KU Giving Issue 5 by KU Endowment

For Friends of the University of K ansas • FALL 2008 • kuendowment.org

VISIONS OF KU

Path of Light: The Lied Bridge at KU Medical Center is the literal bridge between the research bench and the patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bedside. It connects basic science laboratories with The University of Kansas Hospital.

KU GIVING KU Giving is published three times a year, in spring, fall and winter, by KU Endowment, the private fundraising foundation for the University of Kansas. You are receiving this magazine because you support KU. We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions. Contact the editor at kugiving@kuendowment.org or 800-444-4201.

BUILDING a greater university: KU Endowment’s mission is to solicit, receive and administer gifts and bequests for the support and advancement of the University of Kansas.

STEVE PUPPE (2)

FALL 2008 I volume 2 I number 2

UKanTeach aims to graduate committed new teachers.

The Hill: Always changing, always beautiful.

DEPARTMENTS

12 Teachers wanted

3 LETTERS

Who can inspire your kids and grandkids to love science and math? These new teachers think they can.

18 A place called

5 EVERY GIFT MATTERS Tools of change 6 ACROSS KU

STEVE PUPPE (2)

By Kirsten Bosnak

4 PRESIDENT’S NOTE

24 GREATER KU FUND Small world 26 WAYS OF GIVING The best way to slice it

Mount Oread

27 AMONG FRIENDS

KU’s Campus Heritage Plan will help a growing campus keep its finest features.

28 KU VOICES Special education puts people first 29 PAST AND PRESENT The playing field

JOHN JORDAN

By Kirsten Bosnak

PROFILES

Changing lives of the historic Pawnee in Kansas, page 5

8 WHY I GAVE 25 I AM KU Business whiz

ON THE WEB Photo gallery Memorial Stadium timeline kuendowment.org/stadium/

COVER: Kids + science + math + excitement = UKanTeach. Lawrence artist Lora Jost gave us her interpretation of this new KU teacher training program. KU ARCHIVES

Photos and collected links 18th-century Pawnee site kuendowment.org/pawnee/

Our core values Passion for KU The generosity of alumni and friends influences the very fabric of KU, helping the university advance the frontiers of knowledge. We are dedicated to serving the university and helping it achieve its aspirations. Partnership with Donors Our donors empower us to accomplish our mission. We pledge to faithfully administer their gifts, adhere to their philanthropic intentions and respect their requests for privacy.

DOUG BARTH

Perpetual Support The long-term vitality of KU represents our ultimate, unwavering goal. We strive to wisely invest funds and steward property, with the goal of achieving the greatest possible assurance of long-term financial support for the university.

Korean War Memorial

People-centered Approach Our team of employees, trustees and volunteers guides our present and shapes our future. We seek to attract and develop the best talent, value each individual’s unique contributions and celebrate diversity as a strength.

FALL 2008 I VOLUME 2 I NUMBER 2 KUENDOWMENT.ORG CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES Kurt D. Watson President Dale Seuferling Senior Vice President, Communications & M arketing Rosita Elizalde-McCoy Editor Kirsten Bosnak CREATIVE DIRECTOR Doug Barth Contributing Editors Joel Francis Charles Higginson Lisa Scheller Editorial ASSISTANT Sarah Aylward PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT Carol Holstead, KU Associate Professor of Journalism

100% of your gift benefits the area of your choice at the University of Kansas Online Giving — You may make a gift securely online using your debit or credit card. Visit kuendowment.org/givenow/. Gifts of Stock — By donating appreciated securities or mutual fund shares, you can provide a lasting contribution while receiving tax benefits, such as capital gains tax savings. Real Estate — Your gift provides a convenient way for you to enjoy a charitable deduction based on the current fair market value of your property, and it can reduce the size and complexity of your estate.

Give by mail — Gifts made by check should be payable to KU Endowment and mailed to: KU Endowment P.O. Box 928 Lawrence, KS 66044-0928 Estate Planning — To remember KU in your will or estate plan, be sure to name The Kansas University Endowment Association (our legal name) as beneficiary. Our federal tax i.d. number is 48-0547734. If you already have named KU Endowment in your estate plan, please contact us so we can welcome you to the Elizabeth M. Watkins Society. We also offer life-income gifts that provide income and immediate tax benefits. Call our director of gift planning at 800-444-4201 during business hours, or visit kuendowment.org/giftplanning/.

KU Endowment Communications & Marketing Division P.O. Box 928 Lawrence, KS 66044-0928 785-832-7400 or toll-free 800-444-4201 Email: kugiving@kuendowment.org kuendowment.org POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KU Endowment, P.O. Box 928, Lawrence KS 66044-0928

- FOUNDED 1891 -

LETTERS trees and an unrelenting wind), thoughts of neither destruction nor construction filled our souls but, rather, simply, the idea of giving: Students giving blood, sweat, tears and teamwork. Students giving up free time to be 250 miles away from campus life and friends. Professor Dan Rockhill giving Find this and past issues personal overtime to direct online: kuendowment. and mentor tomorrow’s org/publications/. architects. The Studio 804 program giving not only a building but a landmark of hope Class work to a devastated community and naming What wonderful class to have a the building the 5.4.7 Arts Center to picture from the Studio 804 project on memorialize the date, not of destruction the cover of the spring ’08 KU Giving, rather than a picture from the basketball but of the onset of Greensburg’s team’s national victory (that passing late resilience and determination to rise from its ashes. The private and corporate in the overtime was classic KU). Play is okay, but work is forever. My donations of materials, monies and expertise that made it all possible. The dad, who worked as a farmer in western encouragement by the good people Kansas from age 14 to over 90, said, of Greensburg in speech, print, hugs, “Work is a blessing.” An overwhelming scope of teaching and meals and cookies for the students to affirm the worthiness of their toils. is pulled together in this Studio 804 “From the Ground Up” was a wonderful project. This picture would make a tribute to all of those who gave and good poster or page in a KU calendar. a reminder to the rest of us of the RODNEY PARR, EDUCATION ’68 importance, value and reward of giving. Spring 2008 Our previous issue featured stories on KU’s Studio 804 architecture class and Costa Rica Exchange Program. Krissy Buck, architecture ’08, stepped away from her work on the Studio 804 project for about three minutes to pose for our cover photo.

Wyola, Mont.

