FSU Panama City recently announced an Engineering the Future endowment for the new mechanical engineering program. The fund, initiated by $150,000 commitments from the Gulf Power Foundation and St. Joe Community Foundation, has a goal of $1 million.
“We are so proud to offer this much-needed program, but we recognize that we need scholarships to recruit and retain students and funding for updated labs and professional development opportunities for both students and faculty,” said Randy Hanna, dean of FSU Panama City. “This endowment will provide annual funding for these needs and will continue to support the program for years to come.”
A $1 million endowment will yield annual spendable earnings of $40,000 with additional earnings allowing the fund to grow in perpetuity.
With their commitments to the Engineering the Future Endowed Fund, the Gulf Power Company and the St. Joe Company foundations will have provided nearly $2 million in combined cumulative giving to FSU Panama City. Both companies have sponsored the campus’s golf tournament and annual dinner, established endowed scholarships for students in STEM degree programs and served as the lead donors at the beginning of FSU Panama City’s current campaign.
“These companies have been champions of higher education,” Hanna said.
The endowment will support scholarships, professorship, equipment and professional development for students in the mechanical engineering program at FSU Panama City.
“The Gulf Power Foundation is proud to be able to support FSU Panama City’s already stellar lineup of programs,” said Stan Connally, Gulf Power chairman, president and CEO. “Gulf Power has a deep understanding of the need for these types of programs in our community, and the mechanical engineering program supports a long-term strategy to build a pipeline of skilled employees and professionals in our communities, and to help encourage new industries to choose Northwest Florida in the future.”
“I believe that the necessary ingredients for prosperity and economic growth exist in Northwest Florida,” said Jorge Gonzalez, trustee of the St. Joe Community Foundation and president and CEO of the St. Joe Company. “The mechanical engineering program at FSU Panama City is one of those ingredients in which The St. Joe Community Foundation is proud to support, especially considering the opportunity to meet the advanced needs of current and future employers in the region.”
The FAMU-FSU mechanical engineering program, which is expanding from the Tallahassee campus in fall 2018, teaches contemporary engineering practices for developing products from concept to the marketplace. Courses focus on thermal and fluid systems, mechanical systems, mechanics and materials, dynamic systems, and engineering design.