Engineering school gets $10.5 million

Imagine the possibilities created by $10.5 million.

Officials at Pitt’s School of… Imagine the possibilities created by $10.5 million.

Officials at Pitt’s School of Engineering no longer have to limit themselves to imagining possibilities-they can benefit from them, thanks to Pitt alumnus George M. Bevier’s estate.

Bevier, who graduated in 1913, made his money as a petroleum geologist by inventing a seismograph, used to locate oil and gas fields. He held positions in the U.S. government, private companies and the independent field.

During Bevier?s career, Pitt gave him an honorary doctorate in science in 1937 and the School of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus award in 1964. Bevier died in 1972.

According to a Pitt press release, “[Bevier was] one of the first geologists in the nation to combine geology and geophysics in the exploration of oil and gas, techniques which contributed to his discovery of the main production area of the Conroe oil fields in Montgomery County, Texas, one of the leading fields of oil and gas production in the state and nation.”

The engineering school will use the $10.5 million gift to create a chair and a fellowship in Bevier’s name. The awards will be given to “support programs in bioengineering, sustainability, and energy and resources,” according to the press release.

Gerald Holder, the U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering, said, “The Bevier Chair and Bevier Fellowships will allow us to attract and retain outstanding faculty and students, respectively, in these critical areas.”

Though this latest donation is the largest single endowment ever made to the School of Engineering, this was not the only gift Bevier gave Pitt. In the time since he graduated, Bevier created the Bevier Engineering Library and donated money to Pitt’s petroleum engineering program.

Holder added in the press release, “this gift will serve as a catalyst that will make engineering education at the University of Pittsburgh one of the top programs in the nation.”

“George Means Bevier was a visionary entrepreneur in the best traditions of our most outstanding graduates, and we are proud and grateful for his commitment to education and to the University of Pittsburgh,” he said.