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Ring Container Technologies Inc. has made a $300,000 gift to establish the Ring Companies Professorship Fund in the Herff College of Engineering at the University of Memphis. The donation is one of largest gifts in the history of the Herff College.

The Ring Professorships will allow the Herff College to retain high-caliber faculty, providing a decided edge to U of M engineering students in the global marketplace. The professorships will recognize outstanding faculty in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering for their exceptional classroom instruction and scholarly contributions to the field of engineering. Recipients will be appointed for three years.

At the official presentation of the Ring gift to the U of M’s Herff College of Engineering are pictured (from left) Jim Gilliland, board member of Ring Container Technologies; Carolyn Oldenburg, director of development for the Herff College; Dr. Dick Warder, dean of the Herff College; Dr. Shirley Raines, president of the University of Memphis; Carl Ring, chairman of Ring Container Technologies and Rapac LP; and Ben Livingston, president of Ring Container Technologies. (UofM Photo by Lindsey Lissau)

“The generosity of Ring in providing this support for the Herff College of Engineering is truly a transformative gift,” said Dean Richard Warder. “It will enable us to make significant progress in our efforts to attract and retain the outstanding faculty whose instruction and research provide our University of Memphis engineering students with a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.”

In making the gift, Carl Ring, chairman of Ring Container Technologies and Rapac LP, said, “The University of Memphis Herff College of Engineering is a tremendous asset to the Memphis community. For many years, we at Ring Companies have worked with its faculty and students and have found them to be highly skilled and among the best we’ve dealt with in the nation. I hope this endowment will support the College in its continued pursuit of excellence, and will allow us to say thank you to a group that highly deserves it.”

Since its inception in 1966, the Herff College of Engineering has developed a reputation for excellent classroom instruction by its faculty and outstanding contributions to the engineering profession by its more than 7,500 alumni. Today, nearly 60 faculty members, all with doctoral degrees, teach in the focus areas of biomedical, civil, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering and in engineering technology. The College is fully accredited and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. Its name honors the late Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Herff, who endowed the College with a large gift in 1964 and later the bulk of the estate after his death.