Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Engineering majors at Jackson State University now can continue their education at Mississippi State University with the aid of a new endowment established by a former Brookhaven resident.
Dave C. Swalm, a 1955 MSU chemical engineering graduate, is providing a $3 million gift for scholarships at his alma mater's Bagley College of Engineering.
"The Bagley College of Engineering and the College of Engineering, Science and Technology at Jackson State have an outstanding working relationship that continues to grow over time," said Bagley College Dean Kirk H. Schulz. "The establishment of the Swalm-JSU engineering scholarship will provide needed financial support to enable more Mississippians to obtain advanced study in any field of engineering offered at MSU."
The Swalm-JSU Engineering Scholarship Endowment will assist any bachelor of science graduate of the Jackson institution who desires to pursue an advanced degree in engineering at MSU. Candidates must have graduated with a 3.0 grade-point average, based on a 4.0 scale.
The gift, Swalm's second multi-million dollar commitment to MSU'S ongoing "State of the Future" campaign, also will benefit Jackson State undergraduate students who wish to transfer and pursue an engineering degree not currently offered there.
In this case, candidates must have completed two years in JSU's engineering studies program with a minimum 3.0 GPA. They also must be seeking a degree in aerospace, biological, chemical, industrial, mechanical, or software engineering.
An earlier $5 million Swalm commitment was earmarked for scholarships for any Brookhaven student choosing to major in a technical field at MSU.
Founder of Texas Olefins, a Houston, Texas, manufacturer of petrochemicals, Swalm since 1988 has made donations to his alma mater totaling more than $30 million. He joined Dow Chemical after working his way through the Starkville land-grant institution. He subsequently held positions at Texas Butadiene and the Steuber Co. before investing his entire savings of $6,000 to found his own company in 1968.
He sold Texas Olefins for $500 million in 1996.
Among Swalm's earlier generosity to MSU was a $14 million gift that made possible a 100,000-square-foot chemical engineering building and a school of chemical engineering that now bears his name. Other contributions support scholarships, faculty development programs and laboratory equipment.
Through a Texas-based foundation created in 1979, Swalm also has provided more than $130 million to support programs for early childhood education, child abuse victims and survivors of domestic violence, among others.
Mississippi State recognized his many contributions by awarding him an honorary doctor of science degree in 2000.
For more information about the Swalm-JSU Scholarships, contact John Rush of the MSU Foundation at 662-325-1108 or rush@foundation.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.