Froehlichs give back to support civil engineering students

Jean and Mark Froehlich have established the Jean and Mark Froehlich ’76 Family Endowed Scholarship. Distributions from this endowment will be used to provide one or more scholarships to full-time students in good standing who are pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Mark Froehlich grew up in Harris County, Texas, and followed his cousin’s footsteps by attending Texas A&M and studying engineering. He admired his cousin’s success in his engineering career, and he wanted to participate in the same educational and cultural experience. “My attending Texas A&M and majoring in engineering had everything to do with my cousin’s successful career,” Froehlich said.

A large number of Froehlich’s family attended and graduated from Texas A&M, including two of his children. Graduation class years in the family have ranged from 1955 to 2003. However, in 1972, when Froehlich stepped foot on Texas A&M’s campus as a freshman, he was the first in his immediate family to attend college.

A variety of small scholarships helped Froehlich receive his degree. Now, after a fulfilling career in civil engineering, he decided to give back. “We’ve been greatly blessed,” he said. “We feel it is important to pass this blessing on.”

Together with his wife, Jean, Froehlich established a scholarship specifically for first-generation students from Harris County pursuing a degree in civil engineering. “My hope is that someone can benefit from my gift, just as I was helped in my day by the generosity of others,” he said.

Froehlich hopes that their gift will give students opportunities that could be pivotal to their future. “There were a number of mentors along the way that impacted me and the high quality of my education,” he said. “I want to provide the same thing for others.”