Changing the World – March/April 2018

CHANGING THE WORLD What your investment in UT makes possible But life is full of twists and turns, and that’s exactly what happened when Hildebrand, his wife Mindy, and their family announced a $25 million gift to the Cockrell School of Engineering this fall.

Hildebrand is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Company, one of the nation’s largest and most successful privately held oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, employing a workforce of over 1,900 across the nation.

A PROUD TRADITION AND A NEW ERA Hildebrand Foundation Gift Opens New Chapter for UT PGE

Above: The Hildebrand family and President Gregory L. Fenves celebrate the renaming of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering.

CREDIT: Marsha Miller

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r r i v ing a s a n undergr a duate at the uni v er sity of tex a s at

Austin in 1979, Jeff Hildebrand described himself as “fun-loving and unfocused—a bit of a wildcatter.” In his wildest dreams, he never imagined that he would one day be making a $25 million

gift to his alma mater and that one of the nation’s top petroleum engineering departments would bear his family’s name.

“It is our hope that this gift will inspire the next generation of engineers, explorers, and innovators to pursue an education and career in the petroleum industry.”

— jeff hildebrand

Fast Facts

THE HILDEBRAND DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM AND GEOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING • Petroleum and geosystems engineers help discover new ways to provide safe, abundant and reliable energy for our society.

• O ver the past five years, the Hildebrand Department has conducted on average $18 million per year in research.

• For over 85 years, the Hildebrand Department has been internationally recognized for its excellence in education and research.

BS ’81, MS ’85

Like most Longhorn a lumni, Hildebra nd counts his days at UT among the best in his l i fe. He cred it s ea rly ex posure to the g reat minds of UT’s world-class petroleum engineers and geologists with inspiring him to seek a career in the energ y sector and pursue a master’s degree in petroleum engineering.

“Their mentoring, counsel and teaching is what made it possible Jeff Hildebrand for me to be standing here today attaching our family name to this exceptional department,” Hildebrand said when announcing his family’s transformative gift before an excited audience of family, friends, and faculty.

Among those attending the celebration was Sharon L. Wood, dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering, who said, “By giving back so generously to this university, you have shown our students what your degree has meant to you—and, thus, what their degree will mean to them. You have reinforced the value of higher education and further established the Hildebrand Department as a global hub of energy innovation, where thought leaders and aspiring young engineers come together to change the world.”

Jon E. Olson, chair of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, also shared how the gift will make an impact. “This gift from the Hildebrand Foundation will give us the resources to be innovative and bold in teaching, to reward those that excel, to aspire to always do better, and to bring in experts from industry and around the world to teach our students, faculty, and staff.”

The Cockrell School and the Hildebrand Department have assembled a strategic planning group to develop a targeted plan of action to maximize the impact of this amazing investment. Stay tuned for more information on how this gift will change the world.

• According to the latest U.S. News & World Report list, the Hildebrand Department’s graduate program ranks first in the nation and the undergraduate program ranks second.

• One in 10 Hildebrand Department alumni serves in an executive-level position in industry.

• H ildebrand Department faculty produce 300 journal and conference papers annually—more than any other petroleum engineering department in the nation.

• O ver the past five years, the Hildebrand Department has added 900 graduates to the workforce.

Family First “Like a strong family, UT graduates don’t forget where they came from. And they give back to the next generation of Longhorns. The Hildebrand family’s gift exemplifies that spirit.

And we are grateful.”

– President Gregory L. Fenves

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he Hildebrand family’s ties to the Longhorn Nation are deep, varied, and multi-generational.

Je f f r e c e i v e d h i s m a s t e r ’s d e g r e e i n petroleum engineering and bachelor’s degree in geology from UT Austin, and currently serves as vice chairman of The University of Texas System Board of Regents and on the Cockrell School of Engineering Advisory Board. He was named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate of the Cockrell School in 2005 and a Distinguished Alumnus of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering in 2013.

Mindy Hildebrand received her bachelor’s degree in management from the McCombs School of Business and serves on the McCombs School Advisory Board and the University Development Board. She is the vice chair of the Hildebrand Foundation and is active with many nonprofits in the Houston area. Mindy has been a director of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University since 2011.

The Hildebrands’ two sons, JT and Jeffery, proudly attend UT Austin, and their daughter Brittany is an alumna of Texas A&M University. s e p t e m b e r | o c t o b e r 2011

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CHANGING THE WORLD What your investment in UT makes possible “ I want to give to the people who made me who I am—my mentors, my band directors, my professors in engineering. These people gave me everything.

