In 2020, Scott and Amy Dadich set up a scholarship endowment in design communication at Texas Tech with the intention of providing support for students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to pursue a degree in graphic design.

This fall, they met some of the students who received that scholarship. Alessandra Rios and Dawn Franklin share about the impact the Dadiches have had on their time at Texas Tech.

Mike Portnoy and Vicki Cooper have made a lasting impact at Texas Tech University by donating a remarkable collection of minerals and fossils to the new Academic Sciences Building, alongside funding scholarships for aspiring geoscientists.

The couple’s commitment to philanthropy is rooted in the support they received from Texas Tech and their belief in the transformative power of education, having experienced it firsthand. Their gifts are a reflection of their desire to leave a legacy that impacts future generations, providing the same opportunities that helped them achieve their own success.

This groundbreaking scholarship will provide higher education opportunities for rural students from the Oklahoma Panhandle, the Texas Panhandle and eastern New Mexico who have shown exceptional academic and leadership accomplishments. The dual goals of the program are four-year college completion and leadership success.

Recipients of the Thoma Scholarship will receive a significant financial award designed to substantially mitigate student debt incurred while pursuing a four-year undergraduate degree. The scholarship covers tuition, fees, room and board, books, an international study abroad experience and other education-related expenses.

The Strickling Senior Leaders program will provide a $1,000 scholarship to every senior in the College of Education. With roughly 277 seniors graduating from the college each year, this gift will have the largest scholarship impact made by an individual on an annual basis in Texas Tech history.

Do not be deceived, though. This has not been handed to her. In her two years on campus, Hernandez has punctuated her life story with generous portions of resiliency and relentlessness, working to neutralize the challenges of a dyslexia diagnosis while also helping her parents care for siblings on the autism spectrum, balancing the demands of work and school and still, somehow, finding time to participate in campus organizations.

Like many students facing rising higher education costs, Montgomery knew scholarships were her only chance of attending a four-year university. While crunching numbers and comparing schools, she found Texas Tech University and hasn’t looked back.

Murray Randle has spent the last four decades transforming the 7R Ranch from an overgrazed, eroded landscape into a thriving model of conservation. When he began considering the ranch’s future, Randle sought to ensure it remained a conservation resource rather than be developed, ultimately choosing Texas Tech University because of their shared commitment to preserving the land.

Now, with a first-of-its-kind estate property gift to Texas Tech and the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, the 7R Ranch will serve as a living laboratory for faculty and students, providing opportunities for research in wildlife management, water conservation, and ranching practices. Randle’s generous gift ensures the ranch’s legacy will continue, serving as a center for education, research, and outreach in conservation and agriculture for generations to come.

Through nearly three decades of partnership between the entities and legacy companies, the full impact of BASF’s contributions to the university to date is nearly $57 million, when including matching funds. This collaboration has supported groundbreaking research in crop genetics, precision agriculture, and natural fiber research.

Beyond the laboratory, the public-private partnership has fostered generations of relationships between the two entities – providing valuable, real-world experience for Texas Tech students and cultivating novel, innovative research projects for BASF.

“Texas Tech’s College of Education is uniquely situated geographically to serve the educational needs of West Texas,” said Senior Vice President of Philanthropic Client Management at Bank of America Kelly Garlock. “When you couple that with their commitment to rural education, it became clear the College of Education was the perfect place to house the Prentice Farrar and Alline Ford Brown Foundation Chair of Rural Education. We are delighted to have the opportunity to further our mission in this unique way and to support innovations we are confident will become a model of rural education.”

He was a leading figure in the fight for civil rights, defended Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. in court, helped plan the Montgomery bus boycott, was a legal counselor in Browder v. Gayle and made a career fighting injustice.

In November 2023, Mark and Becky Lanier made sure Gray’s legacy would long live in the hearts, minds and educations of students at Texas Tech University’s School of Law.

Their generosity established the Fred Gray Endowed Chair for Civil Rights and Constitutional Law with the hope that the law school would find a person to fill the chair who exemplified two of Gray’s most admirable characteristics – a strong moral sense of right and wrong, and a strong work ethic.

One of these is tucked into the north side of campus, nestled behind trees and recognizable by sculptures and outdoor kilns. It’s the School of Art’s 3D Annex, which houses jewelry, ceramic and sculpture programs.

For jewelry makers, the annex boasts a state-of-the-art space that’s the thing of dreams. One of the finest facilities in the Southwest, students from around the country are drawn to Texas Tech because of the studio and faculty.

“Bill Brookshire, the founder of the William A. Brookshire Foundation, was committed to helping students who help themselves, work hard and simply need extra assistance to be successful,” said Dean Quinn, a Texas Tech alumnus and member of the foundation’s board of directors. “Dr. Brookshire worked all the way through school including while earning his Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Working students and military veterans were passions of his. The Brookshire Foundation is excited to partner with Texas Tech to help future engineers succeed and provide assistance to those students who have served our country.”

“What do you do when a doctor tells you your child is autistic?” Jim asked. “Believe me, back then it was a big black hole. We paid people, we brought in experts, and we learned one piece at a time, but not everyone can afford to do that.”

While they met this challenge head on, they did not want others to have to do the same. Their original thought was to create a place with two purposes: an educational center where teachers could learn classroom approaches to educate students with autism and a location where parents could access all recourses available about how to care for children with autism.

Through his music, poetry, and radio and television shows, Steagall has captured the spirit of Western and cowboy culture. In addition to his popular Texas swing dance music and poems about life on a ranch, his collection includes more than 30 years of his popular syndicated radio show, “Cowboy Corner,” and more than 20 years of his RFD-TV shows, “In the Bunkhouse with Red Steagall” and “Red Steagall is Somewhere West of Wall Street.”

1,168 rushing yards.

That’s how many more rushing yards Brooks needs to set the career record at TTU. With 3,052 yards, he has his eyes on taking the title from Red Raider legend Byron Hanspard (1994-96).

But even with the opportunity to make history on the line, Brooks is thinking about how he can serve his team this year.

In recognition of the gift, Texas Tech will name its soon-to-be-completed walkthrough area in the Womble Football Center in his name. The three-time Super Bowl champion will also be recognized by being the namesake for Texas Tech's quarterback meeting room and the offensive coordinator's office in the new South End Zone Building to Jones AT&T Stadium.

“When we first launched this campaign, Patrick was only a freshman and now it is fitting that we approach the end of the campaign with a gift of his own,” Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said. “We couldn't be prouder to announce this gift from Patrick and Brittany Mahomes. We are so proud of Patrick for all he has accomplished and how he has continually supported Texas Tech on a global scale.”

“My wife is living in Alabama right now. For us to be able to be able to fly and see each other, it gets expensive. So, putting funds away to be able to see each other and, kind of take the weight off my shoulders for sure—trying to fill that husband role…,” said Rodriguez.

The charter members include longtime supporters Dustin R. Womble, Cody C. Campbell, James E. Sowell, Edward E. Whitacre Jr and Gary R. Petersen as well as two corporations in United Supermarkets and AT&T. In honor of their lifetime of contributions, they will be recognized on the Founders Society wall, which will be located at the main entrance to the concourse of the new South End Zone Building to Jones AT&T Stadium.

Standing 6’3” and decked out in all black Texas Tech gear, she might appear intimidating if it was not for the beaming smile stretched across her face.

“Sorry I’m a little late. I’m having some car issues, so my friend had to pick me up,” Tofaeono said with a laugh – seeming unphased by her hectic morning.