Development

Two Donors Honored for Their Support of Texas Tech University System

Texas Tech University and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center honored longtime supporters Giles and Louise McCrary of Post in January at an appreciation luncheon at the Lubbock Country Club.

The McCrarys have long been committed to supporting Texas Tech both personally and through the Ershel A. Franklin Charitable Trust. Franklin was McCrary’s partner in the oil business. He died in 1980 and McCrary is now sole trustee for the trust.

The McCrarys, through their donations as well as through the trust, have established more than a dozen endowments for scholarships, research and chairs at TTU and TTUHSC.

In 1983, Giles McCrary received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the School of Medicine. In 1988, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Health Sciences Center.

In 2005, McCrary was one of five individuals who received the Founders Award from the Ranching Heritage Association. The award is given to people who have made the center’s museum and historical park a priority in their lives. McCrary began his support of the association in 1974. In 1975, he was named to the Board of Overseers and in 1976, he was appointed to the board’s executive committee.

He also played a major role in bringing the Vatican Exhibit to the Museum of Texas Tech in 2002. He served on the board of directors, the steering committee and the education committee for the Vatican Exhibit Foundation. In 2004, McCrary was honored with the Friend of Education Award from the Texas Tech College of Education.

He also serves on the Rawls College of Business Chief Executive’s Round Table and the Texas Tech Museum Association executive committee.

Giles McCrary’s business interests include oil, cattle and investments. He is founder of the OS Ranch Museum in Post, owner of the OS Ranch and former mayor of Post. The McCrarys have two children, Mary McCrary and Giles C. McCrary Jr. Their middle child, Pamela McCrary, died in 1979 at the age of 34. They have four grandchildren.

Scholarships and chairs endowed by the McCrarys and the Ershel A. Franklin Charitable Trust include:

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

  • E.A. Franklin Presidential Scholarship in Allied Health Endowment
  • E.A. Franklin Scholarship Endowment in Allied Health
  • Giles McCrary Endowed Chair in Addiction Medicine
  • E.A. Franklin/Giles McCrary School of Medicine Scholarship Endowment
  • Ershel A. Franklin Outstanding Student Research Endowment
  • Ershel A. Franklin Endowment
  • E.A. Franklin Trust and Giles McCrary Scholarship Endowment in School of Nursing
  • E.A. Franklin Presidential Scholarship Endowment in Nursing

Texas Tech University

  • McCrary and Franklin Scholarship Endowment for the Rawls College of Business
  • Giles and Louise McCrary Scholarship Endowment in Human Sciences
  • Ershel Franklin Presidential Scholarship Endowment
  • E.A. Franklin Presidential Scholarship in Business Administration Endowment
  • Giles and Louise McCrary Presidential Scholarship Endowment in Human Sciences
  • Kraft General Foods Scholarship Endowment

- Cory Chandler