Former Penn State professor David Donohue, along with his son, Timothy, have made a $1 million gift, on behalf of the family, to endow a professorship in the John and Willie Leone Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. The Donohue Family Professorship in Energy and Mineral Engineering will support a faculty member whose research focuses on petroleum and natural gas engineering.
“Penn State was very important to me during my formative years. I went to graduate school there, and later, after working in industry, joined the faculty and taught for four years. I spent some of the best years of my life at Penn State. Later, my son Tim received his master of science degree in geosciences in the same college. Penn State will always hold a special place in our hearts. What we learned there was extremely helpful in our later careers. The two of us, and indeed, our whole family, are pleased to make this contribution to a great institution so that it can expand its mission of developing future leaders,” said David Donohue.
A leader in the field of oil and natural gas, David Donohue is the founder and president of International Human Resources Development Corporation (IHRDC), which provides training and competency development for personnel worldwide in all facets of the oil and gas industry, from operations to senior management. He also founded Arlington Storage Company, the first independent developer of underground gas storage facilities in the U.S. It successfully developed both the Honeoye and Adrian gas storage fields in New York to serve the winter gas needs of major gas distribution companies from New Jersey to New England.
David’s son, Tim, received a bachelor of arts degree in geology from Colorado College in 1991 and a master of science in geosciences from Penn State in 1993. Tim is the vice president of IHRDC’s e-Learning and Knowledge Solutions team.
“My dad always talked about how Penn State made a difference in his life, and that is what first piqued my curiosity about its geosciences program. I studied under Richard Parizek and many other outstanding professors within the college. What I learned there made an enormous impact on my career and I am honored that our family is giving back in such a significant way,” said Tim Donohue, who also serves as a volunteer on the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Development Council.
Since the 1980s, David Donohue has volunteered frequently with Penn State, helping to meet philanthropic goals. The Donohue family also endowed the David and Pamela Donohue Trustee Scholarship in the college in 2010.
“David, his wife, Pamela, and their family have been loyal supporters of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Penn State for decades. Their gift will allow us to engage the best and brightest faculty to teach in our petroleum and natural gas engineering program,” said William Easterling, dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
“We are thankful for the generosity of David, Pamela and their family. Petroleum and natural gas engineering is a high-profile and competitive industry. Being able to provide faculty with needed support will allow our department to maintain our rank as one of the best in the world,” said Turgay Ertekin, head of the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering and George E. Trimble Chair in Earth and Mineral Sciences.
David Donohue got his start in the oil and gas field after he received a bachelor of science in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1959 and a doctorate in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Penn State in 1963. After working for several years in operations, research and engineering for Imperial Oil, Exxon and Gulf Oil, he returned to Penn State as a petroleum and natural gas engineering faculty member. In 1968, he left to enter law school and received a juris doctor in corporate law from Boston College Law School in 1971. While he was in law school, he formed IHRDC and, soon after being admitted to the bar, began the development of gas storage facilities. He has received a number of professional and academic awards and has served in public office in Wellesley, Massachusetts, since the 1980s.
Just like his father, Timothy Donohue has a wealth of experience in the field. For the past 20 years, he has led a team of developers, information technology specialists and subject matter experts at IHRDC. As vice president, he oversees the e-Learning and Knowledge Solutions business unit. Prior to this role, he worked in project development and operations for underground gas storage projects in New York, and served as an environmental specialist, focusing on contaminant hydrogeology at several superfund sites.
David and Pamela Donohue, a retired nurse, live in Wellesley, Massachusetts. They have four grown children and nine grandchildren.
An endowed professorship offers resources necessary to pursue new lines of research or innovative teaching methods, ensuring the stability and strength of Penn State’s academic programs and allowing Penn State to encourage new levels of achievement among its most promising faculty. Endowed faculty positions are among Penn State’s most important resources for developing and sustaining a strong faculty, and a strategic priority for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Such positions provide honor and recognition for the men and women who hold them, but they also provide something more important: a stable, dependable source of income for special teaching and research materials, library acquisitions, salary supplements and travel assistance.
Supporters like the Donohues are valuable partners in fulfilling the University's land-grant mission of education, research and service. Private gifts from alumni and friends enrich the experiences of students both in and out of the classroom; expand the research and teaching capacity of our faculty; enhance the University's ability to recruit and retain top students and faculty; and help to ensure that students from every economic background have access to a Penn State education. The University's colleges and campuses are now enlisting the support of alumni and friends to advance a range of unit-specific initiatives.