Lee D. Housewright Jr., a retired food industry executive, will endow a $25,000 industrial and systems engineering scholarship for Texas A&M students.

"Scholarships are critical for the department to be competitive in recruiting top students and to have the resources to aid those well-qualified students with significant financial need. We are grateful to Mr. Housewright for his gift, which will provide us with additional resources for these purposes," said Dr. Brett A. Peters, industrial and systems engineering department head.

Housewright retired in 1983 as an executive vice president with Hormel Foods Corp., a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded meat and food products. Matching funds from the company will help complete his gift.

"My education and experiences at Texas A&M were helpful in my work," Housewright said.

Housewright, Texas A&M Class of 1943, received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M in 1947 following World War II.

A long-time supporter of his alma mater, Housewright has endowed two President's Endowed Scholarships and a Sul Ross scholarship. He is an Endowed Diamond Century Club member of The Association of Former Students and a member of the A&M Legacy Society, which recognizes supporters for cumulative lifetime and estate giving to the university, Texas A&M Foundation, The Association of Former Students, the 12th Man Foundation and George Bush Presidential Library Foundation.

"Mr. Housewright has been a steady supporter of Texas A&M and the Texas Aggies who walk our campus for many years. We are grateful that he has decided to assist future generations of industrial and systems engineering students with this most recent scholarship gift," said Matt Jennings, director of development for engineering with the Texas A&M Foundation.

Texas A&M's industrial and systems engineering department ranks seventh in undergraduate and sixth in graduate programs among public universities throughout the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The magazine ranks the university's Dwight Look College of Engineering eighth nationally among public universities in both undergraduate and graduate programs. The college houses 12 departments and more than 8,800 students.

Housewright's gift counts in the One Spirit One Vision Campaign, a $1 billion multiyear fund-raising effort with the goal of helping Texas A&M attain national top 10 status among public universities while sustaining the distinctive Texas A&M spirit. The volunteer-led campaign, which encompasses all private gifts benefiting Texas A&M, is coordinated by the Texas A&M Foundation. The foundation accomplishes its mission through fund-raising and managing assets that benefit Texas A&M.