The Fourth Decade

Laredo Morning Times | lmtonline.com | Sunday, December 15, 2019 | E7 50 Anniversary gram, which began in 2004. TAMIU’s budget took great strides beyond 1980, with an in- crease from $2.8 million to $64 mil- lion in 2007. The “Tony” and Maria J. San- chez Family also donated $10 mil- lion in a matching challenge grant to establish an endowment fund for the Sanchez School of Business, named after Tony Sanchez. The Fernando A. Salinas Chari- table Trust pledged $1 million in response to the challenge grant, and in 2008, it doubled to $2 million. It supported the business school, and classrooms were named in honor of Roberto M. and Beatriz S. Bena- vides. The next year, TAMIU formally dedicated two rooms in the Western Hemispheric Trade Center to family members of the Fernando A. Salinas Charitable Trust. The business school continued to receive donations, including $500,000 by the Matias De Llano Charita- ble Trust. It was to fund continu- ing the Ph.D. in I n t e rna t i ona l Business Ad- ministration. The Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust gave a $3 million gift for graduate study scholarships. In 2009, the Union Pacific Founda- tion presented a $10,000 gift for Lamar Bruni Vergara Sci- ence Center and Planetarium’s fourth anniver- sary. TAMIU also was granted $87,000 for Phase 2 funding for a communi- ty energy con- servation education program. It was in collaboration with Texas A&M College of Architecture’s Center for Housing and Urban Development Colonias Program and local energy providers. In 2009, that trust also donated a $1 million gift to provide emergency financial assistance to qualified TA- MIU students. Bolstering its STEM program, the Texas Higher Education Coor- dinating Board awarded a $635,900 grant for a program to provide train- ing for local 6th-12th grade teachers training in math, science and tech- nology. In a big step in studying mental conditions, Cuellar announced a $287,314 grant from the U.S. De- partment of Education for a gradu- ate education degree program in au- tism. It was set to launch in 2010. For more information on TAMIU’s 50th anniversary, follow TXAMIU on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Spotify, use the hashtag #TAMIU50 and visit the school’s website at 50.tamiu.edu . TAMIU’s enrollment passes 6,000 in Sept. 2009 as faculty including President Ray Keck celebrate with a cake.