Family's Ole Miss Legacy is Rooted in Engineering

With a $50,000 gift to the university, retired UM professor T.E. Horton Jr., of Houston, Texas, established the Horton Family Endowed Scholarship for Geology and Geological Engineering.

When Horton traveled from California, where he had worked for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to Oxford in the early 1960s, he could not have known his new position on the School of Engineering faculty was setting the foundation for a family tradition. Soon after they settled in, their children, Tom "Tom-Tom" Horton III and his sister, Holly, were born, and Ole Miss became woven into the fabric of their lives.

T.E. Horton served for decades as a mechanical engineering professor and later as chair of the Faculty Senate.

"Tom Horton (Jr.) was a strong, productive member of our engineering faculty," Chancellor Emeritus Robert C. Khayat said. "An excellent teacher and researcher, he was an effective administrator as well. He was often a member of important university committees and brought clear, thorough and insightful perspectives to discussions and recommendations."

The Hortons and Khayats were active members of Oxford-University United Methodist Church, where they attended Sunday School and worship services together for the many years the Horton family lived in Oxford.

"Tom had a great sense of humor with a captivating full-throated, sincere laugh," Khayat recalled. 

Even after the elder Horton retired and moved to Houston, Texas, the university remained a defining part of his family's story. Tom Horton III followed in his father's footsteps, enrolling at Ole Miss and earning a degree in geological engineering; his sister is also a UM graduate.

Tom-Tom Horton is senior vice president for Ensign Drilling in Houston, where he and his wife, Bonnie, live.

When their son began exploring degree programs and campus visits, "It was my dad who convinced him," Tom-Tom Horton recalled. "He told him geological engineering was broad and would open more doors than petroleum engineering. That advice sealed the deal."

The decision rekindled the family's connection to the university with Tom-Tom finding himself walking the same paths he had taken decades earlier, this time with his son, Thomas Horton IV, known to family and friends as IV (pronounced I.V.).

IV Horton works as a production engineer for Mewbourne Oil in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Ole Miss remains at the heart of the Horton family, despite their distance from Oxford. Tom-Tom Horton serves on the Engineering Alumni Advisory Board as well as the geological engineering and geology advisory boards.

The spark for professor Horton's eventual gift came unexpectedly.

While helping his father with yearly taxes, Tom-Tom noticed his father directing required IRA distributions to organizations with which he had no affinity.

"I finally said, 'Dad, why don't you do something for Ole Miss, something that reflects your life and legacy?'" he said.

That conversation planted the seed for establishing support for geological engineering students.

Though Tom-Tom assumed his father might prefer to make a gift to benefit mechanical engineering, the discipline he taught for decades, the elder Horton insisted otherwise. Geological engineering was where both his son and grandson made their mark, and he wanted to honor that.

The result is a scholarship designed to support undergraduate students, especially those who simply need encouragement or resources to stay in the program. Supporting students in this field felt like giving back to something with both personal meaning and global importance.

"Geological engineers serve in critical capacities applying engineering tools to earth materials and processes, including mineral extraction, slope stability, highway and structure foundations, seismic risks, environmental protection, groundwater replenishment and much more," said Gregg Davidson, professor of geology and geological engineering.

"Scholarships like the Hortons' endowment not only help promising lower-income students complete their degrees but also enable them to avoid graduating with unreasonable debt."

The Horton Family Endowed Scholarship for Geology and Geological Engineering welcomes additional support from individuals and businesses. Gifts may be made by sending a check, with the fund name included in the memo line, to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655, or give online here.

For information about supporting the School of Engineering, contact Madi Thorpe, associate director of development, at mlthorp@olemiss.edu or 662-915-1122.

Top: With a $50,000 gift to the university, retired UM professor T.E. Horton Jr. (right), of Houston, Texas, established the Horton Family Endowed Scholarship for Geology and Geological Engineering. His family includes (from left) IV Horton, Tom-Tom Horton and Holly Horton Smith. Submitted photo