ANNUAL & ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS
The Houston GPA provides both annual and endowed scholarships to six Texas universities. Over the past 25+ years, and with the recent addition of endowed scholarships, the Houston GPA has provided over $1,000,000 in scholarships and assisted 250+ students in their academic efforts.
ANNUAL
The HGPA annual scholarship program began in 1983 with the program and criteria approved by the Houston GPA executive board. Since the inception of the program, the chapter has gradually increased the annual scholarship award. In the fiscal year 2008, the annual award was $3,000 per school. Due to generous donations and support from industry partners, the award has increased incrementally over the past decade to the present level. In the fiscal year 2020, the annual award per university was $8,000.
Requirements for Eligible Applicants:
The award recipient is selected under the direction of the Dean of Engineering or
appropriate interdisciplinary faculty members at each university based upon the following
criteria:
- The award shall be a one-year award. It should be made at the end of the Junior year for use during the Senior year.
- Recipient’s overall grade point average for the first three years should be at least a “B” or equivalent. Preference should be given to those students achieving these marks on essentially a full-time basis.
- Recipient should be a member of the student chapter of a nationally-recognized professional engineering society. Consideration should also be given to those demonstrating leadership in such professional activities as well as in student government or other approved university or outside activities.
- Recipient should be a student in a fundamental engineering or scientific field with high interest in production, processing, treating or transmission of gas, and/or products extracted from the gas.
- Special consideration should be given to those who have had summer work opportunities in gas processing industries, or who have participated or are participating in work/study cooperative program.
- Need should not be a consideration in making the award.
ENDOWED
In 2002, the HGPA established $25,000 endowed scholarships at all the following supported universities except TAMU – Kingsville. An endowed scholarship was established at TAMU – Kingsville in 2015. The chapter has provided funds to each of the universities over the past 15 years in the amount of $90,000 to establish the permanent endowments. The endowment market values are:
| University | Market Value | Endowment Agreement |
| Lamar University | $116,000 | 2002 |
| Rice University | $139,000 | 2002 |
| Texas A&M University | $104,000 | 2002 |
| Texas A&M University – Kingsville | $92,000 | 2015 |
| University of Houston | $102,000 | 2002 |
| University of Texas | $111,000 | 2002 |
The current distributable income from the individual endowments varies but it typically is about 3.5 – 4% of market value. In 2018, the endowments generated $3,600 – $5,500 as distributable income.Thus in 2018, when the annual award was $7,000, the total scholarship amounts varied from $10,600 – $12,500. The annual award and the distributable income from the endowment are mixed for the scholarship award and distributed evenly among multiple recipients. Most universities (U of H is the exception) generally designate multiple recipients and designate one or more as the endowed scholarship recipient with the remainder being annual scholarship recipients. U of H has historically made no differentiation between endowed vs annual recipients. These scholarships are awarded annually in November.
DAVID MIRDADIAN SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The David Mirdadian Scholarship Endowment is a scholarship dedicated for University of Houston students and was created by the Houston GPA, University of Houston, and Patricia Hughes Mirdadian. The scholarship was created in honor of David and his long-term career in the midstream oil and gas industry as well as his long-term involvement with the Houston GPA. David served on the board of directors for the Houston GPA from 2010-2020 and was best known for his passion in hosting the HGPA Clay Shoot.
David graduated from the University of Houston in 1977 with a B. S. in Mechanical Engineering. He was the recipient of the Jones Engineering Technology Award and was involved in a Government Research Project (EPA).
In order to be considered, students must meet the following criteria:
a. Enrolled as a full-time undergraduate in good standing, maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA in the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston.
b. Special consideration should be given to students expressing a high interest in production, processing, treating or transmission of gas and/or products extracted from gas who have had summer work opportunities in the gas processing industry or have participated or are participating in work/study cooperative programs.
c. Consideration should also be given to those students demonstrating leadership in professional activities and/or on-campus activities and organizations.
The scholarship will be awarded in the fall of each year.