Giving in Greensburg “From the Ground Up” was a terrific article, in print and picture, about the year-long project designing and building the all-green arts center for Greensburg, Kan., the town leveled by a tornado a year ago. As the parents and stepsister of one of the 22 Studio 804 students (Christopher Clark, architecture ’08) involved in this project, we were privileged to attend an open house of the arts center on the first anniversary of the tornado. While experiencing the building (itself a bright and noble structure surrounded by vacant lots with empty open basements, naked

MARY AND KEN CLARK, AND ERIN STEPHENSON, PSYCHOLOGY ’08 St. Louis (via email)

Viva, Costa Rica! What a great story about KU and the Universidad de Costa Rica during the last fifty years! As a historian and a participant in many of the activities of those fifty years, I’ve often reflected on the highlights of that partnership. But as an admirer of Costa Rica and its leadership in environmental policy, democracy and peace, I agree with Costa Rica’s evident faith in the future. Costa Ricans, directed by the Universidad de Costa Rica and by its forward-looking business and political

leaders, are committed to converting the republic into a developed country by 2050. I think KU can play a part in this visionary undertaking, and I look forward to a continuing university partnership to help bring about this goal. Charley Stansifer KU Professor Emeritus of History Former director, Center of Latin American Studies Lawrence, Kan. (via email)

Wonder year I’m almost certain that our group photo [of 1970 Costa Rica Exchange participants, included with our Spring 2008 story] was taken when we arrived at the old San José airport, El Coco, in late January or early February. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Anita Herzfeld, program director, as she went to unusual lengths to arrange outings to fascinating and remote places, and to push us to speak Spanish and integrate as much as possible. Without Anita’s initiative and dedication, our year in Costa Rica would have been less than what it was: a watershed experience of profound growth and change. Nothing was ever the same for me after that year. My horizons were broadened and my curiosity about the world strengthened. In March this year, I participated in the celebrations in San José surrounding the 50th anniversary of the KUUniversity of Costa Rica relationship. Joining me from my 1970 group were Debbie Brient, Vallie (Portuguez) Hogan and Anita Herzfeld. JUSTIN HUNT LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES AND SPANISH, ’72 Charlotte, N.C.

Write to us Mail: KU Giving, KU Endowment, P.O. Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044-0928 Email: kugiving@kuendowment.org Fax: 785-832-7493 We welcome your comments on our magazine and invite you to share your KU experiences with our readers. Please include name, address, email and daytime phone. Letters may be edited for clarity and length; we assume letters are intended for publication unless indicated otherwise. kuendowment.org

PRESIDENT’S NOTE

he first time I saw Jayhawk Boulevard, I thought: “I belong here. This is where I want to be.” Its powerful attraction was almost instant. Regardless of when we attended the University of Kansas, most of us appreciate the beauty of Mount Oread. Its landscapes and landmarks are the background music that shaped our college lives. As I travel, I hear from alumni all over the nation who have fond memories of this place. Strolling to Watson Library as the campanile bells tolled. Resting between classes at Potter Lake. Passing through the campanile at commencement. What most alumni don’t know is that the campus we know and love was largely built by philanthropy. In fact, two-thirds of campus buildings and 85 percent of the land were funded by private donors. Landmarks like the campanile, the Chi Omega Fountain and the football stadium, as well as recent additions like the Malott and Docking Family gateways, would not exist if not for generous donors. Ditto for Danforth Chapel, whose restoration was funded by donors. Previous generations of the Malott family also left a gift of beauty here. Chancellor Deane Malott’s wife,

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Eleanor, spearheaded the planting of flowering trees and shrubs throughout campus in the 1940s. And then there are the less visible ways donors have stepped up. Recently, two students came to my office to ask for help with the restoration of Potter Lake. They had the passion but lacked the resources to make it happen. Thankfully, an alumni couple funded a study to assess what’s needed (see story on page 4). In this issue, we unveil a campus heritage plan funded by the Getty Foundation. It offers broad guidelines to protect the beauty and historical significance of this place. It comes down to making choices. What is precious to us today that we want to preserve? What has been lost that we want to bring back? We know KU can’t be frozen in time; it will need to adapt to changing needs. What this plan provides is a foundation for decision-making. People with foresight many years ago gave us a framework — the distinctive red tile roofs, the grand boulevard, the architecture that evokes a sense of history. And my personal favorite: the landscapes and trees that treat us to their spectacular colors and provide peaceful respite. Where do we go from here? Much depends on how much we cherish this small corner of the world and what legacy we want to leave. Many of the plan’s recommendations will require support from all of us who love KU. It’s up to us now. It’s our choice, our time.

Dale Seuferling, President KU Endowment

LAURA WOLFE

University relations

Cherishing Mount Oread

EVERY GIFT MATTERS 2 16

15 3

10 8 14

Artifacts from the site: 1 Metal hoe 2 & 3 Corn kernels and cob 4 Square nail 5 Rifle flint 6 Flintlock mechanism & 8 Musket ball mold and musket ball 9 Stone axe head 10 Double-pointed awl 11 Copper hinge 12 Copper tinklers 13 & 14 Metal projectile points 15 & 16 Metal hide scraper and elk antler handle 17 Saw blade 18 Catlinite pipe bowl

Tools of change New finds from a historic Pawnee village For the Pawnee in what is now north central Kansas, the late 18th century was a time of transition. As more Europeans entered the area, the Native Americans replaced many of their tools with metal trade goods and metal pieces fabricated from those goods. With changes in technology came changes in lifestyle. This past June, 15 KU students spent two weeks at a historic Pawnee village site in Republic County, Kan., hoping to

unearth new clues to 18th- and 19thcentury daily life on the Great Plains. The students joined 21st-century tribal members from Pawnee, Okla., for work at the Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site. One of their goals: Help researchers from KU, K-State and the Kansas State Historical Society pinpoint more precisely the dates the historic Pawnee occupied the site. “Kansas has very few sites from this time period,” said Mary Adair, principal investigator and associate curator at KU’s Archeology Research Center. “This one

could provide pivotal information on a rapidly changing way of life.” A general fund for KU archeological collections — supported by gifts from many donors — has helped cover travel and lodging costs for students and faculty involved in the project. — Kirsten Bosnak Visit kuendowment.org/pawnee/ for photos of the dig site and links to media coverage, or to support KU’s work on the project. Or contact Dale Slusser, 785-832-7458 or dslusser@ kuendowment.org. kuendowment.org

STEVE PUPPE

ACROSS KU

Pond full of dreams Built in 1911 as a reservoir for fire control, Potter Lake has meant much more than that to generations of students. Once the place to be for swimming, boat races and log rolling, it’s still a favored spot for a quick nap, a game of Frisbee or an afternoon of study. This spring, a group of students came forward with concerns about the health of the beloved pond, which catches runoff from surrounding campus areas. After reading about the students in Kansas Alumni magazine, alumni Pat and Brenda Oenbring of Houston decided to help. They made a gift of $11,000 in stock to assist the Potter Lake Project

Group, which recently determined that the pond is 13 feet deep — close to its original depth — and in basically good health. The Oenbrings’ gift allows for continued testing to monitor water quality and sedimentation, and for enhanced maintenance. “Potter Lake is a small pond full of wishes, hopes and dreams,” Brenda Oenbring said. “It’s so many things to so many people: a quiet oasis, a place to enjoy a little sun, a landmark, a reminder of what we all want to hold onto — friendship, beauty, nature, tranquility, hope and a place to have fun.” — Sarah Aylward

