Three former ocean engineering students honor professor

Every Aggie dreams of the day they graduate from Texas A&M University. However, it is not just their hard work that gets them to this point. Many people along the way helped shape and mold their education. This is especially true for three former students from the Department of Ocean Engineering, Vincent Yu ‘11, Ning Xu ’06 and Liqing Huang ’10. Dr. Jun Zhang had a great influence on these three over the years and it led them to establish the Professor Jun Zhang Endowed Scholarship.

“This gift is from our hearts,” Yu said. “The three of us loved our time at Texas A&M so much that we became faculty and now help train the next generation of ocean engineers.”

Establishing this scholarship was never a hard decision for Yu, Xu and Huang. Being able to honor a person that was so influential in their lives seemed like the right thing to do.

“In order to thank Professor Zhang for his great contribution to the field of ocean engineering as well as our own education and career developments, we collectively decided to establish this scholarship named after him,” said Xu. “We want to encourage the next generation of young scholars in the ocean engineering department to achieve their career goals.”

The ocean engineering department was a second home to Yu, Xu and Huang. There were so many lessons they learned in and out of the classroom, and a lot of those came from Zhang. Campus was more than just a place to advance their education — it was a place to develop into the people they are today.

“My time at Texas A&M for both my undergraduate and graduate studies was probably the happiest period of my life,” said Xu. “Everything I learned inside and outside of class impacted my career in different ways. I am privileged and proud to be called an Aggie ocean engineer.”

Their scholarship is not only meant to honor Zhang but to encourage other former students to give back to the department that gave so much to them. This fund will directly impact and benefit students in the ocean engineering department and help prepare them for greatness as they move on to their careers.

“We hope that this scholarship inspires others to give back,” Yu said. “Our goal is to grow this endowment to help other students in the department.”

Any former students of Zhang or the ocean engineering department that are interested in contributing to this scholarship are encouraged to do so by donating to the Professor Jun Zhang Scholarship Fund.