Cook Foundation pledges $500,000 to modernize labs

The initial $100,000 gift to the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Endowed Laboratory Fund in Civil Engineering will be used to purchase equipment for and renovate laboratories used for structural, geotechnical, construction, environmental, and water resources engineering instruction. The group of laboratories will be known as the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Laboratories in Civil Engineering.

The remaining $400,000 will build the endowment to produce income for annual maintenance and improvement of the Cook Labs.

All equipment and renovation should be in place by the end of the fall semester.

"In a time when the College of Engineering and the university rely so heavily on private contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations to sustain and build its programs, this generous donation will allow the Department of Civil Engineering to keep pace technology wise through state-of-the-art equipment and facilities," said engineering dean Robert Altenkirch.

In 1990, the Cook Foundation established the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Chair in Civil Engineering with a $1 million gift in memory of Kelly Gene Cook Sr., a 1955 Mississippi State graduate who majored in civil engineering.

Cook, an Attala County native who died in November 1989, was an oil and gas pipeline industry executive in Houston, Texas, for more than 30 years.

In 1986, Kelly Cook and his wife, Peggy, formed the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Charitable Foundation, which provides funds to support religious, charitable, scientific, and educational organizations. The foundation has provided numerous scholarships to Mississippi State students; these scholarships cover full tuition, fees, and living expenses.