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UT Engineering School Receives $5M from ExxonMobil CEO

A new study out of UT Austin ranks the university second in the nation for efficiency.
Photo by KUT News
The UT Engineering School is receiving $5 million from the CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex W Tillerson, and his wife, Renda.

Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex W. Tillerson and his wife, Renda, are donating $5 million to the Cockrell School of Engineering. The money is slated to go toward the Engineering Education and Research Center which is expected to open in 2017.

It's a 430,000 square-foot facility that will allow UT Austin to expand its teaching, research and student project space.

Tillerson graduated from UT Austin in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and serves on the school's Engineering Advisory Board and UT Development Board.  His sons, Robert and Michael, are also graduates. “Renda and I could not be more excited about what is happening at the Cockrell School, and we are delighted to support the Engineering Education and Research Center, which, when completed, will be one of the great engineering education facilities in the country,” Tillerson said in a statement. 

The donation is the second major gift to the Engineering and Research Center this year. In January, the Mulva Family Foundation announced a $20 million gift. Last month, the school rose to the top 10 in the U.S. News & World Report's 2014 graduate program rankings.

ExxonMobil has contributed more than $55 million to the university since 1975. Nearly $17 million has gone to engineering programs.

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