A Texas couple has given more than $1 million to support electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the university announced Thursday.
The gift from Jeff Sanders, founder of Eclipse Electronic Systems, and his wife, Kathy — both UA graduates — will establish the Jeff and Kathy Sanders Endowment in Electrical Engineering. Remaining funds from the gift of $1,013,183.80 will support UA’s High Density Electronics Center.
“Jeff and Kathy’s endowment will provide funding in perpetuity for the Department of Electrical Engineering, and their gift to the High Density Electronics Center will help the University of Arkansas offer critical faculty support for research productivity,” Chancellor G. David Gearhart said in a statement.
Sanders, a Springdale High School graduate, founded Eclipse Electronic Systems in 1993. The U.S. Department of Defense contractor provides communications receiver hardware for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications. The company was acquired about four years ago by aerospace and defense company Esterline Corp. Sanders continues to serve as an adviser, according to UA. Esterline announced plans this month to divest itself of Eclipse and other business units.
The couple, who live in Richardson, Texas, in 2011 established the Jeff and Kathy Lewis Sanders Endowed Chair in Pediatrics within the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
— Jaime Adame