AUSTIN, Texas — The Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin is officially naming its newest building the Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building.
The University says the building is named after West Texas native and former EOG Resources Inc. President Gary L. Thomas, who invested $25 million.
His investment was part of a fundraising effort that secured over $60 million for the building’s construction.
Other significant benefactors include the J.C. Anderson Family Foundation, the H.L. Brown Jr. Family Foundation, Peter and Claire Buenz, Jeff and Mindy Hildebrand, the Hoblitzelle Foundation, the estate of William D. Moore, National Oilwell Varco Incorporated, Bryan and Sharoll Sheffield, Scott and Kimberley Sheffield, Eugene and Robin Shepherd, Jeffrey and Valerie Sparks, John and Kelli Weinzierl, and Peyton and Linda Yates.
Through his investment, Thomas hopes to ensure UT’s position among the nation’s top energy universities.
“I was so fortunate to have been given a scholarship that encouraged me to go to UT, and it felt like the right thing was to return a portion of my good fortune to the university,” Thomas said. “The way students are taught today is quite different than when I was in school — it is so critical to have a multidisciplinary program, and the new Energy Engineering Building will facilitate that. This building will be one of the best of its kind in the country and a great tool for education.”
The 184,000-square-foot facility, under construction at Speedway and 24th Street on the UT campus, will be a multidisciplinary hub for energy-related education, research, and innovation.
In the new building, the Cockrell School will provide cutting-edge labs and classrooms, student project spaces and collaborative environments in which students and faculty members in petroleum, chemical and mechanical engineering disciplines can work together to develop the energy industry solutions of the future.
Thomas, along with UT President Gregory L. Fenves, Cockrell School Dean Sharon L. Wood and a large gathering of supporters and community members, celebrated the building’s official groundbreaking at a ceremony Sunday.
Thomas was born in 1949 to parents who were raised during the Great Depression and strongly encouraged their children to pursue the college experience they never had.
Thomas got the first glimpse of his future alma mater when he traveled with his high school basketball team to the state playoffs held at UT’s Gregory Gym.
He decided to become a Longhorn after receiving a scholarship to study petroleum engineering at UT.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering in 1972, Thomas held various engineering and production management positions with Unocal and Apache before earning an MBA from the University of Tulsa in 1983.
He went on to spend over 40 years with EOG Resources Inc. and its predecessor, before retiring from the company as president.
When completed in fall 2021, the Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building will be located adjacent to the Cockrell School’s 430,000-square-foot Engineering Education and Research Center, the central space for Cockrell School student groups and resources and home of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
