Contact: Addie Vaughn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A recent $25,000 gift from a Houston, Texas, alumnus is making possible a scholarship in Mississippi State's re-established petroleum engineering program.
James M. Trimble is a 1972 petroleum engineering graduate who was the university's 2004 Distinguished Engineering Fellow. He currently is operations advisor at PDC Energy Inc., a West Virginia-based drilling company.
The scholarship bearing his name will be designated for full-time entering freshmen chosing the academic major in MSU's James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. The award will be available for up to four years, provided the Trimble Scholar maintains a 3.0 grade point average (based on a 4.0 scale).
Because of severe budget cuts facing state higher education in 1995, MSU was forced to suspend the petroleum engineering degree program. Approved last year by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning, its reinstatement in the 2015 fall semester reflects the growing national demand for graduates in the field.
The state's only petroleum engineering degree program will be offered through the college's Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering.
With its addition, the Bagley College will have 11 undergraduate degree programs spread among eight academic departments. The college also has 21 master's- and doctoral-level programs.
Engineering is one of MSU's two oldest academic offerings, and U.S. News and World Report ranks Bagley's programs among the top 100 nationwide.
For guidance on creating Bagley scholarships, contact development director Bennett Evans at 662-325-0386 or bevans@bagley.msstate.edu. Details of the college's academic curricula may be searched via www.bagley.msstate.edu.
Information on PDC Energy is available at www.pdce.com.
MSU is Mississippi's flagship research university and is found online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate.