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Herman J. Colligan Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Civil Engineering

Herman J. Colligan (1944 –2021) is a 1967 Civil Engineering alumnus at USL, currently known as UL Lafayette. The combination of Herman’s strong Civil Engineering undergraduate education and his fiscal and ethical conservativism (by culture) provided him with the tools to be a solid, common-sense decision maker. This attribute served him well in his long career with Chevron Oil Company. He began as a designer for offshore platforms and progressed to leading large projects worldwide; he then advanced to reviewing large ongoing projects for continued viability. When Herman retired, he was leading the Hebron project in Canada (partners ExxonMobil Canada, Chevron Canada and 4 others). He was a “do the right thing” kind of man who greatly loved his family, friends, his Cajun heritage, and his country.

Back Story: How Herman Discovered Engineering

Herman graduated near the top of his class at Church Point High School in 1962. Instead of college, Herman and three of his friends decided to attend T. H. Harris Technical School in Opelousas, LA. Herman and two friends chose Construction Engineering Aid and the other chose Electrical/Electronics Technician. As it turned out, some of the basic courses were taught by engineers (one civil and one electrical). These courses did not include formal calculus and physics education but included formulas and recommended procedures derived from those subjects. The engineers made good impressions on the four young friends. The course work was enough to pique the interests of the four who had never heard of engineers and had not studied calculus and physics because it was not available at their high school. Herman and his three friends enrolled at USL in February of 1963 –Herman and two others in Civil Engineering (C.E.) and one in Electrical Engineering (E.E.). This venture produced three engineering graduates in the class of 1967 –Herman and one other in C.E. and one in E.E.

This story was provided by the other C.E. graduate, Ronald Young.

Eligibility Requirements

  1.  Student recipient must be admitted to the University and enrolled as a full-time student.
  2.  Student recipient must hold a major in Civil Engineering.
  3.  Student recipient must be a junior or senior to be eligible.
  4. Student recipient must have and maintain a minimum 2.7 cumulative GPA.