the texas a&m university department of oceanographys undergraduate program was established in 2017 and the class of 2022 was the very first freshman class at texas a&m to include oceanography majors scholarships available for oceanography students are key supports needed for the program to continue to grow and thrive and thanks to a generous gift from hal schade 67 there is now more scholarship funding available to oceanography students in january schade endowed the peni m basse memorial scholarship in oceanography in honor of his late sister he designated the funds specifically for undergraduate scholarships we are honored by mr schades gift and are thrilled about the impact it will have on future oceanographers said texas a&m oceanography department head dr shari yvon-lewis this experience will help them determine their paths going forward and will help shape how they will change the world giving that changes the world my sister passed away in december 2020 and she had a real affinity for the ocean and all the creatures in it so i chose to honor her memory with the naming of this scholarship schade said when looking to endow the fund schade collaborated with oceanography leadership to determine the most impactful use for it and together they chose to designate it for scholarships supporting undergraduate students endowed scholarships directly benefit aggies because they allow the student to have relieved financial pressure focus more on academic pursuits and graduate with fewer debts as texas a&m oceanography students look forward to rewarding careers schade said that his advice for current aggies centers on flexibility imagine your career on a white-board you on one side and your goal on the other side; you want to draw a straight line to your goal but thats not how life works he said it will zig-zag up and down stop and startthose will be different jobs and opportunities before this goal dont be frustrated if you cant get straight to your goal in fact sometimes you may not advance sometimes you may go back but youll recover have patience and follow your opportunities schade reflected on his career path zigging and zagging many times ultimately leading him to a career that was rewarding and long-lasting schade graduated from texas a&m in 1967 with a bachelors degree in journalism he then served 12 years of active duty in the us army and retired as a colonel in the army reserves with 28 years of total service he also headed the public relations department at usaa for 16 years until his retirement there in 2000 my advice is set your sights on a goal but do not expect to go directly to the goal he said its going to be a journey take what life gives you and make the best of it a passion for texas a&m and the ocean schade has been supporting texas a&m and texas a&m oceanography for years leaving a legacy of lives changed for the better in 2003 schade followed his two passions sailing and photography and spent the next six years in the western caribbean with his boat griffin in 2009 he moved to college station and renewed his involvement with financially giving to texas a&m in 2019 twelve oceanography students had the remarkable opportunity to spend four days at sea conducting research in the gulf of mexico may 23-26 aboard the r/v point sur the entire cruise was funded thanks to a generous gift from schade given in honor of his parents colonel tom and sue mathews learn more about supporting the college of geosciences by leslie lee