R. G. LeTourneau - Personal Pursuits and Awards

Personal Pursuits and Awards

Letourneau held many respected positions throughout his life as a Christian layman, including as a leader in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, president of the Christian Business Men's Committee (CBMC) and president of the Gideons International. Being a man of great Christian commitment and dedication, for 30 years he flew thousands of miles each week to maintain Christian speaking engagements around the United States and overseas.

LeTourneau was a firm believer in the effectiveness of practical instruction combined with classroom studies; and, in 1946, he purchased an unused military hospital, accompanying land and buildings in Longview. There he established the LeTourneau Technical Institute at the site of the former Harmon General Hospital to provide sound technical and mechanical training, traditional college courses, and training for missionary technicians, based on the philosophy of combining work, education and Christian testimony. The LeTourneau Technical Institute became a college in its own right, in 1961, and eventually gained "university" status to become LeTourneau University. Today, the university is a busy and growing institution, offering degrees in engineering, aeronautical sciences and liberal arts, along with a strong Christian influence, including three times weekly compulsory chapel attendance for students.

Throughout his career, he was the recipient of more than 30 awards and honors related to engineering, manufacturing and the development of heavy equipment. In 1936, he was presented with the "Appreciation of Service Achievement 1931-1935," by Six Companies Incorporated for supplying earthmoving equipment to the "Boulder Dam" project. Recognition of service to the earthmoving industry later came from many other contractors in the industry, and, in February 1958, LeTourneau was presented with the "Beavers Award" at the third-annual awards dinner of the Beavers, an association of leaders in the heavy construction industry. In presenting the award to LeTourneau, Beaver president George H. Atkinson, of the highly respected U.S. contractors, Guy F. Atkinson Company, of San Francisco, said, "There is hardly any place in the vast industry that has not benefited through the products of Mr. LeTourneau's inventive genius."

In 1953, LeTourneau began a development project in the country of Liberia, West Africa, with the diverse goals of colonization, land development, agricultural development, livestock introduction, evangelism and philanthropic activities. In 1954, a colonization project with similar objectives to those in Liberia was established in the country of Peru, South America.

He was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1956.