News Releases
7/11/06
Before the KU School of Business can attract the top students, the school must have the means to encourage the best business teachers and researchers, said Stanley Porter, business ’41. That’s why Porter, a retired partner of Ernst & Young, recently committed a total of $500,000 for funds for KU business faculty members.
“The quality of the professors is equally important to the quality of the students,” Porter said. “Without outstanding professors, you can’t attract outstanding students.”
Porter’s gift includes an outright contribution of $100,000 to KU Endowment that will create an endowed faculty development fund. Porter also committed a gift of $400,000 through a bequest that someday will be added to his $100,000 gift, ultimately establishing the Stanley P. Porter Professorship.
“Stan Porter’s support for the school is exactly what we need to help faculty enhance the experience they offer students in and outside the classroom,” said Bill Fuerst, dean of the school. “Moreover, his bequest will help the school attract and retain an outstanding faculty member, adding to the quality of education available at the KU School of Business.”
Fuerst said the professional development fund will help faculty fund business field trips or new software for students, and it will support opportunities for faculty to learn the latest teaching methods and research at professional development conferences.
Porter, a veteran of World War II, began working at Arthur Young in 1946 as a junior accountant. He worked for the company in offices in Kansas City, Dallas and Tulsa, retiring as vice chairman of Ernst & Young in 1980. An authority on petroleum accounting, Porter authored two textbooks on the subject. He lectured extensively on petroleum industry matters and served as an expert witness before U.S. government committees and regulatory institutions.
Porter served on the KU Endowment Board of Trustees for more than three decades and is now a trustee emeritus. A longtime volunteer fundraiser, he helped initiate Ernst & Young’s first professorship at KU.
He and his wife of 62 years, Bruce Porter, live in Southern Pines, N.C. The couple has two sons, S. Scott Porter, accounting ’75 and master’s in business ’76, and Biggs C. Porter, a graduate of Duke University and the University of Texas.
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.
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