Your gift supports student success and ensures they have the opportunities and resources needed to excel.
Giving to the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications
The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications was officially founded in September 2006. However, roots of our department date back to over 100 years ago. We have grown and evolved to become one of the leading departments in Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications. Today, more than ever, we are purpose-driven to do our part to improve the lives of youth, families and adults through leadership, educational, and communication programming.
None of this would be possible without the generosity of our donors and friends. Discover how you can help advance excellence at Texas A&M University and make a difference in the lives of our students and faculty.
Ways to Give
There are numerous ways to give through the Texas A&M Foundation that allow you to direct your gift for a specific purpose at Texas A&M University. You can support students, faculty, college programs or student activities with an endowed gift that will provide permanent support, or you can make a non-endowed gift to be used more immediately for a designated purpose.
Industry Partnerships and Corporate Giving
The best choice a business can make is investing in future generations. If you’re a business looking for ways to give back through time, talents, money or experiences, our development team would love to connect and help identify ways we can turn your interests into a worthwhile investment.
Heather Hirsch ’12
Director of Corporate Relations
(979) 431-3740 | [email protected]
Department Funding Priorities
Fund the Dr. Chris and Dr. Joe Townsend ‘67 Chair in Leadership Education and Student Excellence
To honor the lasting leadership legacies of Dr. Chris Townsend and Dr. Joe Townsend in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, this funding will endow a chair in Leadership Education and Student Excellence. “Dr. Chris” and “Dr. Joe” established themselves as forward thinkers and are credited with the creation and development of signature academic initiatives related to leadership education theory and student development. They sought ways to find the best in students and help those students reach excellence.
Developing Facilities and Programs that Promote Innovation and Community
ALEC is a community of faculty and students collaboratively engaged in innovative teaching and research.
1. Support for an innovative teaching laboratory. Classroom design often dictates teaching practices and student learning and engagement, especially for larger classes where lecture dominates. We seek support to fund the renovation of a classroom so that it can better support innovative teaching and function as a living laboratory to enhance student learning.
2. Support for a speaker series that seeks to bring in outside researchers and practitioners who can enrich our classes and research programs.
3. Funding for an Alumni Fellowship for top-notch graduate student applicants. This fund would support these special students for 4 years, including tuition and benefits. Such a fund would help the Department to recruit the absolute best students early before they had committed elsewhere.
Investing in Undergraduate Experiential Programs
There is a strong need for funding that supports and advances our high impact learning programs for undergraduates, including internships, service learning and undergraduate research programs. These capstone experiences are instrumental in supporting student intellectual and professional development.
1. Support for a service-learning program that engages undergraduates in solving real-world problems as part of existing courses. The problems identified by collaborating organizations such as Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, the Texas Rural Leadership Program, or our industry partners.
2. Support for study-abroad scholarships for undergraduates. Preparing undergraduates to be global citizens, comfortable working with people from other countries is a priority of the department. Our study-abroad programs are instrumental in meeting that goal.
3. Support for undergraduate research for Honors Students and/or those who aspire to attend graduate or professional school after graduation, specifically funding given to undergraduates to support their collaborations with faculty and their research teams.
Advancing Community-Engaged Research
The core mission of a great land-grant university like Texas A&M University is to engage in research that directly benefits and engages the public. Developing researcher-practitioner collaborations and partnerships from scratch is often challenging. To better address emerging societal grand challenges, we seek:
1. Funding to support short-term collaborations with companies, schools, nongovernmental organizations, and other types of organizations. These collaborations can expand our expertise in developing educational and research programs that address societal grand challenges as well as advance our understanding by placing academic knowledge within specific contexts. These types of collaborations are often crucial in developing successful proposals for larger federal grants.
2. Funding campaign to support Endowed Chairs or Professorships for assistant professors or associate professors with term limits.
Preparing communication
leaders of tomorrow
Olivia Fazzino ’23 is a third-year student studying agricultural science in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications. Fazzino, a Bryan native, brings abundant passion and leadership experience. With a background in advancing and placing in state and National FFA Agriscience Conventions and Houston Livestock Shows, Fazzino exudes a strong commitment to the advancement and education of agriculture. Following graduation, Fazzino hopes to become an educator and teach the importance of agriculture.
Olivia Fazzino ’23
Preparing communication
leaders of tomorrow
Olivia Fazzino ’23 is a third-year student studying agricultural science in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications. Fazzino, a Bryan native, brings abundant passion and leadership experience. With a background in advancing and placing in state and National FFA Agriscience Conventions and Houston Livestock Shows, Fazzino exudes a strong commitment to the advancement and education of agriculture. Following graduation, Fazzino hopes to become an educator and teach the importance of agriculture.
Olivia Fazzino ’23
Giving News
Dr. Joe Townsend ’67 Endowment started
Thanks to a generous gift from a friend of Dr. Townsend, and the department, Leroy “Shafe” Shafer ’67, a leadership chair named after Dr. Townsend will seek to continue his legacy of leadership.
Giving News
Scholarship Surprise
To do something out-of-the-box for their great-niece Abby Mayfield ’18, Margo and Bill Harrison ’62 surprised her by creating a scholarship in her honor to support other students in her field of study—agricultural leadership, education and communications.
Giving News
Rodeo Royalty
Texas agricultural legend Manzell Leroy “Shafe” Shafer ’67 and his wife Nancy establish an impactful planned gift for Texas A&M.
Learn About the Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation builds a brighter future for Texas A&M University, one relationship at a time.
As a nonprofit and the primary academic fundraising institution for Texas A&M, we aspire to be among the most trusted philanthropies in higher education. Our team works with former students, corporations and other Texas A&M supporters to match their charitable interests with the university’s priorities. Gifts create scholarships, advance faculty endeavors, enhance student programs and fund campus construction, greatly enhancing Texas A&M’s mission to provide the highest quality undergraduate and graduate programs and develop new understandings through research and creativity.
Contact Our Development Team
Our development officers are determined to help you invest in causes you care about. Whether you are considering making your first gift or are already a longtime donor, we’re excited to work with you!