Fred Pirkle Engineering Technology Center (Pirkle Center)
The Pirkle Center is an innovative learning center that houses state of the art classrooms, specialized laboratories, and faculty and staff offices for two departments (Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Technology) at Sam Houston State University. The Pirkle Center is named after the inventor and SHSU alumnus Mr. Fred Pirkle, who set aside $10 million out of his $25 million gift to SHSU to construct this learning facility. Dr. Stanley Kelley, our former department chair, oversaw the construction of the Pirkle Center to ensure that the building embodies Mr. Pirkle’s vision.
Mr. Fred Pirkle
The Pirkle Center has four floors, each named after a noted US inventor. The first floor (Thomas Edison) contains machine and woodworking shops, electronics and robotics labs and a large collaboration area. The proximity of labs and shops to the collaboration area enables students to solve real-life problems by going from an idea to the design and build phases of a product in the same location.
The second level (Fred Pirkle) has classrooms, specialized labs, and the Pirkle Museum. The museum is a tribute to Mr. Pirkle’s inventions and vision.
Fred Pirkle Museum
The third level (Thomas Jefferson) contains offices, classrooms, the Ann Christian memorial student lounge, wildlife physiology lab, multimedia workroom, Heath Schielack Memorial Agribusiness classroom, and floral design lab. The fourth level (Sam Houston) contain faculty, staff, and TA/GA offices. This level also includes two conference rooms.