’s profound appreciation for the educational experience in the College of Engineering and the role that experience played in the donor’s success in life, along with a love of Tiger Athletics, through which the donor remained connected to LSU and was a source of many of the donor’s favorite memories of time spent with family and friends.”
“This gift is also a perfect example of how, through estate planning, LSU supporters can have a major impact on this wonderful institution they hold so dear,” Perry added.
As the largest department in LSU’s College of Engineering, the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering cultivates the attributes of the “LSU Engineer” by providing mechanical and industrial engineering students with unique learning opportunities, including a holistic, real-life engineering Capstone Design experience, pioneered by the department more than 30 years ago.
“This gift of $20 million dollars is the largest single planned gift to a department at LSU,” said Rick Koubek, Bert S. Turner Chair and dean of LSU’s College of Engineering. “Once realized, it will make a transformational difference for our students studying mechanical and industrial engineering.”
“This hallmark gift exemplifies the generous spirit that characterizes our Tiger community,” said G. Lee Griffin, president and CEO, LSU Foundation. “We are humbled by this donor’s desire to impact the lives of our students in a way that will extend far beyond the donor’s own life. A gift of such magnitude establishes a lasting legacy that celebrates the LSU experience and demonstrates the immense positive impact of philanthropic support of our university.”
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Ernie Ballard, Director, Media Relations, LSU Office of Communications & University Relations, 225-578-5685, [email protected]