Couple donates $1 million to UA

FAYETTEVILLE — A $1 million gift to the University of Arkansas will support hiring industry professionals to assist with teaching in the university’s Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering.

The Babcock and Condray Families Innovative Teaching Endowment in Chemical Engineering is being created through a gift by Dallas couple Ansel and Virginia Condray.

Ansel Condray met retired UA professor Buddy Babcock through UA’s College of Engineering. Condray, a UA graduate and former president of oil and gas company Exxon USA, served on an advisory council, according to the gift announcement from UA.

“We’re doing this together. Buddy focused on and enjoyed teaching students, and I’ve always been interested in making sure the university maintains quality in teaching,” Ansel Condray said in a statement released by UA.

New hires will be practicing or retired professionals, each to have the title of Dr. Robert E. “Buddy” Babcock Professor of Practice. The plan is to combine scholarship with teaching

“industry-related ‘soft skills,’ such as leadership, integrity, professionalism and poise,” according to the university’s announcement.

Babcock joined the UA faculty in 1965 and retired

last year, UA spokesman Nick DeMoss said.

“The professionals supported with this endowment will be able to share their experience with students and help give them a glimpse into their industry of choice,” Ansel Condray said. Both he and his wife, Virginia, earned bachelor’s degrees from UA, as did Buddy and his wife, Grace.