I just want to give back.”

— rick church

LONGHORN LEGACY As part of his historic donation to the Longhorn Band, Church created the Richard M. Church, Jr. Scholarship in honor of his parents, Nelda Jean and Richard M. Church. The scholarships will be available to current Longhorn Band members with financial need who major in engineering and exhibit a “spirited dedication” to the Longhorn Band.

GIVING BACK IN A BIG WAY Longhorn Band Alumnus Pays it Forward

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hances are if you ’re lucky enough to be at a longhorn football

game during an Alumni Band Day, Rick Church will be there too, proudly playing his tuba in the X of the “Texas” formation. What you may not know is that Church, BS ’77, recently made the largest

planned gift ever to the Longhorn Band—$12 million, to be exact.

Above: Members of the

Longhorn Band’s “Bertha Crew” wheel Big Bertha onto the field.

CREDIT: Texas Athletics

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He also committed $7 million from his estate to the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he earned his degree. These gifts are in addition to his generous $350,000 pledge to support the Longhorn Band’s Legacy Fund and scholarships.

Church’s remarkable generosity to the Longhorn Band and the Cockrell School was motivated by gratitude and appreciation for the people that have given him and many others so much.

By the time Church was in seventh grade, he knew he wanted to be an engineer. Wisely,

he decided to attend The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied under giants like Dr. Kenneth Ralls. He joined the Longhorn Band in 1973, during a time many consider the heyday of Texas football, and served his first two years under the direction of legendary band director Vincent DiNino. After graduating, Church moved to Houston where he became a mechanical engineer in the oil industry and a successful entrepreneur.

Like thousands of Longhorn alumni, part of Church’s heart will always be on the Forty Acres. He has a near-perfect attendance record at the Longhorn Band’s Alumni Days and is

eager to help other students experience the joys and life lessons of being in one of the nation’s largest and most celebrated marching bands.

Senior biomedical engineering student and big flags section leader Danny Bacic will never forget the day Longhorn Band director Scott Hanna announced Church’s historic gift. “We were all in the stadium after rehearsal when Dr. Hanna announced the gift. It was stunned silence for a few moments,” Bacic recalls. “All of us were struck by the generosity and kindness of this gift.”

Freshman Breanna Portillo, whose parents met in the Longhorn Band, was awestruck and inspired when she learned about Church’s donation. “It sent a powerful message to me and motivated me to be a better person,” Portillo said. “I decided that if I became successful one day, one of my goals would be to give back to the things that shaped me, just like Mr. Church.”

A New Texas Tradition

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he Longhorn Nation may be best known for its deep-rooted traditions, but we also do a pretty good job at creating new ones! Case in point: 40 Hours for the Forty Acres.

Created five years ago, the 40-hour fundraising event has quickly become a highly anticipated campus tradition, bringing together students, alumni, and friends to show support for the university and its varied departments and programs. The fundraising blitz, which will take place this year April 4-5, has become a popular way for programs and departments to raise much-needed revenue.

In four short years, 40 for Forty has raised over $10 million. Donations of all sizes—from a few dollars to over six figures—are encouraged and make a difference. To add to the excitement, generous donors frequently offer challenge grants to help maximize the impact of individual giving. Last year, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation generously matched every dollar raised for medical student scholarships up to $55,000 throughout the campaign.

The impact of 40 for Forty is felt campus-wide. Last year, over 90 colleges, schools, units, and departments fundraised for 40 exciting hours, generating 8,000 individual donations. Donors are empowered to customize their support to the programs that mean the most to them, whether a sports club, child development center, McDonald Observatory in West Texas or a college or school.

Last year during 40 for Forty, the College of Natural Sciences raised $43,701 for its Freshman Research Initiative (FRI). The funds received from donors helped 17 undergraduates, including Elizabeth Herrin, a biochemistry major from Irving, Texas, experience summer research fellowships. Herrin spent part of her summer conducting research that she hopes will one day lead to a more efficient way of detecting the Hepatitis A virus in food and water supplies in developing countries. “My favorite part about participating in FRI this summer is my involvement with the ‘Shadow a Scientist’ program,” she says.

“It enabled me to introduce middle school students to research in a fun and safe way and help them discover their passion for research.”

Changing the World is produced by the University Development Office. Please send your feedback and suggestions to Bianca Bellavia at bbellavia@austin.utexas.edu. For more news and information about giving to UT Austin, visit giving.utexas.edu.

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