A $4.3 million endowment to Kiewit Corp.’s Colorado School of Mines. and President Bruce Grewcock will create a program chair to oversee the school’s new bachelor’s degree in construction engineering.
The Golden, Colo.-based research university announced last week that the joint gift will establish the Kiewit Corporation Endowed Chair to spearhead the program’s research and curriculum development as an educator and industry “connector.” In a press release, Mines President Paul C. Johnson added that the new role will also be key ensuring that the students in the program are aligned with the rapid changes”current and future needs of the construction sector”.
“We want it to quickly become one of the leading construction engineering programs in the worldJohnson said of the four-year program, which the school said it founded in 2023 to meet the growing demand for new talent in the construction industry. According to the school, the program’s inaugural class included 45 students led by two announced professors with different research, technological and sustainable backgrounds in civil construction.
Defend the potential of the program from the beginning, Grewcock, a former CEO of Kiewit for 15 years until 2020 and a 1976 Mines alumnus, pledged to Mines that the construction industry “is booming” and Kiewit would hire “every graduate of this program.”
“Our industry is rapidly evolving, requiring new skills and pragmatic, real-world experience from those seeking to build the world’s future energy and infrastructure projects,” Grewcock added in the press release announcing the gift. “This program will play a remarkable role in helping Mines achieve its goal of educating and equipping the best engineering talent for the next phase of their lives.”
In its announcement, the university said it was seeking additional industry partners to invest in expanding the program’s faculty and scholarship offerings.
ENR has reached out to Mines to learn more about when the Kiewit Corporation Endowed Chair role is expected to be filled and the selection process.
