Former ocean engineering student Curtis Lohr and his wife Irene. |
Image: Courtesy of Curtis Lohr
Irene and Curtis Lohr have established the Irene and Curtis Lohr ’82 Endowed Scholarship. Distributions from this endowment will be used to provide one or more scholarships to full-time students in good standing pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Department of Ocean Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Curtis decided to attend Texas A&M because of its quality ocean engineering program and proximity to his parents’ home in Arkansas. “Although I spent my boyhood years in Oklahoma and Arkansas, I developed a love for the ocean during our family vacations to various beaches and lakes around the country,” he said. “In high school, I realized that my love for the ocean, coupled with my interests in math and science, was leading me to investigate ocean engineering programs at a few select universities.”
While attending Texas A&M, Curtis met his wife Irene at the Hall of Fame dance hall. “She was not a regular there but had gone that night with a friend of hers,” he said. “I asked her to dance and we have been dancing together ever since. We moved to Houston together for my first job out of college, so Irene transferred from Texas A&M to finish her B.S. degree at the University of Houston.”
Curtis feels that earning his ocean engineering degree from Texas A&M helped him get his job at Shell, where he was employed for 34 years. “I worked on several high-profile deepwater projects, first as an engineer and eventually as project director for the groundbreaking Stones project, which is the deepest floating production system in the world at 9,500 feet,” he said. “I hope that my endowment will help other students achieve their dreams.”
After retiring from Shell in 2017, Curtis and Irene moved to College Station in 2018 to be closer to family living in Bryan and to be near Texas A&M. “We have a desire to help students gain a quality education while also supporting local businesses and the university,” Curtis said.
“I would like to see my gift help students who have done well in high school but need financial assistance to be able to attend Texas A&M and get their degree in ocean engineering.”
Curtis is the first Aggie in his family and graduated from Texas A&M in 1982. He and Irene are blessed with three wonderful daughters. Katie is married and works as a school teacher in Illinois. Jessica is a professional ballet dancer in Chicago. Allison lives in Denver and works in the food industry. Curtis and Irene have a rough Collie dog named Sherlock and a micro Sheepadoodle dog named Watson living with them at home in College Station.
Curtis decided to attend Texas A&M because of its quality ocean engineering program and proximity to his parents’ home in Arkansas. “Although I spent my boyhood years in Oklahoma and Arkansas, I developed a love for the ocean during our family vacations to various beaches and lakes around the country,” he said. “In high school, I realized that my love for the ocean, coupled with my interests in math and science, was leading me to investigate ocean engineering programs at a few select universities.”
While attending Texas A&M, Curtis met his wife Irene at the Hall of Fame dance hall. “She was not a regular there but had gone that night with a friend of hers,” he said. “I asked her to dance and we have been dancing together ever since. We moved to Houston together for my first job out of college, so Irene transferred from Texas A&M to finish her B.S. degree at the University of Houston.”
Curtis feels that earning his ocean engineering degree from Texas A&M helped him get his job at Shell, where he was employed for 34 years. “I worked on several high-profile deepwater projects, first as an engineer and eventually as project director for the groundbreaking Stones project, which is the deepest floating production system in the world at 9,500 feet,” he said. “I hope that my endowment will help other students achieve their dreams.”
After retiring from Shell in 2017, Curtis and Irene moved to College Station in 2018 to be closer to family living in Bryan and to be near Texas A&M. “We have a desire to help students gain a quality education while also supporting local businesses and the university,” Curtis said.
“I would like to see my gift help students who have done well in high school but need financial assistance to be able to attend Texas A&M and get their degree in ocean engineering.”
Curtis is the first Aggie in his family and graduated from Texas A&M in 1982. He and Irene are blessed with three wonderful daughters. Katie is married and works as a school teacher in Illinois. Jessica is a professional ballet dancer in Chicago. Allison lives in Denver and works in the food industry. Curtis and Irene have a rough Collie dog named Sherlock and a micro Sheepadoodle dog named Watson living with them at home in College Station.
Giving with a purpose
The College of Engineering is one of the leading engineering programs in the United States, ranking first in undergraduate enrollment and ninth in graduate enrollment. Endowments supporting the students in the college have an immeasurable impact on their education. If you are interested in supporting the College of Engineering and its departments or would like more information on how you can give, please contact True Brown, senior director of development.