This endowment, established in 2004 by the estate of J. Fred and Lily C. Wilkes, supports students in the College of Engineering.

J. Fred Wilkes, a chemical engineer, earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Florida in 1933. Lilly Wilkes served as a librarian for both the University of Florida and the Alachua County Public Library. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University) in 1934 and her master’s in 1951 from Columbia University. Fred passed away in 1997 and Lilly passed away in 2004.