CE Alumnus George Goza Giving Back

Clark Construction VP joins Wood Society, finishes DeLeeuw scholarship fund goal

George Goza

More than 40 years ago, George Goza (BSCE 72) came to the University of Mississippi as an impressionable freshman eager to pursue an engineering education. Today, the successful construction company contractor is making generous donations to ensure others like him are able to do the same.

“I will always owe a great debt to my alma mater and the experiences I had as a student there,” said Goza, vice president of Clark Construction Inc. in McComb. “That’s why I served on the School of Engineering alumni advisory board and have given various amounts over the years.”

Goza named Sam DeLeeuw, Karl Brenkert, K.P. George and Frank Anderson as some of the faculty and staff members who most impacted his career.

“Dr. DeLeeuw has been a wonderful mentor and friend to me,” Goza said. “Because of him, I volunteered as a judge in the annual Mississippi Engineering Society MathCounts competition, which I coordinated for 26 years.”

DeLeeuw, UM chair emeritus and professor emeritus of civil engineering, remembers Goza as a very good student who excelled at whatever he did.“I still keep in contact with George because of MathCounts,” DeLeeuw said. “I see him at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church whenever he comes to Oxford.”

During his studies, Goza served as president of the campus chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was a member of Chi Epsilon honorary society and Sigma Nu fraternity.

“I was also influenced by Peck Sherman and Bailey Fridge, two Ole Miss civil engineering graduates from Pike County,” he said.

Kevin Gardner, development officer for the UM School of Engineering, said Goza is a model donor.

“We are grateful that George helps to promote the School of Engineering and to open doors for our students by joining the Woods Society,” Gardner said. Like many of our engineering graduates, Mr. Goza responded to the plea for helping us to complete the Samuel L. DeLeeuw Civil Engineering Endowment.”

Goza and his wife, Virginia, have a daughter, Mary Walker Goza (a 2005 UM School of Business Administration alumna who works for Hess Corp. in New York City) and a son, Reid (a 2010 UM business school alumnus employed with Cowen Group, a New York investment bank).