One great year

KU UNIVERSITY RELATIONS

Sure, KU won the NCAA men’s basketball championship this past year. Oh, and the Orange Bowl. But our sports teams weren’t the only winners in 2007-2008. Our debate team, special education department and city management program all ranked first nationally. We had the highest percentage of pharmacy faculty earning NIH

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research grants. We’re number one in placing our medical graduates in family medicine residencies. And so on … In an ad series — and on its website — KU lists many more winners and Points of Distinction. Find it at www.distinction.ku.edu. In many cases, donors helped make it happen. Be proud. — Kirsten Bosnak

Gift of class

KU University Relations

This fall, Jayhawks heading into the KU Student Recreation and Fitness Center for a workout will find a beautiful new insignia outside the entrance. The inlay, the gift of the Class of 2008, received funding through T-shirt sales and donations from graduating seniors. KU’s Board of Class Officers chose from several designs and settled on the cement inlay featuring the KU logo. New grads may visit their class legacy as early as this fall. — Sarah Aylward

Just after Hurricane Katrina, Carol Smith, a registered nurse from Peabody, Kan., wondered what she’d need if such a disaster hit her hospital. The answer was as simple as it was obvious: scrubs. So Smith, who was home recovering from thyroid surgery, started making calls, writing letters and sending emails. When a company offered to send a flat of scrubs to a Gulf Coast hospital, Smith used it as leverage in calls to other manufacturers: “Will you match it?” When hospitals reported that workers were showing up in flipflops and sandals, Smith got shoes donated. She cajoled 3M into sending stethoscopes and found a semi-trailer’s worth of donated medical supplies waiting for someone to take them. Smith, whose support team consists of “just me,” estimates she’s helped more than 25 Gulf Coast hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and home health services. For her good works, she was named one of 10 recipients of the KU School of Nursing’s Heart of Healthcare Award in 2006.

For nearly 20 years, the award has recognized the work of nurses from Kansas or the Kansas City area. Smith was among the first to benefit from a gift by Gene Feaster, a KU alumnus and retired KU Medical Center radiation physicist from Overland Park, Kan. He made a gift to KU Endowment that added a $1,000 honorarium for all 10 recipients for five years. “I wasn’t too familiar with nursing until I got to be an old man and was on the receiving end of their profession,” Feaster said. Not surprisingly, Smith used her cash prize to visit some of the hospitals

JOHN JORDAN

Scrubs and more

she’d helped. During personal tours and between hugs, she got to see her efforts in action. Although she’s no longer soliciting donations for Katrina-affected hospitals, Smith hasn’t closed her operation. When a tornado destroyed an Americus, Ga., hospital last year, she was back on the phone: “Will you match it?” — Joel Francis kuendowment.org

WHY I GAVE

Zora Milne, Thomas and pel, 1954 ha Danforth C Miles and Katie McCune with daughter Geor gia Anne

Walter Fahrer

in the 1950 s

Study in Germany Donors: Norm Fahrer, chemistry and German languages and literature ’68, and Mary Fahrer, Glen Allen, Va. Mr. Fahrer passed away in June. Gift: $150,000 Purpose: To create the Dr. Walter Fahrer Scholarship for students who participate in KU’s German Summer Language Institute in Holzkirchen. The scholarship honors Norm Fahrer’s father, who was born in a village in Germany’s Black Forest region. He completed four years of grammar school and at age 10 was apprenticed to a furniture maker. He emigrated to the U.S. as a young man, taught himself English, went to college and later taught at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., where he also served as vice president. Walter Fahrer died of cancer when his son, Norm, was in his teens. Why I Gave: “It is my sincere hope that future students will take some inspiration from the struggles and life experiences of both my father and me in overcoming humble beginnings to achieve success and happiness in life. While financial and professional achievements and recognition are important, the personal happiness that we both found in our love of languages is the best gift that we both could ever hope to pass on to future generations.” — Norm Fahrer

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Multicultural Business Scholars Donors: Katie Rodgers McCune, business administration ’01, and Miles McCune, general studies, ’02, Leawood; and Katie McCune’s parents, Richard and Indra Rodgers, Tulsa. Gift: $6,755, including matches from the Bank of America Foundation through Katie McCune’s employment at Bank of America. Purpose: For KU’s Multicultural Business Scholars Program, in which Katie participated as a student. The program provides scholarship support, faculty mentoring, group meetings with business executives and opportunities for internships, jobs and study abroad. As an alumna, Katie continues to benefit professionally through networking opportunities with the program’s alumni group. Why I Gave: “The scholarship support is helpful, but the benefit of the program far exceeds that. There are faculty mentors who have a vested interest in keeping you on track, who help you choose your courses and prepare for exams. One of the things that Renate Mai-Dalton, the program’s director when I was in school, emphasized was that somebody had invested in us and that as alumni it’s our duty to invest in future generations.” — Katie Rodgers McCune

Women doctoral chemistry majors Donors: Thomas Milne, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ’50, Ph.D. in chemistry ’55, and Zora Milne, master’s in special education ’73, Evergreen, Colo. Donors also include their children and spouses: Julie Milne Esstman, social work ’79, and Mike Esstman, Irving, Texas; Janie Milne Snider, business ’77, and Jack Snider, Cypress, Texas; and Charles and Beverly Milne, Golden, Colo. Gift: A $30,000 scholarship fund in honor of Thomas Milne’s 80th birthday. Purpose: The Thomas A. Milne Endowed Chemistry Scholarship will provide support for women doctoral students in chemistry. Why I Gave: “I hope the scholarship will support future women scientists who will lead research in renewable energy. Much of my scientific career was devoted to developing new and improving old methods of biomass conversion. This is a process that transforms plant matter and other materials into solid, liquid or gas fuels to produce electric power, heat and motor fuels. Renewable energy will help ease global warming. It will be one of the leading sources for the world’s energy as supplies of oil, coal and natural gas start running out in this century — and they will.” — Thomas Milne “This is a way of honoring our father’s commitment to the sciences, his lifetime of work, and his love for KU and the education he obtained there.” — Julie Milne Esstman

Richard Angele

tti and William

Dann

Piano scholarships

David Block

Diabetes research Donor: David Block for the Emilie Rosebud Diabetes Research Foundation, Kansas City, Mo.

Donor: William Dann, Lawrence Gift: $30,000

Purpose: To establish the Great Plains Diabetes Institute Research Fund for pilot grants to local diabetes researchers. The diabetes institute, led by KU Medical Center faculty, is a collaboration among KU, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, St. Luke’s Hospital and the Via Christi Health System.

