The University of Texas at San Antonio has announced a $20 million gift from Bill Klesse and his wife, Margie, in support of the College of Engineering and Integrated Design.

The gift will help expand student scholarships, create endowments for faculty recruitment and retention, and support efforts aimed at boosting student success, including tutoring, hands-on learning opportunities, leadership programs, and professional development. In recognition of the gift, the school will be renamed the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.

Longtime supporters of the university, the Klesses have previously helped fund the Diamond Shamrock Legacy Endowed Scholarship within the UTSA College of Engineering and awarded $1 million to establish the Klesse Unit Operations Laboratory.

“Margie and I appreciate the difference that the UTSA College of Engineering and Integrated Design is making for students in South Texas, and their families,” said Bill Klesse, a director of Occidental Petroleum and former chair and CEO of Valero. “The university and the college create an environment where all students are challenged with great academic rigor but also supported to help find their own path to success. The future will continue to bring many challenges to economic, reliable, and sustainable energy supplies as well as built infrastructures, and we need these emerging new engineers and designers to help us create solutions that will benefit all members of our communities.”

(Photo credit: University of Texas at San Antonio)