The university has received a $25 million gift from the Onstead family in Houston, the second largest in its history, and the new college of science and engineering will be named in honor of Robert and Kay Onstead.

The Robert and Kay Onstead College of Science and Engineering has been named to honor the family’s’ contributions to ACU. Over their lifetimes, the couple has given more than $59 million to the university, and those funds have supported scholarships, research and many other programs. This will be the first named college in ACU’s history.

“The Onstead family is a family that we have worked with for years,” said Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university.  “They have been instrumental in helping shape ACU over decades.”

Robert Onstead, who passed away in 2004, founded Randall’s Food Markets in Houston in the 1960s and later sold it to Safeway in 1999. Robert served on the Board of Trustees from 1978 to 2004. While neither attended the university, three of their children did, and Charles Onstead, their youngest son, now serves on the board. The Onstead Science Center was named in their honor in 2018.

Through this $25 million donation and their previous gifts, the Onsteads have supported over 1,000 scholarships through one of ACU’s largest scholarship endowments and have helped build successful programs, Schubert said.

“We want to be the best in the world at combining a world-class academic experience but in a Christ-centered environment,” Schubert said.

The Onstead college will combine the Departments of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Engineering and Physics, and Mathematics. The college will also work collaboratively with the Center for Pre-Health Professions. It provides academic and co-curricular programs for students pursuing preparation for careers in health professions. The college will include 45 faculty members in those five departments. They serve almost 500 undergraduate students.

ACU also has other visions for the new college, according to a July 6 press release announcing the gift. The college will allow this university to enhance the focus on science and engineering. It will expand and provide programs that are in demand relating to these disciplines. And the university will also consider expanding graduate education.

The new donation will also provide new funding for the NEXT Lab. This will allow this lab to be the center of ACU’s funded research and an investment toward new facilities. It will also help create partnerships with faculty and students to work with other scholars and the government. The students and faculty will have a push toward being international leaders in research.

The gift pushes ACU over the $250 million Higher Ground comprehensive campaign goal begun in April 2022. The campaign was created to invest in individual faculty and students, programs and facilities on campus. The new funding allows the university to compete with more competitive national and international universities.

“It puts us right in the realm to be able to compete with institutions all across the country at the highest level with an academic experience for our students that will prepare them to go and be successful,” said Schubert. “The way we do that is going to clearly embody the Christ-centered focus that we have.”