Joel ’76 and Karen ’76 Kiker met their sophomore year at Texas A&M University and were happily married one week after graduation. The Kikers have since held successful careers in engineering and education and grew their Aggie family when their three children also graduated from Texas A&M in 2005 and 2008.
Recognizing first-hand the impact that support from others had on each of their Aggie experiences, the Kikers have established the Joel W. ’76 and Karen G. ’76 Kiker Endowed Scholarship as a way to continue supporting their Aggie family. Made through the Texas A&M Foundation, their generous gift will provide support to first-generation students who are working part time while pursuing their degree in engineering.
“Karen is a first-generation college graduate, and we understand the value of encouragers and believers during her time at Texas A&M, and particularly when things were difficult,” said Joel. “Our desire is to directly help students with a financial need and meet and/or get to know the recipients (of our scholarship) so we can encourage them to persist, graduate and make a lifetime contribution in their vocation, family and community.”
Upon graduation from the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Joel went to work for ExxonMobil – holding various positions during his almost 39-year career with the company. In 2015, he retired as vice president.
“I benefited my entire career from the quality education and experiences that I got at Texas A&M. More than the academic education, which was excellent, my co-op work experiences convinced me that I was more than capable to pursue any opportunity in the engineering-, science- and business-related fields,” said Joel.
Now, stepping into the role of a mover and shaker for the students of today and tomorrow, Joel is excited to lift up his Aggie family with support and encouragement – helping to instill the Core Values in students as they stride toward graduation and beyond.
“Aggies are a family and our family has remained friendly, on campus and off, through the seasons of our life wherever we have been in the world,” said Joel. “We witnessed the unchanging core values and virtues in the culture of the Aggie family when our three children went through 15-20 years ago and have seen it in recent years interfacing with the dean and faculty in the College of Engineering.”