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Apply FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marilu Reyna or Jillian Reddish
Email: Marilu.Reyna@tamusa.tamus.edu
or Jillian.Reddish@tamusa.tamus.edu
Phone: (210) 326-0003 or (210) 784-1103
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 27, 2013
SAN ANTONIO — The Texas A&M San Antonio Foundation was excited to accept a $50,000 scholarship award today from the San Antonio American Petroleum Institute (API) Inc. The scholarship aligns with a major initiative of Texas A&M University-San Antonio in support of the study of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields, and represents the first time the San Antonio API has donated to the Texas A&M San Antonio Foundation. The initiative will produce skilled graduates in the oil and gas industry in South Texas, supporting the high demand such as that created by the Eagle Ford Shale.
“Major industries like oil and natural gas have large amounts of proprietary knowledge and information that needs to be protected, creating a quickly rising demand for skilled graduates to successfully manage the security needs arising from Eagle Ford Shale and other industries in South Texas,” said Dr. Maria Hernandez Ferrier. “We are excited that the San Antonio chapter of the American Petroleum Institute understands and supports Texas A&M-San Antonio’s commitment to producing field-ready graduates who will stand ready to serve the region.”
The scholarship award was presented to members of the Texas A&M San Antonio Foundation Board by Mark Franki, chairman of the Board of Directors for API San Antonio Chapter, Inc., at a special ceremony at the Texas A&M University-San Antonio Main Campus on Thursday, June 27 at 10 a.m. Students majoring in a STEM field are eligible to apply.
“The scholarship and endowment gift to Texas A&M-San Antonio is the culmination of many months of work by the members of the San Antonio Chapter of API to increase our support of education in the San Antonio community and to provide more public awareness of the many career and technical opportunities available from a strong oil and gas industry in South Texas,” said Mark Franki of the San Antonio API Chapter. “We are extremely excited to provide this financial support to help out deserving students at San Antonio’s fastest-growing member of higher education, Texas A&M University-San Antonio.”
In the past year, API has awarded over $157,000 in scholarships to undergraduate students from the South Texas Area in addition to the $50,000 presented to Texas A&M University-San Antonio today.
The San Antonio API is a local chapter of the national trade association of the American Petroleum Institute (API) whose mission is to promote the fellowship and professional development of our members through the exchange of operational experience and operations oriented meeting programs, along with a variety of fund raising events which support educational scholarships and community service projects. The API represents all aspects of America's oil and natural gas industry, and supports a strong, viable oil and natural gas industry through advocacy, research, statistics, standards, certification and education.
Currently enrolling over 4,000 students, Texas A&M University-San Antonio is the fastest-growing university in the distinguished Texas A&M University System for the third year in a row. Now occupying the first building on the grounds of its nearly 700-acre Main Campus, the military-embracing university will open the doors on two more buildings for fall 2014. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are available for the lowest university tuition in San Antonio for a variety of in-demand fields, including teacher preparation, business, information technology and cyber security. Texas A&M-San Antonio’s mission is to prepare and empower students to be innovative and contributing members of a global society.
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