As cadet commander, Willis Lincoln helped MacGregor Smith to organize the students who leveled and graded Shields-Watkins field in 1921. He graduated in 1922 with an engineering degree, and at his death, he left over one million dollars to the university. The funds were used to establish the Lincoln Chair of Excellence in Physics. A member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, he also bequeathed a considerable sum to the fraternity to fund scholarships for members of the Kappa Tau Chapter at the university.