Thanks to the generosity of Jerry ’66 and Sheila
(O’Hara) Reese ’65 of Beaumont, students at Lamar
University can pursue a degree in construction management
beginning in Fall 2008. The couple contributed $1.25
million to establish the program at Lamar.
The new Reese Construction Management Program offers
a bachelor of science degree focusing on the business aspects of
construction and development. Students will receive a solid base
in management basics required by industry as well as “handson”
experiences with construction technology.
The program couldn’t
come at a better time,
university administrators say,
because the region is poised
for unprecedented growth as
billions of dollars are poured
into plant expansions and
new projects.
Steven McCrary, an experienced
engineer and college
educator, will direct the program.
McCrary holds a Ph.D.
in engineering management from the University of Missouri-
Rolla. He is a licensed professional engineer and land surveyor.
Reese founded Bo-Mac Contractors Ltd. in 1966. Today,
after selling the company in 2007, his son Jordan is chief operating
officer. The idea of helping Lamar begin the program had its
genesis in father and son conversations over a number of years
about needing to build up college graduates locally who were
prepared to lead major construction projects. Jordan Reese “was
the instigator” in talking to President James Simmons about the
idea, his father said.
“There really is a need in this area for education that fits
the demands in the construction industry and the petrochemical
industry,” Reese said. “The degree can be used in homebuilding,
petrochemical construction, highway construction or any
type of construction. It won’t be limited to one area.”
“The mission of the Reese Construction Management
Program at Lamar University is to provide a quality program
for preparing nationally competitive undergraduate students for
a successful career in construction management,” said Henry
Venta, dean of the College of Business. The program is
designed to provide educational, research and outreach opportunities
that serve both the needs of students and those of the
construction industry, he said.
“Lamar University looks at new programs and initiatives
through the eyes of Southeast Texas,” Venta said. “This is a new
program that our area really needs.”
“The vision of Jerry Reese and the Reese family in providing
funding to initiate
this program cannot
be over emphasized,”
said Jack Hopper,
dean of the College
of Engineering and
executive assistant to
the president for economic development and industrial relations.
“It will have an enormous impact on Lamar and the future of
this combination of business and engineering education.”
Lamar’s colleges of engineering and business provide the
program jointly. Students must complete 48 credit hours of
general education core courses and 72 credit hours of required
and elective business and engineering courses.
The program will give graduates a strong background in
construction engineering while at the same time providing the
business background that will help graduates in working with
corporations, budgets and contracts, Reese said.
Lamar’s new program is one of a “very few programs that
offer this combination of civil engineering, business and construction
management. The timeliness of the program could
not have been planned any better, with construction projects for
the Golden Triangle being announced at $20 billion, the job
market will be at an all-time high in this area for the next 10
years or more,” Hopper said.
“I think the person who will be attracted to this degree
wants to be involved in the construction industry, but doesn’t
want to be a specific type of engineer,” said Reese. “He or she
wants to be involved in the engineering process and the building.
They like being outside; they like being involved in the
construction.”
Graduates with the new degree would typically start
employment in the field managing several areas of a project,
“keeping up with the drawings and the progress and, if they’re
sharp enough, they’ll move up and eventually become project
managers controlling entire projects. They’ll understand the
engineering side, and they’ll also have the business background,”
Reese said.
Jerry Reese’s dedication to Lamar University has been
expressed in myriad ways. He has served as a trustee of the
Lamar University Foundation since 1987, twice as president, in
addition to serving as an officer in several other capacities. He
has been a member of the College of Business Advisory Board
since its inception in 2003, and he was inducted into the
College of Business Hall of Fame the same year. He was
honored at Le Grand Bal in 2002, and he and Sheila serve on
the Friends of the Arts Board.
A successful entrepreneur and adroit businessman, Reese
has demonstrated leadership throughout his career. During his
days at Lamar University, he and two friends founded Collegiate
Diamonds of
America, an endeavor
selling engagement
rings at a time when
about 28 percent of
all college students
got engaged or
married each year.
One of those diamond rings went to his high school sweetheart
and bride, Sheila. At Lamar, Sheila was active in Delta
Zeta Sorority and was homecoming queen. She graduated in
1965 with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. An active
supporter of Lamar University and the community, she has filled
vital roles in education and the arts.
“Jerry and I are both from Beaumont, so it’s nice to be able
to give back to our university and to our hometown,” Sheila
said. “Lamar gives so much to this area; it’s such an important
part of our life here.”
It wasn’t business, but basketball that first brought Jerry
Reese to Lamar. Having played as a point guard at Beaumont
High School, he was a walk-on when Billy Tubbs was freshman
coach under Jack Martin. “I wish I could have stayed, but we
were having so much fun with the business things we were
doing, and those practices that Billy Tubbs put on weren’t the
easiest things in the world,” Reese said.
Basketball may have drawn Reese to Lamar, but it was the
friendships and the college environment that made the deal
stick. While still a full-time student and partner in the diamond
business, Reese also operated a flight school from 1963 to 1965
at the Beaumont Municipal Airport. He landed a more downto-
earth business after he graduated in 1966.
Jerry grew up around the construction business run by his
father, and he parlayed that experience into running Bo-Mac. At
first, he focused on services to the oil fields, but, through four
decades, the business evolved, expanding to pile-driving, paving
and civil construction for the oil- and gas-refining industries,
Texas Department of Transportation, and, through its marine
division, construction of dock facilities from New Orleans to
Corpus Christi. Today, under the leadership of his son Jordan,
Bo-Mac continues to grow.
The couple has three grown children, Jordan and daughters
Rachel Lawrence and Stacey Henningsen. They have 10 grandchildren.
After four decades in the construction business, Jerry
and Sheila are glad to have more time to share in the lives of
their children and grandchildren.
