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The Legacy

Connecting Aggies to the World

By Tyler Allen '18

Student Writer
Mary-Ann and Tom Ferguson '78 are providing Texas A&M's industrial distribution students with international engineering and business experience through a planned gift.

Mary-Ann and Tom Ferguson ’78 see Aggies as leaders of tomorrow, and they want to play a part in cultivating that leadership by providing students with international business and engineering experience. In addition to their existing gifts in support of this goal, the Fort Worth couple created a multimillion-dollar bequest in a revocable living trust that will support Texas A&M’s industrial distribution program after their lifetimes.

A portion of their gift will create an endowment to provide scholarships to industrial distribution majors who are enrolled in the Global Distribution Study Abroad Program, a project-based class that takes place over five weeks in the summer. Last summer, students spent three weeks in College Station and two weeks in China, where they engaged with government, state agencies and private industries to understand global distribution practices.

The remaining funds from their gift will support graduate student research and program needs in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution.
 

An industrial distribution major, Tom has had a successful 38-year career working with various multinational firms. He currently serves as CEO of AZZ Inc., a global provider of metal protection, highly-engineered services and electrical systems.