Purpose: To create the Richard Angeletti Piano Scholarship. Dann, who studied music at KU in the 1960s, established the scholarship in honor of Richard Angeletti, professor emeritus of piano. Angeletti started KU’s artist-in-residence program, which lasted for 22 years and brought world-famous pianists to campus to teach and perform. He performed hundreds of recitals across the country, accompanied artists through Columbia Artists Management and taught at KU’s summer Midwestern Music Camps. In the 1970s, Angeletti was named an Outstanding Educator of America.

Why I Gave: “This gift gives the institute a great opportunity to further its work fighting a disease that affects us all in one way or another. The matching component gives the rest of the community an opportunity to be involved.” — David Block

Why I Gave: “I wanted to both honor Professor Angeletti and help piano students who are in need of scholarship assistance. You can be a great performer but not necessarily a good teacher — Richard Angeletti is both.” — William Dann

Gift: $50,000 for the Great Plains Diabetes Institute, plus a challenge gift that would match, dollar for dollar, the next $50,000 for research at the institute.

online GIFTS March-June 2008 Total giving: $104,495 Average monthly giving: $ 26,124 Average number of donors/month: 849 Average gift amount: $ 123 Largest gift: $ 2,300* * Watkins Scholarship Hall bench

Total online giving for 2008 fiscal year (ended June 30):

Jaculin Aaron

ONLINE DONOR

Greater KU Fund Donor: Jaculin Aaron, J.D. ’84, New York Gift: $138, her winnings from choosing KU in an office pool to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Purpose: The Greater KU Fund, which provides flexible support so the university can meet urgent needs and take advantage of unexpected opportunities. Why I Gave: “A guy in our litigation department here at Shearman & Sterling organizes this pool every year. He’s actually a Dukie, which I give him trouble about. I have done this pool for more than 20 years. Every year I pick KU to win, and every year people laugh at me. The only year I didn’t play was 1988, because I was moving between offices. This year there were 50 or so entries, and three had KU picked to win. I came in second because someone else also had Memphis in second place. They’re not laughing at me this year. “I thought I would send the money to KU because it was found money; I didn’t earn it. I gave to the Greater KU Fund because I thought the people there would know the best use of the money.” Why I Gave Online: “I had an urgent need to give to KU!” — Jaculin Aaron

1,712 gifts totaling $441,926 kuendowment.org

WHY I GAVE

FEATURED GIFTS

A gift for life

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Dr. Carol Fabian meets with a patient in the Breast Cancer Prevention Center at The University of Kansas Hospital’s Cancer Center and Medical Pavilion. Fabian heads the Cancer Prevention and Survivorship Research Program.

Foundation gift fulfills that goal. The Kansas Masonic Foundation was established in 1966 to expand Masonic philanthropy in the fields of charitable, educational and scientific programs. They chose the fight against cancer as their top priority because of the toll that it takes on individuals, families and society as a whole.

Why I Gave: “We are happy that our contribution will support and continue to build the outstanding breast cancer prevention programs that Dr. Carol Fabian has pioneered at KU. It is our family’s hope that this gift will make a significant contribution to the goal of more effectively preventing and treating cancer.” — Bette Morris

ELISSA MONROE

Nearly 187,000 women in the U.S. — and more than 1,800 men — were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same year, nearly 41,000 women died from breast cancer, the sixth-leading cause of death in women. With statistics like this, many people are concerned about prevention. A new KU Medical Center professorship will help, providing support for a physician scientist specializing in breast cancer prevention. A $2 million gift for the University of Kansas Cancer Center from the Morris Family Foundation has created the Mark and Bette Morris Family Chair in Cancer Prevention. Bette Morris, Topeka, made the gift in honor of her late husband, veterinarian Mark Morris Jr. Her husband was passionate about helping the KU Cancer Center become a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center because he knew it would bring the most advanced cancer treatment to the community, Morris said. The chair is the sixth endowed professorship created at KU through the work of the Kansas Masonic Foundation. In 2003, the foundation pledged $15 million, via the Partnership for Life campaign, to help KU fight cancer. The Morris

MARK MCDONALD

$2 million gift supports breast cancer prevention

Left to right: Darlia Morris, David Morris, Bette Morris, Dr. Roy Jensen, Julie Morris and Mark Morris

STEVE PUPPE

The new Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center, on the north side of the Kansas Union, has its own entrance off Jayhawk Boulevard.

FEATURED GIFTS

New multicultural center expands student services A new landmark has opened on Mount Oread: the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center, whose mission is to recognize and celebrate diversity at KU. The center’s new 7,000-square-foot building offers expanded resources for students from diverse backgrounds, including study areas, classrooms, a library and computer lab, and gathering areas. It provides updated technology, more programming space for student organizations and more academic resources. The new building was funded by a $1 million gift from the Sabatini Family Foundation, Topeka, and student fees approved by Student Senate. Stephanie Gomez, human biology ’08, was president of HALO, the Hispanic American leadership group, her senior year. She toured the new facility at its dedication in April. “This center shows that the university really

does support multicultural students,” she said. The center dates back to 1995, when KU created the Multicultural Resource Center. It was housed in a renovated military annex near Summerfield Hall. Plans for the new building began in spring 2001 when thenStudent Body President Jonathan Ng, journalism ’03, pushed for construction. Two years later, KU agreed to move forward. Santos Núñez is the center’s program director.  The Sabatini family includes Frank C. Sabatini, business ’55 and law ’57. A former state representative and member of the Kansas Board of Regents, he is chairman emeritus of Capital City Bank in Topeka, where he lives with his wife, Judith Sabatini. The four sons in the Sabatini family are Marc, Matt, Michael, architecture ’82, and Dan, architecture ’86. Frank Sabatini’s sister, Nella Dinolfo, of Dimondale, Mich., was among family members attending the dedication.

Judith Sabatini, Nella Dinolfo an d Frank Sabatini

LISA SCH ELLER

Diverse Jayhawks

Why I Gave: “We are pleased to be able to give back to KU and help provide an educational environment that recognizes and establishes a place for the diverse student makeup on campus. It also gives me the opportunity to honor my parents by dedicating the center to them. Lisetta and Carmine Sabatini immigrated to Chicago from Italy and were proud to become Americans.” — Frank Sabatini

kuendowment.org

t’s Tuesday morning in an eighth-grade biology classroom at Central Junior High in Lawrence. Larry Hollingsworth, a visiting KU junior from Oskaloosa, Kan., has brought a small menagerie for a lesson on vertebrate and invertebrate classification. There’s a lizard from his garage, a tree frog from his backyard, a chicken from his family’s flock, a neighbor’s pet boa constrictor, a slug, a crayfish and the microscopic organisms in a patch of moss.

