Alan B. Matejowsky Endowed Scholarship in Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering

Alan Bruce Matejowksy’s commitment to excellence was evident in every facet of his life. Whether raising his family, designing major highway bridges, crafting woodworking projects, or loading the perfect hot dog, Alan took great joy and responsibility in his creations.

Born in 1944, Alan grew up on a family farm near Lowake, Texas, and graduated from Miles High School.  He attended San Angelo College (now Angelo State University) before transferring to The University of Texas at Austin and completing his degree in Architectural Engineering in 1968.  Alan was a loyal Longhorn, and throughout his life he maintained ties with the university on both a personal and professional level.

Alan married his high school sweetheart, Betty, MSLIS ’00, and they raised two Longhorns of their own, Bradley, BA ’99, and Blake, BA ’05.  Together they traveled with the Texas Exes’ Flying Longhorns, visiting such places as Poland, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic, where they explored their family’s ancestral roots. They followed Texas sports and enjoyed season basketball tickets.

In addition to his love for UT, Alan enjoyed a host of hobbies and interests:  reading, gardening, photography, traveling, pursuing good eats, and serving as a leader in his church and neighborhood.  But Alan’s true passion was woodworking; he cherished time spent in his workshop building items large and small.  His dream project was designing, with Betty, their retirement country home in Burnet County in 2010.

Over his 44-year career Alan worked as a structural bridge engineer, first at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for 29 years, and then with Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineering, and HDR Engineering.  His design experience included a wide range of projects and covered all types of bridges. An expert in segmental design, Alan served as the design engineer for the first precast concrete segmental bridge in the United States, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Causeway from Corpus Christi to Padre Island.

“Like any good teacher, he knew how to care for people.  When you brought an idea to him, no matter how ridiculous, you never left his office feeling dejected,” says Dean Van Landuyt, one of Alan’s many protégés.

Alan had expressed concern about the future of engineering.  He wanted to help promote interest in engineering careers and was investigating volunteer opportunities prior to his unexpected death in 2013.  To carry out this wish and to honor his memory, Alan’s family decided to create the Alan B. Matejowsky Endowed Scholarship in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at their alma mater.

Betty explained, “We hope that the recipients of this scholarship will excel in and honor the field of engineering with integrity, as Alan did.”