The Engineering Department at Western Kentucky University was founded on the premise that we must be regionally relevant. While our graduates will be prepared to be competitive in any market, the primary focus is to prepare graduates to begin productive careers as practitioners in regional industries. We did not come to this decision haphazardly. Industries in this region came to us to develop the type of programs that we have developed so that they could employ our graduates to achieve or maintain there own competitive edge. These industries believe in Western and its ability to deliver high quality engineering programs that many of them made a substantial financial commitment to making sure our vision would be created and endure. We owe an enormous amount of gratitude to the following people and companies who have ensured the longevity of the engineering programs at Western Kentucky University:

Person	Gift
James D. Scott President Scotty's Contracting	$1 million to create the James D. Scott Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering and the Scott Center for Construction and Engineering. This gift was matched with state funds for a total gift of $2 million.
Ken & Irene Hall Owners Hall Contracting	$500,000 to create the Ken and Irene Hall Professor of Civil Engineering This gift was matched with state funds for a total gift of $1 million.
James L. "Bud" Layne President Span Tech	$500,000 to create the James L. "Bud" Layne Professor of Mechanical Engineering. This gift was matched with state funds for a total gift of $1 million.
William A. & Joyce R. Bell	$125,000 to create the William A. and Joyce R. Bell Faculty Excellence Fund for Civil Engineering. This gift was matched with state funds for a total gift of $250,000.