Long-term Louisiana Tech University supporters Justin and Jeanette Hinckley have established two funds to benefit graduate students within the colleges of Applied and Natural Sciences and Education.

The Endowed Superior Graduate Scholarship will benefit students in master’s and doctoral programs, Justin Hinckley said.

“Through our relationships in the School of Biological Sciences, we found out about the great need to attract and retain top graduate students in that program,” he said. “That’s our motivation for both of these endowments. Many people give to undergraduate scholarships, but there is a real need to compete for highly qualified master’s and doctoral students in each of our graduate programs.”

Donations from the Hinckleys are matched by funds from the Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund, so that each College will receive an endowment totaling $100,000.

“We’re extremely grateful to Justin and Jeanette for their generosity,” said Dr. Gary Kennedy, Dean of the College of Applied and Natural Sciences. “This gift will allow Louisiana Tech’s biological science program to be competitive in attracting top graduate students to campus.”

Justin Hinckley is a 1978 graduate in computer science, while Jeanette earned her degree the same year in English education. He was named Tech’s Alumnus of the Year in 2010, and she was Distinguished Alumna for the College of Educaion in 2016.

The couple chose to support the College of Education’s graduate students in part because the College has the largest number of master’s and doctoral students in the University.

“Justin and Jeanette commit not only their financial support, but their time and their talents to Louisiana Tech,” said College of Education Dean Dr. Don Schillinger. “They know that everything is linked, from our campus appearance to funding for graduate programs, and they’re committed to helping Tech be the best University possible.”

Justin Hinckley said he and Jeanette support higher education because of the possibility of benefiting society as a whole.

“Through our gifts, we are supporting the next generation of people who will solve the problems of our city, our region, and our country,” he said. “Over the years, we have seen the improvements across the university. We’ve also seen its reputation rise because of increasing support, vision and effort of great faculty and administrators, and a high-achieving student body. Lifting the university’s academic standing increases the value of all Tech degrees and helps the institution to continue to even higher levels of excellence.”