Entrepreneur on $1 million gift to alma mater: 'I would not have graduated from college if it wasn’t for the UH System'

The University of Houston (UH) College of Technology received a $1 million donation for upgrades at its facility in Sugar Land from an alumnus and his wife, according to a press release.

Brij and Sunita Agrawal pledged the gift toward manufacturing laboratory equipment, the release said. 

“Congratulations to the UH College of Technology, and to the students who will benefit from the generosity of Brij Agrawal and his wife, Sunita,” the UH Sugar Land campus’s Twitter account posted.

According to the release, the Lakhanpur, India-born Agrawal earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the university’s Cullen College of Engineering in 1988.

The founder of a slew of companies in the manufacturing, fabrication and restaurant sectors, he’s the chief executive officer (CEO) and president of VKC Group, a restaurant management firm that owns and operates over 150 eateries in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

“I would not have graduated from college if it wasn’t for the UH System,” Agrawal said in the release. “That is why I am so passionate about supporting UH.”

Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that the Agrawals have lent financial support to the university.

Per the station, the couple pledged funding toward the construction of what would become UH at Sugar Land.

The university said that matching gifts from the George Foundation and the Texas Research Incentive Program could bring the Agrawals' total impact to $3.5 million, KTRK reported.

Agrawal said in the release that as a Sugar Land resident, he feels a closeness to UH Sugar Land.

“I am thrilled to know the impact this gift will have on the students and faculty in terms of access to state-of-the-art equipment in a modern academic building and campus in Sugar Land,” he said.

UH said that the College of Technology’s ground floor auditorium will be known as the Brij and Sunita Agrawal Auditorium.