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2011 Distinguished Partner of the Year Award

Joseph and Lori Flowers

Project Manager, Completion Engineering Schlumberger

Houston, Texas Member, COST Advisory Board

Four things have inspired our interest in the TSU College of Science and Technology. First and foremost, the opportunity to help students achieve their full potential in a supportive environment would, by itself, be inspiration enough. The fields of study in the College encompass a wide range of learning and opportunity for these students to achieve greatness, while helping our world move forward.

Our desire to support the Houston community has also been an important consideration. We love the city of Houston, and appreciate that citizens must create and maintain a healthy environment for Houston to continue to thrive and grow. The College is a part of that thriving environment, and in turn it supports its own community through outreach and K-12 programs. Students that are attracted to TSU, are attracted in part because it is in Houston. Some have a history (such as growing up) in Houston; others are happy to move here. Either way, they are in a prime position to become committed and productive members of the Houston community. Another consideration is the desire for knowledge. Incubators of research and development must be built and fueled, and our experience has shown that they will not always be housed in the “top ranked” institutions. A certain portion of this innovation we require will always come from emerging stars, and our vision is for TSU COST to be one of those emerging stars.

In my capacity as an Engineering Manager at Schlumberger, I am acutely aware of the value of relationships, built over time, between firms and universities. Local firms can have a huge impact on the priorities and environment of the curricula at a partner school. Everything from high-level priorities (such as major offerings and program decisions) down to lab projects and independent study assignments can be coordinated to the firm’s and the school’s mutual benefit. It is this type of relationship I would like to see established between the College of Science and Technology and many private and public institutions in the Houston area such as Schlumberger.

For these reasons we have chosen to support the school, and we wish all the best for the TSU College of Science and Technology as it moves forward into the future. We appreciate the opportunity to participate.