Jack and Janice Haydon of O’Fallon, Ill., recently added $100,000 to a
scholarship fund they first established more than 15 years ago to assist
students interested in studying civil engineering at Missouri University of
Science and Technology.

Jack Haydon, a 1958 civil engineering graduate of Missouri S&T and
retired president and CEO of Reese Construction and Asphalt Supply, says they
created the Jack and Janice Haydon Endowed Scholarship for Civil Engineering
because they felt they could help the most people through scholarships.

“We have seen the evidence of the value of scholarships to students,” Jack
Haydon says. “There’s no greater reward than when a student shares with you how
you’ve made a difference in their education and future.”

Jack Haydon grew up in Palmyra, Mo., and chose to earn a civil engineering
degree from Missouri School of Mines (now Missouri S&T), which he calls
“one of the finest engineering schools in the country.”

“I choose to study civil engineering because you can see and touch many of
its products,” Haydon explains. He worked in the bridge and asphalt paving
business 38 years following a decade of service with the Illinois Department of
Transportation.

Haydon’s mentor and partner in the construction business was the late Thomas
Reese Jr., a 1934 civil engineering graduate of MSM. Haydon met Reese in 1967
while working on the Poplar Street Bridge in St. Louis. The following spring
Reese and Haydon established a bridge construction company, and in 1970, Haydon
became vice president of Reese Construction Co.

Haydon became the company’s president and chief executive officer after
Reese’s death in 1980. In honor and memory of Reese, the Haydons established
the Thomas H. Reese Memorial Scholarship at Missouri S&T. In 1985, to help
the civil engineering department attract quality educators, Reese Construction
Co. established the Thomas H. Reese Jr. Endowed Professorship with a gift of
$110,000 to the university.

“The Haydons have been very loyal supporters of the campus and this
department over the years,” says Jerry Bayless, interim chair of civil
engineering at Missouri S&T. “Jack is an active alum who has been a good
friend to the campus.”

Haydon is a member of the Academy of Civil Engineering at Missouri S&T
and served as its president from 1988 to 1989. In addition, the Haydons have
been members of the Order of the Golden Shillelagh, the university’s donor
recognition society, since 1983.

“Most alumni have been blessed with success because of their education at
Rolla, and we encourage them to help future students by giving back something
to the university,” Haydon says.

Haydon adds that it took him 22 years to get back involved with Missouri
S&T and urges graduates to stay involved and to help others as others have
helped them.