C. Gerald “Jerry” King graduated from NMSU with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 1958. Mr. King joined Boeing as a design engineer in 1958 and held numerous executive-level positions during his 39-year career with the company. He retired from Boeing in 1997 as Senior Vice President and President of the Defense and Space Group.

Mr. King is a long-time and ardent supporter of the College of Engineering at NMSU. King has served on the Mechanical Engineering Academy and was the 16th Distinguished Frank Bromilow Lecturer, named for a former College of Engineering Dean, in February 1990. His lecture was entitled “Shaping the Face of Aerospace Engineering—1990 and Beyond.” He was honored during Homecoming 1993 as the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Alumnus. Mr. King received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in May 1994 during NMSU’s 102nd commencement.

This past year, Mr. King established the C. Gerald King Engineering Endowed Scholarship targeted toward mechanical engineering students who have graduated from a small, rural New Mexico high school. Mr. King is a native of Corona, NM and his late wife Emily (Johnson) King was from Carrizozo, NM. The C. Gerald King Engineering Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to mechanical engineering students who have graduated from a high school in Lincoln County or a high school with a graduating class of fewer than 50 students.

“I established this scholarship as a tribute to the 53 great years that my wife and I shared. I decided to establish this endowment to help students who may have had lesser opportunities to understand the value of a career as an engineer and the contributions they can make to our nation,” said King.