Jesus Esparza & Teresa Duran Memorial Endowed Scholarship

Fall 2025 & Spring 2026 Semester

Teresa Duran Alferes was born in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1916. She was a gifted student of music and became a concert pianist. She died giving birth to her third child in June 1945 at the young age of 29.

Jesus Esparza Reyes was born in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico in 1915. He only had the opportunity to finish secondary school before becoming an apprentice machinist at age 15, working for a gold and silver mining company in central Mexico.  He became a journeyman by the time he was 20 due to this precision machining skills, and the machine shop foreman soon after.  While in secondary school he learned to play basketball and other sports, and became an exceptional basketball player who as an adult was invited to join state select teams that participated in first division national tournaments for almost 12 years while working full-time and eventually raising a family.

After the death of Teresa, with two young children to care for, he remarried in Monterrey, Mexico in last 1946.  There, he became the machine shop supervisor for the GE light bulb factory.  By then, he had learned on his own engineering drawing, Algebra and Trigonometry which he used to design and fabricate prototype, high precision machine parts.  By 1954, his family included six children. In search for better education and economic opportunities for himself and his children, he immigrated to the U.S. and worked in machine shops in Los Angeles, Houston and eventually San Antonio. In 1955, with all the required immigration visas, he brought his family to San Antonio. By 1960, after two additional children were born in San Antonio, the rest of the family applied and was granted U.S. citizenship.  Soon after, he began his career as a civil servant machinist at Kelly AFB where he worked for 22 years. While at Kelly, he built the reputation as the best machinist on base. He received numerous awards and commendations for his suggestions that improved the precision machining of parts, some weighing up to a ton, for many USAF aircraft including the B-52, B-58, C-141 and C-5. At his retirement, he was presented a commendation from President Carter. Jesus was called to the Lord in March 2014, just short of his 99th birthday, leaving behind 16 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Recipient(s) must be enrolled full-time and actively pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Klesse College. An exception may be made on a case-by-case basis when the student is not required to be enrolled full-time to graduate, provided the student is enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours.
2. Recipient(s) must be an undergraduate student actively pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in the Klesse College
3. Recipient(s) must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale. Incoming freshmen may apply with a minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 and a minimum SAT score of 1100 or a minimum ACT score of 24.
4. Preference will be given to students who graduated from a high school located in Bexar County, Texas.
5. Recipients must demonstrate financial need as determined by the Office of Student Financial Aid.
6. Scholarship is renewable for up to two (2) additional years provided the student maintains the minimum 2.75 undergraduate GPA and full-time enrollment at the University.
7. A one-page typed essay (300-500) words describing academic or other accomplishments and career plans is required.