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Local Civil Engineering Firm Gifts Endowed Scholarship to USF Students

Endowed scholarships gifted by private companies help the College of Engineering become well positioned to remain competitive in the recruitment of top engineering students from around the world. Privately funded scholarships make it possible for students to focus on their academic pursuits without being burdened by serious financial concerns. In addition, donors gain the satisfaction knowing they are assisting the next generation of engineers and business leaders. Patel, Greene and Associates, a civil engineering company founded by USF alumni, provided a generous gift of $30,000 to establish one such endowed scholarship that will be highly sought after by engineering students.

Patel, Greene, and Associates is a local civil engineering company based in Temple Terrace that specializes in roadway, drainage, structures, environmental science, landscape architecture, and much more. Opening its doors back in 2011, PGA was recently ranked #2 on 91社区 Trend鈥檚 2020 list of Best Companies to Work for in 91社区 and is also a Fast 56 award recipient. They are proud to employ 32 USF graduates and two of these alums are President Hiren Patel and Executive Vice President Gordon Greene.

Hiren Patel and his wife both graduated from USF. Hiren received a B.S. and M.C.E in civil engineering. Gordon Greene also received his B.S. in civil engineering and later obtained his M.B.A from USF. Both are proud to be College of Engineering graduates and are giving back by establishing this scholarship.  

鈥淚 have nothing but good memories during my time at USF. I enjoyed the teachers, campus, and had a rewarding experience overall,鈥� Greene said.

He said that gifting this scholarship to USF civil engineering students is PGA鈥檚 way of opening doors for future potential students seeking to discover immediate work in the high-demand field of civil engineering.  

鈥淲e want to provide opportunities for civil engineering students, so tuition is not a barrier to their future careers," Greene said. "Civil engineering typically has more work than available engineers and perhaps this scholarship will help entice new students to enter that field of study. Students should know that there is a high-demand for civil engineering students and an ample amount of work is waiting for them following graduation."

Patel also sees valuable opportunities for recipients of this endowed scholarship. In addition to helping the student, it gives PGA the opportunity to meet talent that might possibly become full-time staff.  

鈥淭his PGA endowed scholarship will certainly benefit students that are in financial need," he said. "We are conveniently located close to the Tampa campus, and this scholarship can potentially lead to a valuable internship within our company. Gaining on-the-job project experience is extremely valuable to new graduates seeking employment. A lot of firms prefer students that have obtained software and design experience from internships. There鈥檚 also the possibility that some of these scholarship recipients will become full-time staff at PGA.鈥�

By providing much needed financial support for recipients, the Patel, Greene, and Associates scholarship will also have a significant impact on students鈥� educational experience.

The company has consistently been listed on the rankings, which identifies, recognizes and celebrates the world's fastest growing USF Bull-owned or Bull-led businesses.  Since its initial appearance on the list in 2015, PGA has reached a top ranking of No. 2 in 2015 and was ranked No. 21 in 2020.

To learn more about how to establish a scholarshp or to include USF Engineering in your legacy plans, please contact Madeline (Maddy) Richard, assistant Director of Development at 630-550-0874 or email.