Who can inspire your kids and grandkids to love science and math? These new teachers think they can. by Kirsten Bosnak Photographs by Steve Puppe Illustrations by Lora Jost

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Hollingsworth, a 32-year-old nontraditional student, father of five, former Boy Scout camp counselor and U.S. Air Force staff sergeant — and animal lover — knows there’s nothing like seeing the real thing. “I want to get their hands a little dirty,” he said. “I could put pictures and text in front of the students all day, but it’s not the same.” Hollingsworth is here through UKanTeach, a new teacher licensure program funded with donor support. Its goal: Double the number of math and science teachers graduating annually from KU by 2011. After years in the Air Force and the corporate world, Larry Hollingsworth realized he wanted to do what he loved, teaching: “To get students involved and engaged in science, I bring in my feelings and thoughts about the subject. I want to show them the real world.”

kuendowment.org

In the first UKanTeach classes, Sami Foulk and other participants work with elementary school students. Later, they teach in junior high and high school classrooms.

“UKan 1 was the class I was excited to go to and worked the hardest on. I’ve already recruited others to the program.” — Sami Foulk

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FALL 2008

UKanTeach is modeled on UTeach,

a program that started at the University of Texas-Austin in 1997 and graduates 60 to 80 new teachers each year. KU’s program gained key funding last fall when it received a $2.4 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). KU was one of 14 universities, from among 52 applicants, that got a grant to replicate UTeach. Each university’s new program is a collaboration between its college of arts and sciences and its school of education. Formed in 2005, NMSI grew out of a widespread concern that U.S. students were falling behind in math and science. Its statistics say that just 33 percent of eighth graders and 18 percent of 12th

graders are proficient in those areas. Its strategy, to improve K-12 math and science education, is based on the belief that highly competent, engaged teachers will inspire more students to enter math- and science-based professions. In UKanTeach, the emphasis on math and science is obvious. Students don’t follow a traditional teacher education program; they earn degrees in biology, chemistry, geology, physics or math, plus a secondary teaching license — not an education degree. “We’re not limiting their options,” said Jan Lariviere, UKanTeach coordinator, a licensed master teacher who taught in the UTeach program in Austin for eight years. “The day they

finish, they can pursue many careers: med school, graduate school or teaching.” But the program is designed to find the students who really want to teach. They can start as early as the freshman year, and they enter the public school classroom in the very first course, UKan 1. “Right away, they can answer the question, ‘Do I like the way teaching feels?’” Lariviere said. If it doesn’t feel right, they can leave the program, and about half do after UKan 1. Taking the first course is a low commitment; it’s just one credit hour, and students get a mini-scholarship equal to tuition for it (and UKan 2). The mini-scholarship comes from a

KU Endowment fund created by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo. UKanTeach staff members think the incentive encourages more students to give teaching a chance and ultimately will help KU graduate more teachers. The course draws students like Sami Foulk, a Eudora, Kan., sophomore in chemistry. She’d thought about dentistry but had never considered teaching. In UKan 1, she learned a teaching technique one week, then walked into a classroom at Kennedy Elementary School and used it the following week. “Within two weeks of starting the program, I was already excited,” she said.

Math major Sam Martin, a sophomore from Wichita, uses a toad in a science lesson as part of his UKanTeach internship at Prairie Park Nature Center in Lawrence.

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Aunya Brown and her teaching partner designed experiments that would “get students out of their seats.”

“As teachers, we were there to guide the students’ thinking process, but they drew a lot of their own conclusions. I was amazed by all the things they already knew.” — Aunya Brown

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In UKan 1, participants ease into the classroom setting by working with third- through fifth-graders, teamteaching a few lessons during the semester with another UKanTeach student. Later they move to junior high and high school classrooms. They take the first two courses from Lariviere and other master teachers, each of whom has spent more than 20 years in the public school classroom. These teachers guide UKan students through lesson planning and classroom management strategies, then visit the classroom with them. “The master teachers make a huge difference,” Foulk said. Once during the semester, all her supplies for the next day’s lesson — baking soda, vinegar, sidewalk salt — were moved from a storage room at the school and nowhere to be found. Instead of canceling the classroom visit, Foulk’s master teacher, Brad Williamson, helped Foulk and her

teaching partner come up with another lesson. They scrambled to write a lesson plan and get new supplies, and the class went off without a hitch. It was a lesson in real life. “To our elementary students, we are these girls who show up and do fun things with chemicals,” Foulk said. “We tell them, ‘We are learning to be teachers.’”

These new teachers will be in

demand. School districts across the country not only must make up for lost ground in math and science education, they also face an overall teacher shortage. Often they must go looking for qualified teachers. “In Kansas, some districts have needed to hire math and science teachers from abroad on threeyear visas,” Lariviere said. The statistics for Kansas, from the state Department of Education, present

Biology major Steven Nguyen, sophomore from De Soto, felt the spark of teaching in his second UKanTeach class: “I remember one girl who finally raised her hand. We never thought she would — it just made my day.”

UKanTeach participants:

• Earn a degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences • Can major in biology, chemistry, geology, physics or math (more programs will be added later) • Earn a teaching license for grades six through 12 • Graduate in four years • Can begin the UKanTeach program in the freshmen, sophomore or junior year • Enter the public school classroom during the very first course • Are reimbursed for the first two classes in the program (in essence, they try the program — and teaching — for free) • Can hold internships paid through UKanTeach funding

Funding for UKanTeach a sobering picture: • 42 percent of new teachers leave the field within seven years; • 35 percent of teachers are currently eligible to retire; and • 25 percent fewer students are going into teaching. The UKanTeach staff hopes to play a part in changing those numbers. This fall, more than 60 students will take part in the program. Next spring, chemistry major Aunya Brown of Hutchinson will be one of the first participants to graduate and enter the classroom. “I’m hoping my passion for science will be contagious,” she said. The program seeks out people like Hollingsworth, Foulk and Brown, who teach because they love it. Even teachers at the top of the Kansas pay scale average less than $55,000, so the drive to teach must come from within.

Lariviere and the other master teachers want to give their students all the support they can now, so they become teachers and remain in the profession. Even after the students begin their first jobs, the master teachers will be on call. It’s part of the program. “These people are going to follow through with us,” Foulk said. “It’s great to know I can go somewhere and teach and still have people back at KU who I can turn to.”

HOW TO HELP To support UKanTeach students or help KU Endowment meet a $1 million challenge grant from the National Math and Science Initiative, contact Dale Slusser, dslusser@ kuendowment.org or 785-832-7458. Give online at kuendowment.org/ukan/. Find out more about UKanTeach at www.ukanteach.ku.edu/.

• Primary funding comes from a $2.4 million grant from National Math and Science Initiative, which includes: 1) $1.4 million, given over a four-year period, to fund operations through 2011; and 2) a $1 million challenge grant, the basis for a $2 million endowed fund for operations. • KU Endowment must raise $1 million by 2011 to meet the challenge grant. • A $100,000 gift from C.K. Rowland, KU professor emeritus of political science, was the first gift toward the $1 million challenge. It created the endowed fund for UKanTeach. • A fund established by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., provides mini-scholarships for the first two UKanTeach courses.

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A place called

Mount Oread KUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s KUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Campus Campus Heritage Heritage Plan Plan will will help help a a growing growing campus campus keep keep its its finest finest features. features.

