![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/haleigh-erramouspe.jpg\")
<\/p>\n The transformational gift will fuel academic excellence and elevate campus, supporting
\n endowed chairs, professorships and facility enhancements in the college.<\/p>\n
\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An estate gift of more than $30 million from Richard E. Davis \u2014 the largest in the Although Davis was an alumnus of the College of Arts & Sciences<\/a>, he chose to use his estate to honor his family\u2019s legacy, including his father, Lt. Gen. Waymond Austin Davis<\/a>, a distinguished alumnus of the Whitacre College of Engineering (WCOE).<\/p>\n In keeping with Richard Davis\u2019 wishes to advance education and research in the Whitacre The faculty endowments will fund research and facilitate creative scholarship and \u201cRichard Davis\u2019 extraordinary generosity reflects a connection to Texas Tech that Endowed chairs and professorships are among the most powerful tools a university has \u201cWe are incredibly grateful and humbled by this monumental gift from Richard Davis,\u201d Beyond the faculty investments, Richard Davis\u2019 gift will also advance the ON&ON Campaign<\/a>\u2019s goal to Elevate Campus & Community through direct investment in the college\u2019s academic The Richard E. Davis WCOE Enhancement Endowment and the Richard E. Davis Renovation Within the Richard E. Davis Renovation Fund, $10 million will go toward matching funds \u201cEstate gifts like this one represent some of the most profound expressions of generosity,\u201d About Richard E. Davis & Family<\/p>\n The Davis family\u2019s connection to Texas Tech stretches back to the university\u2019s earliest Richard\u2019s father, Lt. Gen. Davis, earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering<\/a> in 1936. Lt. Gen. Davis delivered the commencement address at the June 1967 Texas Lt. Gen. Davis modeled a spirit of philanthropy for his son. He began giving to Texas It is this legacy of service, scholarship and devotion to Texas Tech that his son, Richard Davis followed his father\u2019s path by attending Texas Tech but charted his own In the mid-1970s, Richard moved to Belize, then a remote country where flights from After Lt. Gen. Davis died, Richard moved his mother, Josephine, to Sweetwater so she \u201cRichard\u2019s motivation to make this gift was to honor his parents and his brother, About ON&ON: The Campaign for Texas Tech University<\/p>\n
\n history of the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering<\/a> \u2014 will transform the college\u2019s faculty and facilities, honoring a family legacy that
\n spans a century of service to Texas Tech University<\/a>. It also sets a university record for estate giving.<\/p>\n
\n College, the estate funds will establish the following endowed chair and professorship:
\n the Richard E. Davis Endowed Chair and the Lt. Gen. W.A., Josephine, and Austin Davis
\n Memorial Endowed Professorship.<\/p>\n
\n may also supplement faculty salaries. To honor his generosity, the endowed chair bears
\n his name, and the endowed professorship honors his father, mother and brother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n reaches back to our earliest days,\u201d President Lawrence Schovanec<\/a> said. \u201cThrough this historic gift, he has honored his family\u2019s legacy while making
\n an investment that will strengthen Texas Tech for generations. We are deeply grateful
\n for the trust Mr. Davis placed in this university, and we are committed to honoring
\n that trust through the opportunities his generosity will create for our faculty and
\n students.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n to Fuel Academic Excellence \u2014 attracting and retaining distinguished faculty whose
\n teaching and research elevate the entire institution. The Davis endowments will strengthen
\n the Whitacre College\u2019s ability to compete for the brightest minds in engineering,
\n with direct benefits for students, research and the university\u2019s national reputation.<\/p>\n
\n said Roland Faller<\/a>, dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering. \u201cThis endowment gives the Whitacre
\n College the ability to compete at the highest level, recruiting and retaining scholars
\n and teachers who will define the next generation of engineering research and education.
\n Richard Davis has invested in what this college can become, and we intend to honor
\n that vision.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n and research facilities.<\/p>\n
\n Fund will support strategic priorities within the Whitacre College of Engineering,
\n including new construction projects, renovations and facility enhancements, as well
\n as the recruitment and retention of top-tier faculty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n for engineering facility renovations. The dollar-for-dollar match will allow donors
\n to directly accelerate improvements to learning environments, student spaces and essential
\n infrastructure throughout the college.<\/p>\n
\n said Byron Kennedy<\/a>, vice president for advancement<\/a>. \u201cRichard Davis chose Texas Tech as a cornerstone of his legacy, and in doing so,
\n he is elevating the Whitacre College of Engineering, attracting world-class faculty,
\n building best-in-class facilities and inspiring students for generations to come.
\n Gifts of this magnitude are exactly what propel the ON&ON Campaign forward and demonstrate
\n what is possible when donors invest in the future of this university.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n days. Richard Davis\u2019 maternal grandfather, Mose Newman, was among the first to serve
\n on what was then the Texas Technological College Board of Directors, completing a
\n two-year term from 1925 to 1927.<\/p>\n
\n Tech graduation, and that same year, he received an honorary doctorate. His distinguished
\n service in the United States Air Force and notable achievements in engineering earned
\n him recognition as a Distinguished Engineer<\/a> by the Whitacre College of Engineering in 1968 and the Distinguished Alumni Award<\/a> from Texas Tech in 1970.<\/p>\n
\n Tech in 1959 and continued to support the university faithfully until his death in
\n 1998. He established the Mose Newman Scholarship Endowment in honor of his father-in-law,
\n supporting students in the Whitacre College of Engineering. The scholarship still
\n benefits students today.<\/p>\n
\n Richard, chose to honor with a historic gift to Whitacre College.<\/p>\n
\n academic course, studying in the College of Arts & Sciences<\/a> and the College of Education<\/a>. He graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in physical education and a master\u2019s degree
\n in education in 1969.<\/p>\n
\n the U.S. arrived once a week and much of the coastline was undeveloped. Over the next
\n two decades, he built a life there, investing in real estate, a hotel, a ranch and
\n a regional airline that carried travelers to the country\u2019s offshore islands. He returned
\n to Texas when his father became ill and settled in Sweetwater, though for years afterward
\n he revisited Belize for months at a time.<\/p>\n
\n could be near her only sister and cared for her until her death. He then looked after
\n his brother, Austin, who needed lifelong support; Austin died just three days before
\n Richard\u2019s own death on March 8, 2025. Friends describe an unassuming man \u2014 by their
\n account the wealthiest person in his small town, yet content to drive the same Volkswagen
\n Beetle model for decades. He was a martial artist, a scuba diver, a motorcyclist,
\n a serious collector who rarely mentioned any of it \u2014 and a friend who could be called
\n at any hour. Those who knew him say he never spoke ill of anyone.<\/p>\n
\n to whom he was very devoted throughout his life,\u201d said Rod Wetsel, a longtime friend
\n who served as Davis\u2019 attorney. \u201cHe wanted to do things with the money that are positive
\n and have a lasting legacy on the students. He was really proud to have been a student
\n at Texas Tech. I think this is a great example for a lot of folks who might be in
\n the same situation and are trying to figure out what a good legacy would be for money
\n they\u2019ve accumulated. In the end, he decided this was the best way to live on in everybody\u2019s
\n memory as someone who tried to make a difference in other people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n