Jeff (’82) and Marla Gerber give with the clarity, purpose, and vision of true leaders.
Whether from East Tennessee or across the country; experiencing hardship or not; artistic, mathematical, creative, or analytical; the first-year undergraduate students of the School of Architecture all have one thing in common: their last-dollar tuition and fees are now covered by the generosity of alumnus Jeff Gerber and his wife, Marla. The influential couple’s $5.2 million gift is the largest in the history of the College of Architecture and Design, and they have invested in a generation of architects with the clarity, purpose, and vision of true leaders.
Sarah Sanseverino from Parkland, Florida, chose UT after being awarded a small out-of-state scholarship. Still, she knew her education was going to be a substantial expense. “My heart was set on UT,” Sanseverino says. “This gift left me speechless, and I was so inspired to see a UT alumnus feel so passionately about the program. Being able to stay with my dreams and aspirations for the future without tuition on my mind is truly a blessing.”
Vanessa Rosander, a first-generation college student from Cincinnati, Ohio, says “everything clicked” when she first visited UT, and now she’s even more certain of her decision. “This scholarship gives me the opportunity to completely be part of the program. I’ll no longer have outside stress distracting me from what I came here to do. [The Gerber’s’] generosity is something I’ll never forget, and I hope to one day give back as well.”
Students in the School of Architecture’s Class of 2027The Gerbers’ scholarship levels the playing field for all students in the School of Architecture’s Class of 2027. It covers tuition and fees remaining after other aid is applied for up to five years. It also provides a $3,710 stipend for students in the cohort to buy a laptop and specialized software.
Gerber came to UT from a midwestern town of about 7,500 people where he enjoyed childhood in a middle-class family that had “everything [they] needed though not always everything [they] wanted.” His mother was their champion who instilled in the kids an understanding of how to live a good life, and his father was a “silent warrior” who often did things to help others without even mentioning it. “When people needed help and he could provide it, he did so,” Gerber says of his father. “In a lot of ways, I felt I was supposed to [make this gift]. This is something I’ve been building toward my whole career.”
Gerber, who graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture, has had a successful career spanning three firms, including 32 years with PGAL, of which he has been the CEO for the past 23 years. Headquartered in Houston, PGAL is one of the nation’s top architectural firms. Some of Gerber’s notable projects include the Kentucky State Central Laboratory, Boca Raton Condominiums, Briarpark Green Office Complex, Space Center Houston, Sugar Land City Hall, Harris County Civil Courthouse, Holocaust Museum Houston, and airport terminal projects in Houston, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
I hope the students take away from this gift that they are free to dream big. I want them to know other people are fighting for them, and that people care about how they do.
– Jeff Gerber (’82)
The Gerbers and their two sons, Michael and Daniel, decided to make the gift together as a family. Marla knew when her husband proposed the idea that he had already developed a fully-fledged plan.
“If he says he’s going to do something then he’s already thought it through from all angles and will work as hard as it takes to make it happen,” she says, adding that involving their sons was paramount to building family consensus around the decision. At first the boys were surprised and uncertain that such a gift was within their means.
“Michael and Daniel have seen generosity modeled through their grandfather, grandmother, and parents as we did smaller-scale things along the way, but this was a big dream for Jeff. He dreamed of inspiring new architects, supporting them, and mentoring them to grow right here at UT—a place he loves so much.”
Marla adds that this gift, and its place in the story of the Gerber’s family life, represents her husband’s love for the university, architecture, and a generous “work hard, play hard” style of living. For him, the experience of giving brought back memories of his own time as a student.
“UT’s School of Architecture helped me understand the role architects play in the development of civilization and communities, and how buildings shape people and how they perceive the world,” Gerber says. “I hope the students take away from this gift that they are free to dream big. I want them to know other people are fighting for them, and that people care about how they do.”