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ifty years ago, elm trees lined most of Jayhawk Boulevard. Their branches arched smoothly over the street, forming a canopy that sheltered students from the sun. Those who remember those days say it was like walking in an outdoor cathedral. The elms ran from old Snow Hall on the east, near today’s Watson Library, to Marvin Hall on the west. Planted in 1925, they went in as part of a campus development plan by landscape architects Hare & Hare of Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis. As the elms grew, the boulevard continued to change, of course. Watson went up in 1932, when KU needed a bigger library. Old Snow was razed in 1934 because of structural problems. By the late 1950s, the elms had reached their full height. But, as many alumni remember with regret, they began to fall victim to Dutch elm disease in the 1960s. The story of the elms, their fate and the changing cityscape along Jayhawk Boulevard raises a fundamental question for campus planners and all who love Mount Oread: How do we preserve its beauty and showcase its defining features in the face of change? KU will always need up-to-date research labs and academic buildings, and trees don’t live forever.

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KU ARCHIVES

By the 1940s, the elm canopy provided plenty of shade, and the tradition of grand lawns and fairly consistent building setbacks along Jayhawk Boulevard had been established. In this view looking west, Hoch Auditorium and Marvin Hall are at left, with Strong Hall’s west wing and “new” Snow Hall at right.

steve puppe

EARL RICHARDSON

At the Class of 1943 recreation area, a little-known spot west of Potter Lake, students gathered for World War II-era dances and parties. New parking areas west of the stadium create the chance to restore the dance pavilion and build ADA-accessible sidewalks to the site for game-day tailgating.

Well-positioned in the center of campus and boasting a beautiful stone exterior, Bailey Hall has great potential but likely will need an expansion.

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Enter the Campus Heritage Plan. Developed over the past two years, it’s a comprehensive history of the physical campus: built features as well as plantings. The 500-page report is thorough, but it doesn’t present a long list of “dos and don’ts,” and it doesn’t suggest KU freeze the campus in time. Rather, it offers clearly defined recommendations for stewardship as the university’s needs evolve. The process for creating the plan was funded by a $130,000 gift to KU Endowment from the Getty Foundation of Los Angeles. It’s one of 86 Campus Heritage Grants to historic campuses around the country since 2002. “This plan gives us a tool for considering the consequences of change and for making informed decisions,” said Peg Livingood of KU Design and Construction Management and project manager for the heritage plan.

What makes Mount Oread special?

steve puppe

An architectural gem with a flexible interior space, Spooner Hall has changed roles several times since its construction as KU’s first library in 1894.

1856-1901

• Planting of Marvin Grove • Siting of McCook Field (near today’s Memorial Stadium) as a sports venue • Paired placement of Dyche and Spooner Halls, framing a campus gateway • Use of red tile roofs, stone retaining walls and iron fencing • Focus on the pedestrian campus

1902-1928

• Identification of Jayhawk Boulevard, which follows the Mount Oread ridge, as the center of campus • Creation of open parklands, grand lawns and consistent building setbacks along streets • Use of local stone for campus buildings • Construction of Potter Lake

1929-1957

earl richardson

Consider, for example, Bailey Hall, a Collegiate Gothic-style structure of Mount Oread limestone. Built in 1900 for KU’s growing chemistry program, it was one of the first two buildings placed along the hilltop route that would become Jayhawk Boulevard (the other is Lippincott Hall, built in 1904 just east of Bailey). Bailey’s siting helped establish two features of the presentday boulevard: the consistent setback of buildings from the street and the alternating rhythm of buildings and landscaped spaces, which offer views to the horizon. Bailey Hall likely will need an expansion within the next 10 years. The heritage plan recommends that the historic landscaped area between Bailey and Lippincott halls be maintained and that the side yard between Bailey and Strong Hall, to the west, be retained as a pedestrian corridor. The plan recommends that any expansion to Bailey be made at the back, but it doesn’t make design suggestions. Emphasis on the landscape, such as the spaces near Bailey Hall, is a key component of the heritage plan. A survey of campus plantings included in the plan shows that Mount Oread reached its landscape apex with the maturation of the now-lost elm canopy.

EARL RICHARDSON

After the stunning loss of Hoch Auditorium to a lightning strike in 1991, KU saved the façade and built Budig Hall behind it with state funds. The new exterior respects Hoch’s architecture without imitating it. Outside, the Eleanor Malott garden and other landscaped areas reinforce KU’s commitment to beauty.

The Campus Heritage Plan explores three key periods of development, when the defining features of the Lawrence campus — a few of them noted below — came about.

With private funds, KU saved the stone façade of KU’s historic power plant and built a perfectly sited, expanded Hall Center for the Humanities inside.

• Construction of Memorial Drive, with views into established green space, and the World War II Memorial Campanile • Planting of crabapples, redbuds and other ornamentals throughout campus • Maturity of the elm canopy • Construction of Allen Fieldhouse

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KU ARCHIVES

The future canopy, planted next to the street in the 1920s, lines Jayhawk Boulevard as it curves in front of Old Snow Hall (at left) toward the west. One small young elm is visible directly in front of the car in the foreground. Campus planners hope to bring back the canopy with a mix of trees.

But KU could lose other signature plantings, too. The spring-blooming crabapples and redbuds — many of them planted in the 1940s in a widescale effort led by Eleanor Malott, wife of Chancellor Deane Malott — are reaching the end of their natural lives. Nor can we take for granted the walnut trees of Marvin Grove, originally planted in the 1870s, or the lilacs of Lilac Lane. “We can’t rely on the landscape investments of previous generations,” Livingood said. “The saying goes, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The second-best time is now.’”

Steering committee members for the heritage plan believe KU could bring back the boulevard canopy with a mix of new, disease-resistant trees. They imagine a growing hilltop campus that maintains its spectacular views to the horizon. They ask that historic features be held in high priority as KU considers the design and placement of new buildings — and as it seeks new ways that cherished places can serve students and faculty. A university campus is dynamic, in a state of continuous creation. With

broad support, the distinctive features of Mount Oread’s first hundred years will inspire the great-grandchildren of today’s students, even as KU meets needs we can’t even imagine.

CONTACT US Opportunities for supporting the stewardship of Mount Oread’s assets range widely. Priority projects are listed at right. To discuss ways to help, contact Dale Slusser, 785-832-7458 or dslusser@ kuendowment.org.

“This plan gives us a tool for considering the consequences of change and for making DOUG BARTH

informed decisions.” – Peg Livingood, project manager, Campus Heritage Plan Meticulously restored and expanded through private funds, Danforth Chapel now serves its purposes better than ever.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP There are many ways donors can help keep Mount Oread at its best. KU Endowment will work with individual donors to develop recognition appropriate to the types of projects they wish to support, such as landscape enhancements, restoration and improvement of existing structures, and future facilities.

