Onstead gift to name ACU's college of science and engineering
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The Onstead family, which has provided major gifts to Abilene Christian University in the past, has come through again.
On Thursday, ACU announced a gift of $25 million that will name a college at the university for the first time - the Robert and Kay Onstead College of Science and Engineering.
Science and engineering programs already were in place but earlier this year, were taken from under the College of Arts and Sciences to become its own college. That created a more visible focus on ACU's drive to become a national research leader.
Beginning with the 2023-24 academic year, the Onstead College of Science and Engineering will combine the departments of agricultural and environmental sciences, biology, chemistry and biochemistry, engineering and physics, and mathematics.
Dr. Charla Miertschin will be the dean of the OCSE beginning Aug. 1.
About the Onsteads
The Houston family's name already is present on campus - the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building and the Ontead Science Center, which opened in 2018 with a $10 million gift from Kay Onstead.
Onstead money comes from opening Randalls Food Markets in Houston in 1966. By 1980, there were 15 and Randalls owned 8% of the Houston-area market.
The chain was named for Randall Onstead, an ACU alum. Three of the four Onstead children are ACU graduates.
Later, the Onsteads acquired Tom Thumb stores.
Her husband, who was a member of ACU's Board of Trustees for 26 years, died in 2004. He was a leader in the effort to reroute Judge Ely Boulevard, which provides the eastern border of the university, and construction of the Mabee Business Building.
To date, the family has given close to $60 million to the college. Thursday's gift is the fifth largest single donation in university history that dates back to 1906.
It is the third largest single academic gift. The top two are the Bill and Janie Duke gift of $29 million and second was the Woodward Estate gift of $26.1 million in 1998.
"The Onsteads' generosity has changed the trajectory of ACU," President Phil Schubert said Thursday. "We are super, super excited" about naming the College of Science and Engineering for them, Schubert said.
The benefit of relationships
Relationships with donors such as the Onsteads are a two-way street, Schubert said. ACU needs donors to move the university forward and donors with close ties want to help do that, he said.
The family knew ACU's vision to become a renowned national research university. Grandson Charlie Onstead currently is a member of the Board of Trustees.
Schubert said it was made clear "what our key priorities are and what we're aspiring to achieve" and the family stepped up to help with those goals.
"One of the things that I have appreciated over and over about the Onsteads is that they like to be leaders, if you will, in creating momentum," he said.
ACU, Schubert said, hopes to name more colleges as ACU brands itself as a national leader in research.
"This is signaling something much bigger than the gift. It signals a major focus on building the brand," he said. "It's going to transform ACU."
How this will work
Funding will support an endowment that will provide faculty, scholarships and research opportunities.
ACU is not adding a building with gift funds. The departments are housed in these academic building:
Engineering and physics labs in Bennett Gymnasium (2015)
Halbert-Walling Research Center, a 54,000-square-foot facility (2017). It's home to biology, chemistry and biochemistry department, and the Center for Pre-Health Professions, which provides academic and co-curricular programs for students pursuing preparation for careers in health professions.
Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center, a 28,000-square-foot facility that is under construction. It will house the NEXT Lab and support research in physics, chemistry and engineering disciplines.
Onstead Science Center, a facility that houses agricultural and environmental sciences, engineering and physics, and math.
Overall, the Onstead College has 45 faculty and 488 undergraduate students.
ACU listed these goals for the new college;
Enhancing focus on science and engineering by joining together five existing departments.
Providing undergraduate education in life and physical sciences for students in science, engineering and mathematics programs, and through the general education program.
Growing and capitalizing on the demand for programs related to the disciplines of the college, delivering innovative programs that enable students to explore and prepare for related careers.
Enhancing the NEXT Lab as a center of ACU’s funded research and investment of university resources into new facilities, and establishing its faculty and students as international leaders in partnerships with other scholars and government.
Exploring new opportunities for graduate education among strong disciplines where none currently exist.
Preparing undergraduate students for lives of Christian service and leadership, and supporting and preparing them to pursue graduate and professional school elsewhere, while continuing to grow graduate programs and, potentially, a medical school.
It's personal
"The family's focus has been grocery stores," Schubert said.
He, as a student at ACU, was part of that.
"Early on, they had an affinity for students who were choosing to attend Abilene Christian University who came from families in which there were ministers," Schubert said. His father was a pulpit minister in Houston.
When Schubert came to ACU in 1987, he benefited from a scholarship the Onstead family had set up.
"And I studied accounting," he said, laughing.
But that got him a summer internship at the company headquarters in Houston.
"It has been a great friendship and relationship for me over the years," Schubert said.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Onstead gift to name ACU's college of science and engineering
