Thompson family and friends establish civil and environmental engineering memorial scholarship

The family and friends of Alan V. Thompson have established the Alan V. Thompson ’70 Endowed Memorial Scholarship. This endowment will be used to provide one or more scholarships to full-time students in good standing pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Alan Thompson graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in agricultural engineering in 1970. He and his high school sweetheart, Mary, were married after his freshman year and spent 52 years together before his passing. The couple had three children together, Matthew, Amy and Michael. Both Matthew and Amy followed in their father’s footsteps and graduated from Texas A&M in 1994 and 1998, respectively.  

During the course of their marriage, Alan’s job as a civil engineer moved them from state to state, eventually landing them back in Texas. “Texas A&M left a mark on his career and our lives as the Aggie network is wide and the love of the school reaches many,” Mary said.

Mary explains how education was top priority to Alan, “He always thought learning something new every day was the most important thing to do in one’s life. He never passed up an opportunity to learn something new. In fact, he often went and took classes to continue learning.”

“Education and civil engineering were both extremely important to Alan through his work and volunteer efforts. We wanted to establish a way to pay his legacy forward for young engineers who want to gain a quality education and need a little help along the way,” said Mary.

After moving to Boerne, Texas, in 2015, Alan taught water resources engineering to seniors at The University of Texas at San Antonio for four summers. “Water and wastewater engineering were his passions, and he always took the time to mentor and assist his fellow engineers and those new to the field,” Mary said. “His desire was to make others better and give the best of himself. Our hope is for his legacy to carry on through this endowed scholarship.”

Alan’s brother, Doyle, previously worked for the Texas A&M Foundation before he retired. Mary explained how it was Doyle who suggested that they honor Alan’s memory by creating a scholarship with Texas A&M Engineering. “We would like to further the education of young aspiring civil and environmental engineering students at Texas A&M,” Mary said. “This gift will serve to expand opportunities not only for these young professionals while at A&M, but also as they enter the professional ranks through the wide-reaching contacts, they will make through the Aggie network, and ultimately through paying it forward in the future themselves.”