The Campus Heritage Plan identifies the following as priority projects. Renew Jayhawk Boulevard

•R eplant street trees to recreate the mid-20th-century arched canopy over the boulevard. The canopy will be a mix of species to guard against its loss to disease (the former elm canopy was lost because it was composed of a single species). •R enovate and restore the lawns and foundation plantings along the boulevard. Restore historic buildings

•C reate Historic Structure Reports, in accordance with U.S. Department of the Interior guidelines, for historically significant campus buildings. • S pooner Hall is the highest priority; others include Dyche, Lippincott, Bailey and Strong halls. All are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. • S ecure funding for restoration or adaptive reuse and maintenance plans for these buildings. Preserve Potter Lake and Marvin Grove

•R enovate and maintain these prized landscape areas. (With help from donors, the Potter Lake project is under way; see story on page 4.)

Once an overgrown ravine, Marvin Grove is believed to be one legacy of KU’s first campus landscape effort, organized in the 1870s by Chancellor James Marvin.

• Improve adjacent infrastructure.

STEVE PUPPE

• I nterplant Marvin Grove, predominantly walnut trees, with other species to guard against its loss to disease.

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greater ku fund

Small world KU students and faculty make friends everywhere It’s 7,000 miles from Lawrence to China’s Northwest University in Xi’an. But Northwest is a second home to John Kennedy, a KU assistant political science professor. An expert in Chinese politics and rural China, he’s worked for 14 years to develop research programs with colleagues at Northwest and in the rural Shaanxi Province. Northwest is one of 130 universities worldwide that hold formal exchanges and agreements with KU. The exchanges date back to 1949, when KU began a partnership with Zürich’s Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. Many exchanges are general academic partnerships. Others were created for specific fields such as architecture, social welfare or health care. The Greater KU Fund gives key support for the exchanges, with $110,000 set aside for the 2008-09 academic year. Of that, $60,000 is earmarked for developing programs in China, India and Korea. As the world’s economy

shifts toward Asia, KU has stepped up efforts to link with more universities there. Most recently, administrators shook hands with Peking University in Beijing, which expressed interest in KU’s drug discovery and delivery programs. Several Indian universities have expressed interest in partnering with KU in pharmacy, medicine and cancer research. In Xi’an, future KU and Chinese students will work together, researching land management, environmental protection and the development of small rural industries. Kennedy said the program in Xi’an isn’t a study abroad program to learn languages: “I tell my students to think of this as an opportunity to actually gain access to a culture and country that they never would have had if it weren’t for KU.” — Lisa Scheller

GREATER KU FUND Through your gift of $1,000 or more to the Greater KU Fund, you will be recognized as a member of the Chancellors Club. Give online at kuendowment. org/greaterku/.

Exchanges by continent Europe Asia Australia North America South America Africa

60 51 8 5 5 1

TOTAL

130

New exchanges in 2008 People’s Republic of China Peking University, Beijing School of Business Sun Yat-Sen, Guangzhou University of International Business and Economics, Beijing Denmark University of Copenhagen England University of Leeds Ireland Dublin City University Japan Meiji University, Tokyo Korea Kookmin University, Seoul Seoul University Netherlands University of Radboud, Nijmegen Poland The Technical University of Lodz

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Russia The Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok Venezuela University of Zulia

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I AM KU

Julio Mata Jr. Sophomore in pre-business

What experiences led you to KU?

Where I grew up, everybody knew everybody. I had friends throughout the neighborhood. They said, “You’re going to be the one who will go to college.” My parents encouraged me to go to college. They wanted me and my three little brothers to have a better start in life than they did. My brothers look up to me. They ask me what my classes are like and what they need to do to succeed in college. I tell them it’s all about managing your time. If you get everything done, then you can watch TV. What was your first impression of KU?

I came here on a school day to talk to a financial adviser. Jayhawk Boulevard was busy, like a city, and I liked that. There’s a great atmosphere here — everyone is into everything. Sports turned out to be terrific too, with a basketball championship and an Orange Bowl victory. You couldn’t ask for a better first year at college as far as that goes. Tell us about winning Bizfest.

Bizfest is the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s workshop and competition for 17- to 25-yearolds. At regionals, I didn’t have any idea what type of business to write a plan for. At the end of the day I had a blank sheet of paper. Finally, the instructor opened the yellow pages and the first thing we saw was an ad for a tanning salon. I started writing my plan at midnight and presented it the next morning. I think it helped that I knew nothing about tanning parlors, so I had to do my research. Consequently, I was able to answer all the judges’ questions.

How does KU’s Multicultural Business Scholars Program help you?

It helps me in so many ways. I meet several times a month with Bob Augelli, our faculty advisor. He has the syllabi from my classes, and he knows what I have to do to get good grades. He’ll say, “How did this test go? What could you do to have done better?” It’s a matter of helping me do my best. He’s also interested in my life outside of school. As a group, we participate in monthly meetings with business executives who talk about professional opportunities and internships, and we attend cultural events. The program’s scholarship support also helps me financially. What are your secrets for success?

You have to listen. It’s one thing to be able to do things and tell people how to do things, but it’s another to be able to listen and learn from others how to do things. Listen to their criticism, take someone’s advice openly because it might come together later on. Open up and learn every day. — Lisa Scheller WHERE TO GIVE Give online to the Multicultural Business Scholars Program at kuendowment.org/ msp/. Specify that your gift is for the program. Or contact Kacy Schmidt at 785-832-7421 or kschmidt@ kuendowment.org.

MARK MCDONALD

Mata, a first-generation college student from Kansas City, Kan., chose KU because it was away from home yet close enough that he could see his family often. Once he arrived, opportunities came quickly. As a freshman, he won Bizfest, a national competition, for his business plan for a bilingual tanning salon. He also was selected for the Multicultural Business Scholars Program, a mentoring program supported through KU Endowment.

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iStockPHOTO.COM/mentalart

ways of giving

Size matters According to current law, estates worth up to these amounts will be exempt from federal estate tax: 2008 $2 million 2009 $3.5 million 2010 full exemption: no tax 2011 $1 million 2012 $1 million Assets held in these plans can pass to KU Endowment tax-free: IRAs; 401(k) plans; 403(b) plans; profit-sharing plans; Keogh (HR 10) plans for the self-employed.

The best way to slice it Make the most of your retirement assets Consider: An IRA worth $1 million that is passed to heirs may be reduced to less than $360,000 before it reaches them. But that same IRA, passed to KU Endowment, will be worth … $1 million. In effect, an extra $640,000 stays on the plate to do some good: to support scholarships, research or any favorite program. Retirement account funds passing to heirs may be sliced up by double

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taxation. They’re cut by the income tax that was deferred when the funds were deposited — that’s unavoidable — and by the deep bite of estate tax, if it applies. In contrast, retirement account funds bequeathed to a qualified public charity such as KU Endowment incur no estate or income tax liability. None, zip, nada. The most efficient way to serve up retirement plan assets to KU is to name The Kansas University Endowment Association (our legal name) on the plan document as a designated beneficiary of all or a percentage of the assets.

