Buc-ee’s Founder’s $60 Million Gift Creates Campus ‘Game Changer’

Arch “Beaver” Aplin III ’80 is transforming hospitality, retail and marketing education with milestone gifts for Texas A&M University.

By Jeannie Ralston

Lead photos by Phil Kline; renderings provided by Texas A&M University

October 3, 2025

Arch “Beaver” Aplin III ’80, founder and CEO of Buc-ee’s, is bringing the spirit of the beloved travel center to Texas A&M University through a $60 million commitment that will establish the Aplin Center, an immersive learning laboratory for hospitality-related fields in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and for marketing majors at Mays Business School.

Housed on the Texas A&M campus at the intersection of Wellborn Road and John Kimbrough Boulevard, the 211,724-square-foot building will also provide an inviting space for Aggies to gather, relax, eat and shop—and serve as a primary gateway to campus for all visitors.

The center, which celebrates its groundbreaking today and is scheduled for completion in winter 2028, has been in development for years. Aplin originally committed $50 million in 2022 to create the Aplin Center, support hospitality education and name the Arch H. Aplin III ’80 Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He later added another $10 million in 2025 to support retail education and name the Arch H. Aplin III ’80 Department of Marketing at Mays Business School. Both department namings were approved by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents last month.

Shaped by the culture at Texas A&M University, Arch “Beaver” Aplin III ’80 built Buc-ee’s on those same values and is giving back to the place where it all began.

His $60 million total commitment provides endowments for excellence funds and scholarships in both colleges as well as an endowed excellence fund to support programming in the Aplin Center and an endowed fund for ongoing building beautification.

“What we’re doing inside the building will be incredible for Texas A&M, for former students, for students and for all our visitors,” said Aplin, who majored in construction science but found success in the hospitality industry through his emphasis on exceeding customer expectations at 54 Buc-ee’s stores in nine states. “The Texas A&M culture and friendships influenced me and my business career in many ways. I’m just giddy about being able to do something to give back. I’ve never seen anything like what we’re creating here.”

“The Aplin Center is more than a building,” said Robert L. Albritton ’71, chairman of The Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents. “It’s a worthy investment in the future of Texas A&M and our students. Texas A&M and the Texas A&M System appreciate Beaver Aplin for his generosity and his commitment to his great alma mater.”

From its status as the nation’s largest facility built from locally sourced Texas timber to the unique learning opportunities housed within, the center will be a “game changer” and a beacon for Aggie innovation and excellence, said The Texas A&M University System Chancellor Glenn Hegar ’93. “The Aplin Center fits right in with the values of Texas A&M,” he added. “It is all about innovation, collaboration and a commitment to students. There is no doubt about it: This facility will be a national model for experiential learning and a proud showcase of Texas-grown timber and Texas-grown talent. The Texas A&M community thanks Beaver Aplin for his vision and his contribution.”

Aplin had one important non-negotiable for the center. “If we’re going to build this center that will be the nucleus of where people on campus want to be, it has to be in the best location,” he said. Central to the heart of campus, the site—currently a parking lot—sits in the shadow of Kyle Field and across from the Doug Pitcock ’49 Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center.

Hospitality in Action

The Aplin Center will largely be a space for programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and its newly named Arch H. Aplin III ’80 Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism. The new facilities will include immersive learning labs associated with floral design, fermentation, enology, meat science, dairy science and coffee science, as well as product development, sensory and culinary kitchens.

The lab spaces and classrooms will be visible for visitors to watch students and professors roasting coffee beans or making ice cream. The proposed outdoor barbecue pavilion is expected to be a major draw—and not just because of the aroma coming from sizzling brisket.

Spanning three stories of more than 211,000 square feet, the Aplin Center will blend hands-on learning in hospitality, retail and food sciences with student-led retail spaces and a dedicated visitor center for future Aggies and other campus guests.

“Students and visitors will experience the full sensory spectrum of hospitality from some of the most enjoyable parts of agriculture, from product creation and evaluation to delivery,” said Dr. Jeff Savell ’75, vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “The Aplin Center will expand the college’s mission, focus and educational opportunities. It will be a laboratory in action. From the very beginning, Beaver wanted it to be a space for active learning.”

