Recipients must demonstrate financial need and will be U.S. residents with a minimum overall grade point average of 3.00 or entering freshmen from the top half of their high school classes.

"We are most appreciative of this significant scholarship endowment that Huitt-Zollars Inc. has graciously provided. They have been a good friend to Texas A&M Engineering for many years. The scholarships will allow many qualified students an opportunity to prepare for careers in engineering at Texas A&M -- students who might otherwise be deprived because of escalating costs," said Dr. Jo Howze, Texas A&M associate dean of engineering for academic programs.

Presenting the gift were president and co-founder Robert L. Zollars and Bonnie O'Brien, vice president and director of human resources.

"We are committed to doing our part in creating a pipeline of qualified employees through support of education and training. In addition, we actively recruit engineering interns and Engineers In Training throughout our 15 offices. Support of education has been a core value for our firm from the very beginning," Zollars said. He established the company in 1975 with E. Larry Huitt, Texas A&M Class of 1961, now retired.

Huitt-Zollars is a full-service design firm in six states and expertise in engineering, architecture, planning, landscape architecture, surveying and construction management. Practice areas include transportation, public works, buildings and urban development.

Engineering News Record ranks Huitt-Zollars among the nation's top 200 design firms. The company has been part of such major projects as the D/FW International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Seattle light rail systems, and several major national highway assignments across the Southwest.

The Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M accounts for roughly one-fifth of the student population on the Texas A&M campus, with a fall 2005 enrollment of 8,857 engineering majors in 12 departments. Faculty members number 439, with another 63 to be added by 2007. In the most recent U.S. News and World Report comparisons, the Look College ranks 8th among public universities for both graduate and undergraduate programs.

Texas A&M and the Look College have memorandums of agreement with 35 institutions in 22 countries with special emphasis on programs in China, South America, India, Europe and Qatar, where Texas A&M has an engineering campus in its third year of operation.