The plan administrator can provide necessary forms, and changing the designation is easy. With a signature, donors can shield the pie from the tax knife — and virtually triple the effect of their giving. — Charles Higginson

FIND OUT MORE For more information, call Jack Schwartz at 800-4444201 or visit kuendowment.org/ giftplanning/.

AMONG FRIENDS

Spring and summer 2008 events 1 More than 100 people attended

Crush Paralysis on June 21. The annual gourmet dinner and silent auction benefits KU Endowment’s Palermo Fund for spinal cord research. Dr. Brian Williams of Kansas City, Mo., hosted the event at his loft.

Shirley Hyde, both nursing ’48, greet an old friend at KU Endowment’s annual Elizabeth M. Watkins Society luncheon. This year’s event was held April 18 at the Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center at KU Medical Center. The luncheon honors donors who have provided for KU through their estate plans.

SELENA JABARA

2 Sisters Beverly Hyde, left, and

3 The inaugural “All in for a Cure …

near Carmel, Calif., Bruce Mitchell (left) and Adrienne Mitchell (right), chemistry ’48, visit with Maribeth Portz, business administration ’95. Rick and Karen Hargrove, both 1983 KU graduates, hosted the gathering at their home in the Santa Lucia Preserve. The event celebrated KU’s academic and athletic successes during the past year.

SHOTBEE

4 At a June 28 alumni get-together

LISA SCHELLER

The Brady Stanton Memorial Texas Hold ’Em Tourney and Bash,” raised more than $150,000 for the KU Cancer Center. The Feb. 9 family event in Kansas City, Mo., honored the memory of Brady Duncan Stanton, a former KU student body president and entrepreneur who passed away in 2006 from pancreatic cancer at age 40. Stanton loved to play poker with friends. The tournament established a tissue and serum bank for pancreatic cancer research.

NATHAN HAM

chancellor for KU Medical Center, visits with Dr. Walter Menninger at a May 28 reception hosted by the KU Endowment Executive Committee at the Topeka Country Club.

RICH KALER

5 Dr. Barbara Atkinson, executive vice

5 kuendowment.org

ku voices

Special ed seeks lives of dignity for all KU’s Department of Special Education had a lot to celebrate this past year: its 50th anniversary and a number-one national ranking among all special education graduate programs, including public and private universities.

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STEVE PUPPE

ome with me to the fifth floor of Joseph R. Pearson Hall on a typical day, and you’ll meet Becky Saathoff — scanning, copying or shredding documents, delivering mail and recycling. Becky works primarily for our department’s Transition Coalition, nationally known for its training and services to support the transition needs of adolescents and young adults with disabilities. Becky has a superb work ethic, an infectious smile, a winning attitude and cognitive disability. She also participates in community functions, recreation programs and volunteer efforts. Becky enjoys earning and spending her own money — especially on shoes in her favorite color (that would be green) and participating in various Special Olympics sports (she’s a silver medalist in swimming). She lives with her parents but dreams of the day she’ll be ready for her own apartment. To prepare, she works regularly with coaches who help her hone her vocational and independent living skills. Less than 40 years ago, Becky’s life would have been very different. Vocational education and community support programs for adolescents and adults with disabilities were almost nonexistent. After leaving public school, most of these adults lived isolated lives at home or in institutions — with little to do and few opportunities to learn and grow.

Thanks to the ongoing advocacy efforts of countless parents, researchers, teachers and other concerned citizens, services have improved dramatically. Many changes that help adults with disabilities lead productive, satisfying lives have been influenced by the groundbreaking research of our department faculty. As far back as the 1950s, Dick Schiefelbusch worked with Kansas colleagues to develop instructional methods that showed students with disabilities could learn. Donors have made a huge difference in our ability to prepare the next generation of special education teachers, teacher educators, disability researchers and administrative leaders. With gifts from friends who share our commitment, we achieve goals that ensure better academic, social and vocational learning opportunities. For example, KU’s Beach Center on Disability was created through a gift from Marianna and Ross Beach. This family-focused center provides online support for people with disabilities,

their families and professionals around the world. A recently endowed professorship, established by Del and Barbara Williamson, will support the ongoing research of a nationally renowned special education faculty member. Scholarship funds, like one launched last spring established in memory of Prof. Gordon Alley, help our top graduate students do their best work. Every check or online gift from donors like you enables us to create new learning opportunities that help people everywhere. There are more Beckys out there. Help us reach them.

Chriss Walther-Thomas, Chair KU Department of Special Education SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT Contact Chuck Cordt, 785-832-7464 or ccordt@ kuendowment.org. Give online at kuendowment.org/education/. Learn more about the department at http://soe.ku.edu/sped/.

PAST AND PRESENT

McCook Field in 1891.

Kivisto alumni families, along with many other donors, added a new home for the Orange Bowl-winning football program, including offices, training facilities, practice fields and more at the sides of the Hill. Eventually, the McCook Field land was given to the state, after all: to KU, that is. In 1987, KU Endowment

transferred the last remnant of the site — a parking area east of Memorial Stadium — to the university. — Kirsten Bosnak See more stadium photos, from its beginnings to today, at kuendowment. org/stadium/.

STEVE PUPPE

Our evolving stadium — and KU Endowment — got their start in 1891, when KU students were clamoring for an athletics field. Former Kansas governor Charles Robinson and alumnus John McCook of New York were ready to help with land and cash for the field. To accept their gifts, 13 alumni and friends formed KU Endowment as a private organization. Had the donations been made directly to KU, they could have gone into state coffers: and no athletics field. McCook Field’s wooden bleachers saw rough-and-tumble battles until 1921. The bleachers were razed in one day to make way for the new stadium, built as part of a $1 million drive to fund it and Kansas Union as World War I memorials. Through the years, donors have helped expand the stadium, making it better for football, the KU Relays, graduation and other events. Most recently, gifts from the Anderson and

KU ARCHIVES

The gridiron

kuendowment.org

“Good things happen only when people get behind them.”

— Janet Hyndman

Henry Hyndman’s father, grandfather and daughter graduated from the KU Medical Center, and his wife, Janet, earned a bachelor’s in nursing from KU. He now has Parkinson’s disease, but his long-term treatment at the Medical Center has improved the Hyndmans’ lives. Recently, they revised their estate plans. They established a bequest to KU Endowment that will support research in Parkinson’s disease at the Medical Center.

Be the Difference for KU. Include KU Endowment in your estate plans. For more information: contact Jack Schwartz at 1-800-444-4201 or visit www.kuendowment.org/bequests

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Lawrence, Kansas Permit No. 72 P.O. BOX 928 LAWRENCE, KS 66044-0928 www.kuendowment.org