AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new engineering building is set to open in 2026 at the University of Texas at Austin and pays homage to an oil pioneer and UT alumnus.
It is named after Autry C. Stephens, a billionaire in the Texas energy industry, who died in 2024. It is a 210,000-square-foot facility, which “represents the interdisciplinary nature of energy research” at UT, per a news release from UT.
The building will “become the home of the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering,” UT Austin said. It will have large labs, flipped classrooms and lecture halls. The building will also connect to the existing Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering building, according to UT.
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Rendering of Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Image courtesy CO Architects) -
Rendering of Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Image courtesy CO Architects) -
Rendering of Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Image courtesy CO Architects) -
Rendering of Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Image courtesy CO Architects) -
Rendering of Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Image courtesy CO Architects) -
Rendering of Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Image courtesy CO Architects)
Stephens earned a bachelor’s degree from UT in 1961 and also earned a master’s degree a year later. According to UT, Stephens “made his biggest mark through the company he founded, Endeavor Energy Resources.”
Shortly before his death, Stephens sold Endeavor to Midland-based company Diamondback Energy, which UT Austin called “the third largest oil and gas producer in the region.”
“One of the greatest gifts our University can receive is the gift of opportunity,” said UT Austin President Jim Davis in the release. “It is fitting that our Engineering Discovery Building will bear Autry C. Stephens’ name as both a pioneer and a creator of opportunity for countless UT students to study in a world-class facility and follow his daring path to change the world in their own way.
Stephens’ daughter, Lyndal Stephens Greth, said in the announcement there is no better way to honor her dad than to invest in the facility for “future generations of students who will move the energy industry forward.” Greth is the director and executive chairman of the Stephens Greth Foundation.
“The incredible generosity of Mr. Stephens and his daughter, Lyndal, is what makes this possible, and I cannot thank them enough,” Davis said.
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