Businessman and entrepreneur William J. Doré, founder of Global Industries Ltd., has donated $1 million to the McNeese State University Foundation to be used for athletic-related endeavors. A portion of the donation will be used to complete the debt obligations on the Sky Ranch, Richard Reid, McNeese vice president of development and public affairs and executive vice president of the McNeese Foundation, said.

"This will allow the athletics department to begin generating revenue from funds received for private and corporate boxes and seats in the Blue and Gold Room," Reid said. Since the facility opened in 1998, fees collected for the boxes and seats in the Blue and Gold Room have been used to pay the construction debt. According to Reid, Doré will retain the right to name the football stadium.

Doré received his bachelor's and master's degrees from McNeese and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2005. He earned athletic letters in football and track and was inducted into the McNeese Athletics Hall of Honor in 1988. He received the prestigious McNeese Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1995.

Doré retired as chief executive officer of the Carlyss, La., based Global Industries Ltd. in 2006 and continues to serve as a consultant to the company. "Bill Doré built Global Industries into an American success story," McNeese President Dr. Robert Hebert said.

"He purchased a nearly bankrupt offshore diving company in the early 1970s, and through hard work and perseverance, he turned it into a worldwide marine construction and offshore diving company. We are very fortunate that he has been especially generous in his support of his alma mater," Hebert said.

The graduate school at McNeese is named for Doré, who created a $2 million endowment for graduate student stipends. He was also instrumental in creating the Kay Doré Counseling Center at McNeese that provides a clinical setting for graduate students in mental health counseling. He is one of the founders of the Golden Saddle Club, which has raised over $500,000 to provide scholarships to rodeo students at McNeese.