College of Engineering

The Terracon Foundation announced a $5,000 grant for Tennessee Tech to support students pursuing a degree in one of the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) fields. This grant will be used to establish the Terracon Foundation Annual STEAM Scholarship for Diversity and Inclusion.

“It’s simple mathematics,” said Robert Owens, interim vice president of Student Affairs at Tech. “The more contributions we receive towards our diversity scholarship initiative, the more scholarship dollars we can offer to talented students of color to attend our fine institution. Companies like Terracon are integral to the growth of this scholarship initiative.”

Tech produces practical, ready-to-work graduates from a broad range of academic disciplines within eight colleges and prepares students to compete in a technologically-driven world. The university has the highest return on investment, the highest early career pay and the highest mid-career pay of any public university in Tennessee, according to PayScale.

Extending a Tech education to a diverse student population is critical. While Tech’s student body has become more diverse throughout the years, increasing ethnic diversity on the Tech campus remains a critical part of the university’s mission to expand opportunity and economic competitiveness. Tech set an initial goal of $2 million for the Diversity Scholarship Initiative, and so far, a little more than $1 million has been raised. For more information about Tech, visit tntech.edu. 

John Agee, a 1990 Tennessee Tech civil engineering graduate, is a vice president, senior principal and regional manager with Terracon. Agee championed this grant for his alma mater.

“I’m delighted that Terracon can provide aid to aspiring students,” said Agee. “I was fortunate to have aid when attending Tennessee Tech, and this allowed me to focus on my education and preparation for the workplace and diminish stress on finances. Today, I personally give to the Civil and Environmental Engineering program where I earned my degree and hope that Terracon and Tech will forge a long-term relationship to further STEM-related education for aspiring scientists and engineers.”

Since 2008, the Terracon Foundation has awarded more than $3 million to community organizations, universities, dependents of employees and disaster relief efforts. Terracon is an employee-owned engineering consulting firm with more than 5,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical and materials services from more than 150 offices, with services available in all 50 states. Terracon ranked 22^nd on Engineering News-Record’s 2020 list of the Top 500 Design Firms. For additional information about Terracon, visit terracon.com.

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