News Releases
11/11/05
A retired journalist and marketing executive who grew up in Ottawa, Kan., has established a substantial scholarship fund for University of Kansas journalism students.
Deerfield, Ill., resident John P. Kaiser, a 1951 journalism alumnus, has created the John P. Kaiser Journalism Scholarship Fund at KU Endowment. The fund will provide renewable financial support for all tuition, fees, books, supplies and university housing for one incoming student. The fund will also support at least three other journalism scholarships annually for a minimum of half of tuition and fees. All recipients will be graduates of Kansas high schools, with a preference for students from Kaiser’s hometown of Ottawa, Kan.
“Scholarships are critical in our efforts to attract promising students to the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications,” said Ann Brill, journalism dean. “We will be proud to honor John Kaiser with these scholarships.”
After one year at Ottawa University, Kaiser followed in the footsteps of his father and other family members and attended KU. Following graduation, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1951 until 1954 as a journalist first class. Kaiser, who married Mary K. Simpson of Fairmont, W.Va., in 1955, later worked as a promotion manager for Capper Publications in Topeka, Kan. He moved to Chicago and went on to became vice-president of marketing for the magazine division of Dun & Bradstreet. He retired in 1986.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate and I wanted to give back to KU,” Kaiser said. “I think this gift will help the school by giving more Kansas students opportunities in journalism.”
KU Endowment is an independent, non-profit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university and one of the largest.
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