This architectural rendering shows the south entrance of the planned Engineering Education and Research Building, a project Paul Rechard and his family have supported through their gifts to UW. Rendering courtesy of ZGF Architects
After World War II, Paul Rechard returned to the University of Wyoming from his stint in the U.S. Navy, and a friend set him and Mary Lou up on a blind date. They were supposed to meet in the Wyoming Union, but Paul forgot. The friend called him at 9:10 p.m. and said, “Where are you?!” Paul jumped into his car and sped up to the Union. At that time, freshman women had a curfew of 9:30, so he only had 15 minutes with her before he walked her back to Hoyt Hall, the women’s dorm.
The rest is history. He was smitten. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering and a professional degree of civil engineering. Mary Lou earned her bachelor’s degree in English. They were married for 58 years and have a son and a daughter. Mary Lou passed away in 2007.
And so Paul established an endowment to honor Mary Lou. In 2007, he and his family established the Mary Lou Rechard Memorial Alumni Scholarship. The fund supports students for four years if they keep their grades up, and applicants must be children of alumni.
“I try to select programs I think are worthwhile,” Paul says. “Then I realized that that was very worthwhile but I ought to do something for the College of Engineering—I’d give a fellowship for graduate students in civil engineering in water resources.”
He then established the Mary Lou and Paul Rechard Endowed Fellowship in Civil Engineering for Water Resources, which supports graduate students.
It’s only natural that Paul would support civil engineering and water resources. Paul has been instrumental in the development of Wyoming’s hydrology since the 1950s.
He served as water resource engineer and assistant district hydrologist for the Bureau of Reclamation, director of water resources for the Wyoming Natural Resources board, interstate streams commissioner for Wyoming, principal hydraulic engineer for the Upper Colorado River Commission, director of the Wyoming Water Resource Research Institute, UW professor of civil engineering for hydrology, and consultant and owner of Western Water Consultants (now WWC Engineering).
He was also friends with UW President H.T. Person and U.S. Sen. Milward Simpson. “I’ve just been so lucky,” Paul says. Paul had previously established the O.H. Rechard Memorial scholarship that supports a senior in the math department. This fund honors Paul’s father, O.H. Rechard, who was a professor of mathematics at UW.
Paul’s latest gift supports the new Engineering Complex, a facility that takes the concepts of innovation and collaboration and translates them into physical spaces and work practices, part of Wyoming’s Tier-1 Engineering Initiative.
Even more amazing, since 1966, Paul has given smaller gifts to almost 50 funds total—everything from the Cowboy Joe Club and engineering, to scholarships and the symphony.
It is also a family affair—Paul’s son Rob and daughter Karen and their families have joined Paul in supporting UW and the endowments he created. Rob also earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from UW, and Karen earned her bachelor’s and MBA from the College of Business.
Paul is a strong believer in Wyoming’s state matching program: “When we set up the Mary Lou endowment, the state matched the contribution. When I gave to the engineering building, my contribution was matched by the state.”
Many of UW’s key gifts are doubled through the state’s matching program. This program, unique to the state of Wyoming, began in March 2001 with the mission of providing additional support to UW by encouraging private donations. Under this program, endowment gifts of at least $50,000 and facilities gifts of at least $25,000 are matched dollar for dollar.
Rob’s contribution to these funds also was matched by Rob’s employer, Sandia National Laboratories, a Lockheed Martin company. This means that his contribution was tripled—making an even larger impact.
“I think the university’s a good place,” Paul says. “I do love the University of Wyoming. I think they do a pretty good job with the gifts to the university.”
