Texas Man Turns In Final College Paper 42 Years After Graduating

A Houston-area man has proved that it's never too late to turn in that one last homework assignment.

Stephen Powe of Clear Lake, Texas, graduated with a master's degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M in 1978. The last thing on his to-do list was to give his professor James K. “Jim” Hennigan a final, typo-free copy of an independent study report.

However, life got in the way.

“Being married with the first of our four children that last semester, I was heavily invested in getting job interviews, which resulted in many interview trips that fall. Then it was time to move my young family from College Station to Galveston,” Powe told Texas A&M Today.

Powe went on to have a successful career at a Texas chemical plant and retired in 2017.

With his free time during the pandemic, the former Aggie finally got around to his to-do list, which still included submitting that one last paper to Hennigan, KTRK reported.

“Dr. Hennigan could be gruff, but he was fair. I wince at the thought that I betrayed his trust and what he must have thought of me," he said.

He submitted his paper to the university in December 2020. He didn't expect a response, but Hennigan's daughter Joni Lora reached out to Powe.

Hennigan stopped teaching in 1996 and passed away in the early 2000s. Lora was touched that a former student remembered her dad 42 years after graduating.

"His word was his bond. That’s why I know this story is so fabulous because he would value the fact that Steve was able to keep his promise," Lora said about her dad.