The Dean W. L. Stangel Cash Scholarship Endowment was established in 1972 by various donors. The scholarship is awarded to undergraduate and graduate students majoring in the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.

W. L. Stangel (1899-1978) was an original faculty member of Texas Technological College in 1925. Under his adept guidance and leadership, the animal husbandry department which he headed grew from nothing in 1925 to one that ranked among the best in the nation when he left that post to become Dean of Agriculture in 1945.

W. L. (Wenzel Louis) Stangel was born in 1899 in Stangelville, Wisconsin, a town named after his family. He moved to Fort Worth, Texas with his family in 1900. Enrolling in 1911 at Texas A&M College, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in animal husbandry in 1915. He then obtained a graduate scholarship and the next year received his master's degree from the University of Missouri. Following the completion of his graduate requirements, he was appointed instructor in the Texas A&M animal husbandry department, became associate professor in 1918, and was named full professor in 1920. During World War 1 he served in the Nineteenth Division but resumed his teaching career following his discharge. He worked primarily in livestock judging. In 1919, he coached the Texas A&M team into first place at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago. For that accomplishment, Stangel was promoted to full professor.

He arrived in Lubbock to head the Texas Technological College School of Agriculture's animal husbandry department in August 1925. When the first semester at Tech began, the staff of the School of Agriculture numbered only 3. A. H. Leidigh was dean of the agricultural school, Stangel was animal husbandry department head, and Charles Mahoney was associate professor of horticulture. Not long after his move to Texas Tech, he began judging shows throughout the South Plains a well as all over the state.

Arthur H. Leidigh retired from the Deanship in 1945 at the age of 65 to return to the classroom as a member of the Plant Industry Department. W. L. Stangel was elevated to Dean, and Ray Mowrey became head of Animal Husbandry. Dean Stangel served until retirement August 31, 1958.

Dean Stangel spent 48 years in the field of higher education. He served 31 years as General Livestock Superintendent at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, and 34 years in official capacity at the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth. He also served for a number of years as chairman of the National Farm Life Insurance Company and the Agricultural Workers Mutual Auto Insurance Company.

Among the professional organizations in which Stangel held memberships were the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Animal Production, Phi Eta Sigma, Gamma Sigma Delta, and Alpha Zeta. He was also president of the: National Block and Bridle Club and the Texas Agricultural Workers' Association. In civic affairs he was president of the Lubbock Kiwanis Club and also a member of the Lubbock Country Club. He was a deacon of First Baptist Church of Lubbock and president of its Downtown Bible Class. In 1951, he was honored by Progressive Farmer as Man of the Year in Service to Agriculture. In 1956, the West Texas Chamber of Commerce designated him a "Top West Texan," and his alma mater, Texas A&M conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Even after retirement, Dean Stangel continued to serve in an advisory capacity to agricultural faculty and students until 1974. In 1964, he donated some 400 books form his personal collection to the Killgore Beef Cattle Research Center near Amarillo, Texas. The scholarship fund was begun in his honor, and a resident hall on the Texas Tech campus bears his name. His papers are house in the Texas Tech University Southwest Collections Library.

Dean Stangel and his wife, Mary, had two daughters, Mrs. Mary Menon English and Mrs. Ava Ruth Barr. Their husbands are both graduates of Texas Tech. Ava has the distinction of being the first faculty-born baby at Texas Tech. She was born the same day that the faculty met for the first time, September 16, 1925. Dean Stangel became the first faculty member given the honor of presenting his daughter with a Texas Tech diploma. Mary graduated in 1944 with a BA in English, and Ava graduated in 1946 with a BA in Spanish. The family holds more than seven degrees from Texas Tech.

Dean Stangel died at his Lubbock residence on May 16, 1978 and was interred in Resthaven Mausoleum.

To support this scholarship, please visit the Stangel Perpetual Endowed Scholarship gift page.

Contact

Alex Yack
Alex.Yack@ttu.edu
Senior Director of Development
806.742.2802

Matt Williams
matt.williams@ttu.edu
Associate Director of Development
806.742.2802

Tanner Rex
tanner.rex@ttu.edu
Assistant Director of Development
806.742.2802