Louisiana Tech University’s College of Engineering and Science has received a generous gift of $1 million from Tim and Elaine Petrus and XTO Energy, Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas. The gift will be used to create the Petrus Family Engineering Scholarship and towards funding for the proposed Petrus STEM Research Center to be housed in the University’s proposed Integrated Engineering and Science Education Building. “Elaine and I are delighted to have the opportunity to give this gift to Louisiana Tech and are grateful to XTO Energy for helping make it possible,” said Tim Petrus.  “It is critical for our nation’s future that we continue to produce outstanding engineers and scientists and Louisiana Tech is leading the way in that pursuit.” “Now more than ever, we must have the support of alumni and friends of Tech to maintain our level of excellence.” Tim Petrus, executive vice-president of XTO Energy, made the gift in honor of his parents and his brothers, and hopes it will encourage other Tech graduates to also support the university. “Tim and Elaine understand and support our goal of building engineers and scientists for tomorrow,” said Stan Napper, dean of the College of Engineering and Science.  “They recognize that these students need financial support through scholarships and world-class facilities like our proposed Integrated Engineering and Science Education Building.” Once funded and constructed, the Integrated Engineering and Science Building will serve the College of Engineering and Science, providing highly valuable space for the College.  Bogard Hall, which has been in service since 1941, is currently the College’s main building utilized for engineering and science classes and laboratories. State-of-the-art classroom and laboratory space, especially for freshmen and sophomore engineering classes, as well as new office space for faculty are planned for the new facility. “Louisiana Tech is honored to accept such a generous gift from the Petrus family and XTO Energy,” said Louisiana Tech President Dan Reneau.  “Alumni and corporate support for our engineering programs are essential to our growth as a premier research institution.” “Our University is truly fortunate to have alumni like Tim and Elaine Petrus who embrace Tech’s mission and will stand with us as we continue to move forward.” Louisiana Tech’s College of Engineering and Science is a nationally recognized leader in educational innovation whose goal is to become “the best college in the world at integrating engineering and science in education and research.”  Louisiana Tech is one of fourteen universities nation-wide to become affiliated with the Center for Advancement on Scholarship in Engineering Education (CASEE), a unit of the National Academy of Engineering.