WACO (AP) - A prominent Southeast Texas lawyer alumnus has made a major donation to help build a bridge over the Brazos River to connect the Baylor University campus with a proposed Baylor football stadium.

Walter Umphrey of Beaumont was the lead attorney for the state of Texas that negotiated a $17.3 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, and a Baylor University and Baylor Law School alumnus.

University officials didn’t specify the amount of the gift from Umphrey and his wife, Sheila Umphrey, but a Baylor statement Thursday says it ranks among the top 10 in university history and the top five in the history of Baylor athletics.

The new 45,000-seat stadium is planned to open in 2014 on a site on Interstate 35 across the Brazos from the Baylor campus.

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