Retired Texas Oil Executive Pledges $150-million Estate to His Alma Mater

A retired oil executive from Dallas has pledged $150-million to the University of Texas at Austin to endow studies in earth sciences. The gift is one of the largest ever to a public university.

John A. Jackson, 88, who founded the Katie Petroleum Company, said he would bequeath to the university an estate that is estimated to be worth that amount. His estate consists mainly of stocks and bonds and some cash, a spokesman for the university said.

The bequest will support research in the fields of earth sciences, environmental studies, geology, geophysics, and the study of natural resources, much of which is likely to take place at the John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the spokesman said.

Mr. Jackson, who earned a degree in petroleum geology from the university in 1940, explained in a written release what motivated him to make the donation: “The resources of the earth have been important to me and to what Katie and I have been able to achieve,” he said. “The continued study and understanding of geology and the resources and environment of the earth will be important to the university and the citizens of Texas in the future.”

Mr. Jackson last year pledged to endow the geosciences school with $25-million. In 2000, he and his late wife, Katherine, pledged $15-million to the university to help expand a geology building.

Only one public university has received a gift larger than Mr. Jackson’s $150-million pledge: The University of Colorado System received a pledge of $250-million in stock last year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.