Texas A&M Regents Approve Expansion of Business School, Name Roadway after Late Astronaut
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A new business-focused education center is coming to Texas A&M University in College Station, and a roadway will be named for a late American hero.
The members of the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System voted Wednesday to approve key items, including an expansion of the Mays School of Business at Texas A&M and the naming of an entrance into Texas A&M-RELLIS in the honor of the late astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom.
“Business education and space exploration are two of the main areas that help define Texas A&M and the Texas A&M System,” Chancellor John Sharp said. “The Business Education Complex Project and Gus Grissom Boulevard represent a couple of ways we at the Texas A&M System look forward while also reflecting on our past.”
Renderings available at: https://www.tamus.edu/business-education-complex/
Business Education Complex Project
At the regular board meeting, Regents added the Business Education Complex Project to the FY 2021 – FY 2025 Texas A&M System Capital Plan. Construction on the project is scheduled to start in September 2022 with substantial completion in October 2024. The total project budget is $84,197,309, which will be paid for through a variety of sources including donations. The project will include a four-story, 82,000 square-foot building and an area dubbed the “Collaboration Plaza,” which will be located on Olsen Boulevard, northeast of the Wehner Building.
The Business Education Complex will provide spaces for active, collaborative and experiential learning. Further, the complex will include areas for research, and it will beautify the campus with stunning, contemporary architecture. It also is sure to attract and retain world-class faculty and students.
Gus Grissom Boulevard
Grissom, one of America’s first astronauts, will have his name on the Highway 21 entry drive into Texas A&M-RELLIS in Bryan. With the Regents’ approval, the roadway will be called “Gus Grissom Boulevard.”
Besides honoring one of America’s space pioneers, the newly christened entranceway will be easier for emergency vehicles and visitors to find on digital maps.
As a young Air Force pilot in the Korean War era, Grissom was familiar with the land that is now Texas A&M-RELLIS.
Grissom, who had flow missions in Korea, was assigned after his time in Korea to become a flight instructor at Bryan Air Force Base. While in Bryan, Grissom was honored for his service in Korea and honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross. A year later, his second son, Mark, was born at the Bryan Air Force Base hospital.
Gus Grissom eventually was chosen as one of America’s first astronauts. He flew missions in the one-man Mercury program and two-man Gemini program. He also was assigned as the commander of the first three-man Apollo mission. Later, Grissom, along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee, tragically died in a pre-launch test at Cape Kennedy, Florida, on January 27, 1967.
“We at the Texas A&M System and Texas A&M University have always sought to honor our past and our heroes,” Chancellor Sharp said. “Today, it is a privilege to pay homage to Gus Grissom for his sacrifices and accomplishments.”
About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $7.2 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, and the RELLIS Campus, the Texas A&M System educates more than 152,000 students and makes more than 24 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceed $1 billion and help drive the state’s economy.
Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
(512) 289-2782 cell
lcopelin@tamus.edu