Pat and Chris Racey understand that if Clemson University is to continue preparing some of the nation’s highest quality civil and environmental engineers, it will need great professors to teach and guide them.
That’s why the family is investing in the Racey Family Distinguished Professorship in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“The biggest danger to this beautiful community– this beautiful culture of learning and building people– is someone recruiting your folks away from you,” Pat said. “I would have never believed that a professor would ever leave the civil engineering department at Clemson University, but the fact of the matter is they come calling everyday.”
Distinguished professorships are among the highest honors a university can award a faculty member. They typically provide support for salary, research, travel, equipment and student assistance while helping recruit and retain outstanding faculty.
For the Raceys, however, the investment is also personal.
Pat received his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1988 and went on to found Racey Engineering in Luray, Virginia. Chris has been visiting Clemson since shortly after Pat graduated, and they are both huge Tigers fans, especially basketball and football.
Pat grew up in Woodstock, Virginia, a small town in the Shenandoah Valley, while Chris grew up nearby in Mount Jackson. His mother had some college experience, but higher education was largely unfamiliar territory for the family.
For the Raceys, the investment in the professorship is a way to honor the faculty members who helped Pat turn a challenging college journey into a successful life and career.
He started off at Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia and transferred to Clemson, where he studied under influential and legendary professors, including Jack C. McCormac, Robert F. (PB) Nowack, Earl J. Hayter, and Abbas A. Fiuzaat, among many others.
“There is no way Chris and I would have had the type of life we have had without them pouring into me,” he said.
The Raceys invest not only treasure in Clemson but time, too. As a member of the Leadership and Mentoring Network, Pat shares his experience with students to help guide them through their undergraduate years.
The Raceys have two adult sons, Tyler, whose wife is Brittany, and Travis. Pat and Chris recently relocated to Anderson, placing them just a few minutes’ drive from the land where the Blue Ridge yawns its greatness.
“We always came down at least once a year, and our stays were getting longer and longer,” Chris said. “We eventually wanted to be here, so we started out living here part time and coming down for games. Then we liked it and said, ‘Let’s just stay down here.’”
Among those grateful for the Raceys were: Jennifer Ogle, chair of the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering; Debora F. Rodrigues, chair of the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences; and Jesus M. de la Garza, director of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences.
“We express our heartfelt gratitude to the Racey family,” they said in a joint statement. “They understand that exceptional faculty are the foundation of a strong academic program, and their generosity will help us recruit and retain outstanding professors who will advance research, mentor students and prepare the next generation of civil and environmental engineers.”