Another major component will be a restaurant or café, which will provide opportunities for students in both Mays Business School and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to learn about sourcing, logistics, menu planning, inventory and other important elements of running a food establishment.

“The Aplin Center will allow us to show the world our commitment to the future of hospitality, a people-focused industry that draws upon agriculture and life sciences and business,” said Dr. Brian King, department head of hospitality, hotel management and tourism. “As Texas increasingly embraces hospitality and tourism as a pillar of the economy, Mr. Aplin’s gift will position Texas A&M as an innovative leader in preparing the state’s future hospitality experts.”

With immersive labs and classrooms, the Aplin Center will be a space for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration between Mays Business School and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Savell sees many benefits to showcasing different areas of study together, including recruiting new students who didn’t know about available programs and helping companies recruit graduates who already have hands-on, real-world experience. “Having all these disciplines in one building is such a great showcase,” he said. “Sometimes we separate concepts by departments. But I see a lot of synergy created by students talking, hanging out and seeing what others are doing.”

Retail Reimagined

The synergy is expected to extend beyond the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Students making ice cream or developing consumer products such as beef jerky will be able to collaborate with peers from Mays Business School, which will also have a large presence in the Aplin Center. “They will be collaborating, cooperating, working together and learning from each other in these areas,” said Dr. Nate Y. Sharp, dean of Mays Business School. “The Aplin Center will be a hallmark of experiential learning and interdisciplinary education at Texas A&M.”

For Sharp, the Aplin Center will be a keystone for students in the Department of Marketing. “The notion of a living laboratory—a sophisticated retail space inside the building that I believe will become a magnet for all visitors to our campus—will be unmatched and unprecedented,” he said. “No other university in the country has anything like this.”

Students managing the retail shop—which will likely feature student-made products among other items—will make real merchandising and marketing decisions, use data and analytics to understand consumers, develop products and brands, and design customer experiences that connect strategy with execution.

“By partnering with industry, these retail spaces will give students access to cutting-edge technologies, meaningful decision-making experiences and opportunities for faculty research,” said Thomas McMillan ’05, director of the business school’s Center for Retailing Innovation. “This is where innovation meets the consumer and where Texas A&M will prepare the next generation of retail leaders across every corner of commerce.”

Open Arms

As part of its hospitality emphasis, the Aplin Center will also house the relocated campus visitor center, which for decades has been located in Rudder Tower despite space limitations. Director Kelli Hollinger ’02 said she envisions the move helping better fulfill its purpose of exciting and inspiring prospective students to apply and hopefully become lifetime members of the Aggie Network.

She believes prospective students and other visitors will be “blown away” by the Aplin Center’s design and the chance to see learning in action. “This is a building that’s meant to be warm, inspirational, accessible and fun,” said Hollinger, noting that the new visitor center will include a 170-seat theater and 70-seat multipurpose room to better deliver a high-energy campus visit experience.

The curb appeal of this center will be incredible, and every step they take toward it will build. When they get inside, we won’t let them down. It’s going to be even better.
Arch “Beaver” Aplin III ’80

“It’s an incredibly important thing for someone considering a college to form an emotional connection. Mr. Aplin really understands how that’s done. Think about the warm greeting you get from the energetic staff every time you enter a Buc-ee’s,” she added. “We’re eager to say ‘Howdy’ and show prospective students especially how they can find belonging within the Aggie Family.”

For Aplin, the welcome will start even before someone enters the Aplin Center, which will feature a timber surround and emphasizes innovation, wellness and sustainability in its design approach. As a passionate proponent of the outdoors and nature, Aplin has envisioned an inviting landscape that accentuates and preserves the mature oak trees already on site. “I want visitors’ jaws to drop when they walk in the front door—actually even before they get to the door,” he said. “The curb appeal of this center will be incredible, and every step they take toward it will build. When they get inside, we won’t let them down. It’s going to be even better.”

Provost Alan Sams, whose office has been overseeing the center’s development, pointed out that the architects had a sense of welcome in mind when designing the building. “If you look at the footprint, it’s U-shaped. It’s designed literally in the shape of open arms,” he said. “This is Texas A&M welcoming the world. How great is that?”

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