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By Robert Miller

Longtime ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Methodist University supporters Paul B. Loyd Jr. and his wife, Penny Requa Loyd, are giving $5 million to help build Residential Commons, one of five new residential buildings planned for the campus.

The commons is scheduled to open in fall 2014.

Loyd is founder and principal of a private investment firm in Houston and is past chairman and CEO of R&B Falcon Corp., an offshore drilling company that merged with  Transocean Ltd. He served on the boards of Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. and  Holly Frontier Oil Corp.

The Loyds have supported a variety of initiatives at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ, including ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Football’s Circle of Champions, the Mustang Band Hall, Meadows School of the Arts scholarships, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon House Fund and the Paul B. Loyd Jr. All-Sports ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ next to  Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The center, which opened in 2000, houses locker rooms, offices, training and sports medicine facilities for ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s 17 sports teams.

The Loyds also provided funding to support the new Penny and Paul Loyd ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ for the Academic Development of Student Athletes, which is housed in the All-Sports ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ and helps student athletes maximize their athletic and academic potential.

“Nearly every ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ student benefits from the Loyd family’s generosity,” said ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ President R. Gerald Turner. “From students enhancing their study skills and preparing for exams to student athletes working out in the weight room, the Loyds have enhanced the campus experience.”

Loyd earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ in 1968 and a master’s degree from the  Harvard Graduate School of Business. He was a member of ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s Southwest Conference championship football team in 1966 and played in the 1967 Cotton Bowl Classic, the same year he was elected captain of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ football team.

In addition to serving as a member of ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s board of trustees since 2000 and chairing the athletics committee, Loyd is a member of the executive boards of the Cox School of Business and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He is co-chair of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Athletics. Cox School of Business honored Loyd in 2001 with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

Penny Loyd, a civic leader and community volunteer in Houston, graduated from St. Louis University and worked with several public and private companies both in the U.S. and abroad before the formation of the family’s charitable foundation.

The Loyds also serve as members of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Parent Leadership Council. After the May graduation of their daughter, three of their five children will be ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ graduates.

Construction on Residential Commons is under way in the southeast corner of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ campus north of Mockingbird Lane.

It will provide housing, parking and dining facilities for 1,250 students, enabling all first- and second-year ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ students to live on campus. Each residential facility will include a faculty residence and offices, classrooms and seminar rooms.