While serving as the chairman of the Civil Engineering Advisory Council, Price admits to having been “personally shocked” to learn that the instructional lab for undergraduate environmental engineering students had lapsed into such disrepair that the University had decided to close the facility.

“That laboratory was built in 1964 when I was just starting my master’s degree. When I entered the doctoral program in 1966, I taught classes to undergraduates in that laboratory. It wasn’t just another sad story, but a place embedded with important learning and unforgettable memories of my own Purdue experience. I just couldn’t stand by idly and watch it disappear,” Price says.

Price went to the managing trustee of the Heritage Group, Fred Fehsenfeld Jr., and suggested that Heritage fund the lab’s renovation. Price’s idea was received enthusiastically, provided Price would agree to make a contribution of his own. Having previously established a scholarship fund to recognize Etzel, they agreed to name the lab for Heritage itself, solidifying the symbiotic past, present and future ties between Purdue and Heritage Environmental.

After receiving a joint commitment of $250,000 over the next five years — a gift to be matched by a repair and rehabilitation grant from Purdue — the Heritage Environmental Engineering Teaching Laboratory is used weekly for the environment-oriented classes of civil engineering and the newly established undergraduate degree program of environmental and ecological engineering. The school recognizes Heritage’s generosity and inspires students with the types of crucial solutions Heritage is working toward in an interactive technological display case in which Heritage will showcase current projects.

“I have always enjoyed the creative part of engineering the most,” Price says. “Whether it’s thinking of a new approach to solve a technical problem, or a new business model for delivering an engineering service, or the best way to solidify a business relationship, I get the most satisfaction from creating something new.”