Jerry W. Allen scholars honor the memory of the late Carter & Burgess CEO

Fort Worth, TX

6/18/2007

Under the late Jerry W. Allen’s leadership as president and chairman of the board, Carter & Burgess, Inc., grew from a company of hundreds of employees to a company of thousands, garnering recognition in 2002 as the nation’s fourth largest “pure design firm” and one of the nation’s 10 fastest growing architectural/engineering/construction management companies.

So it is not surprising that when Mr. Allen’s wife, Paula Allen, set out to commemorate his life’s work, she would choose both a meaningful and ambitious course.

Since her husband had struggled in school to make financial ends meet, Mrs. Allen decided that a memorial scholarship for engineering students would best capture the spirit of growth and learning exemplified by her husband. Since Carter & Burgess “remains dedicated to the principles of quality performance, customer service and ethical enterprise sustained under Jerry Allen’s tenure,” TCU’s engineering program was an ideal match.

Each year, three junior-level scholarship recipients will be named to receive annual financial support for two years through their senior years. Consequently, three outstanding juniors are completing their initial year as Jerry W. Allen Scholars: Cullen Johnson, Jessica Lingerfelt and Josh Sharp.

The scholarships have had a significant impact upon each recipient, all of whom have a grade-point-average of 3.8 or above

The financial support has been key for Cullen, who currently works as an intern in the Carter & Burgess facilities sector. “I was seriously considering transferring universities due to the tuition and related expenses,” he comments. “But the Jerry Allen Scholarship gave me the opportunity to finish my education at TCU.”

For Jessica, “my greatest challenge is balancing my school and personal life. The Jerry W. Allen Scholarship provides the opportunity to focus on my school work and my studies.”

“Engineering requires a lot of hard work and dedication, as well as a personal interest in the subject matter,” Josh notes. “The Allen Scholarship gave me much-needed encouragement after a very discouraging and exhausting semester.”

“The Scholars Program has provided a way for the ideals of Jerry Allen to live on through assistance to those seeking to build a better future for themselves and others,” Mrs. Allen says. “He knew that by helping young people gain an engineering education, the lives of countless others would be improved and enhanced by their efforts and successes. This was important to Jerry. The program has allowed that wish to be continued in a meaningful way.”