The Fall, LeTourneau received a “challenge grant” of $2M from the Mabee Foundation for the expansion of the Abbott Center, LeTourneau’s Aviation and Aeronautical Science campus. The Mabee Foundation is a faithful longtime partner of LeTourneau University. The challenge means that the $2M is contingent on LeTourneau raising about $3.5M more for this project this year. Thanks to generous previous gifts to the Abbott expansion, it also means that, if we can hit that $3.5M mark, we’ll have enough to start construction—good news because early enrollment reports suggest another very large class in Aviation, stretching the building’s capacity.
We’re full steam ahead presenting this opportunity to families and individuals who have a passion for Aviation and the role of distinctly gospel-shaped aviators in industry and the mission field. A number of spaces remain available for naming.
See the article (p. 56) in the Fall/Winter 2024 NOW Magazine on the dedication of the 16,000 sq.-ft. Roger Carr AMT Center thanks to a generous gift from Jeff Willner (’90) and friends. Named to honor longtime professor Roger Carr, the hangar space will bring LETU Aviation to the forefront of hands-on aviation maintenance training facilities.
The Air Dome has gone vertical! This $30M project will create new space for student-athletes and other students, offer unprecedented opportunities to our Longview community, and generate revenue through hosted events. At 120,000 square feet, it will be the largest building on campus, and its dome shape will hearken back to R.G. LeTourneau and his fondness for dome structures at his plants.
The building’s foundations are now largely in place (despite lots of rain delays!), and many of the utilities have been prepared. In May, the bricks-and-mortar front lobby was built, and its roof is now nearly complete! In late August, the massive dome will be inflated for the first time. Building completion is expected in May, 2026.
Generosity from people like you has allowed the university to begin construction even while we seek to complete fundraising over the coming year or so.
The Center for Faith, Science, and TechnologyHow do we flourish as followers of Christ in our world of ever-advancing and ever-present technology? How do we harness its potential for good while paying attention to its risks and the negative ways it can affect us? LeTourneau’s planned Center for Faith, Science, and Technology, will help us ask and answer these crucial questions. Exciting work is underway to plan for the impact this center will have on our students, their families and churches, our alumni, and the world. Dr. Kelly Liebengood (Dean of Theology and Vocation), Dr. Mike McGinniss (Dean of Engineering and Engineering Technology), and Dr. Jonathan Lett (Associate Professor of Theology) have been working with other leaders on campus and around the country to shape a center that gives clear voice to a Christian view of these important topics while helping students and others to build character, craft, and wisdom to flourish in our technological world.