MARTIN, Tenn. – TLM Associates, Inc. of Jackson and Henry Earl Thompson of Jackson have established the Henry Earl Thompson/TLM Associates Civil Engineering Scholarship Endowment at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
The scholarship will soon award two civil engineering scholarships to Tennessee students who show financial need and leadership qualities.
Thompson, originally from Paris, attended UT Martin in the early 1950s. In 1964, he founded TLM Associates, Inc. to provide professional engineering services. In 1984, TLM Associates, Inc. added architectural design services.
“I am thankful students from West Tennessee have the opportunity to stay in the area and pursue an engineering degree,” Thompson said. “I had to go east after my education at UT Martin in order to obtain an accredited engineering degree; the inconvenience and extra cost involved was tremendous at the time. Previously, students had to transfer from UT Martin to other engineering schools to receive engineering degrees that would allow them the opportunity to become professional engineers and licensed to practice engineering.”
The decision to endow the scholarship was made in part because of the recent accreditation of the engineering program at UT Martin. UT Martin received approval from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in 1996 to offer a degree in engineering. The School of Engineering learned the bachelor degree program had been accredited Sept. 27, 1999.
“The encouragement, counsel and leadership of professional engineer Earl Thompson and (MORE)
TLM Associates, Inc., have been crucial to the development and early success of the bachelor
of science in engineering program at UT Martin,” said Dr. Troy Henson, dean of the School of Engineering.
“The endowed Henry Earl Thompson /TLM scholarships will help enable the continued success of the UT Martin ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology)-accredited engineering program by supporting the education of students who will become professional civil engineering leaders in the future,- Henson said.
TLM had other reasons for establishing the endowment. Those reasons were: to recognize Thompson for his contribution to the engineering profession; to encourage area students to pursue civil engineering degrees; and to assist in meeting the future professional engineering needs of West Tennessee’s public and private sectors.
Today, the company’s principals are Terry L. Drumwright of Humboldt, Jerry L. Hartsfield, Dennis W. Henderson, Dan A. Nichols and Frank W. Wagster, all of Jackson. The firm consists of professionally-licensed architects and engineers along with experience design professionals and technical personnel dedicated to meeting the needs of today’s governmental, utility, institutional, commercial and industrial entities.
TLM Associates has designed educational facilities in Decatur, Dyer, Hardin, Hardeman, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Madison and Maury counties as well as the Huntingdon Special School District, Jackson State Community College and
Union University.