Top photo: Walter Fahrer
Lower photo: Mary and Norm Fahrer

 4/17/09

New scholarship provides study abroad support for German majors

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas alumnus has established a $150,000 scholarship fund for students who participate in KU’s language institute in Germany.

Norm Fahrer, who earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and German from KU in 1968, lives in Glen Allen, Va., with his wife, Mary. Fahrer participated in KU’s German Summer Language Institute in Holzkirchen, Germany, in 1965 and KU’s inaugural summer institute in Eutin, Germany, in 1966. He created the endowed fund to support the Dr. Walter Fahrer Scholarship Fund as a memorial to his father.

“I wanted to continue the passion for learning languages that both my father and I maintained throughout our lives,” said Fahrer, who is conversant in six languages. “The scholarship fund will make it possible for at least one KU student a year to enjoy the experience of living and learning in a German city during the course of their college studies.”

Norm Fahrer’s father was born in 1906 in a small village in the Black Forest region of Germany. He completed four years of grammar school, and at the age of 10 was apprenticed to a furniture maker. In 1927, to escape the poverty and instability of his native country, Walter Fahrer emigrated to the United States. He taught himself English and began taking college courses. He eventually earned a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate. He taught for many years at Bethany College in Lindsborg, where he also served as vice president.

While Norm Fahrer was in his teens, his father died from cancer. A few years later, while he was attending KU, his mother died from heart failure. Reflecting the challenges he faced in his youth, Fahrer expressed a preference that scholarship recipients be German majors who graduated from rural Kansas high schools.

“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,” Fahrer said. “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.”

William Keel, chair of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, said study abroad programs make a lasting impact on students’ lives.

“The scholarship Norm Fahrer established is a significant gesture of thanks for what his ability to study abroad meant to him and to his studying of German,” Keel said. “His scholarship will benefit generations of future students. With the cost of studying abroad increasing, it’s essential to have more scholarship support so that students can continue to go abroad, study and learn about different cultures and languages.”

Kellie Roy, Hays freshman, is the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Walter Fahrer Scholarship. She is seeking a double major in German and political science. She’s also a member of the women’s rowing team.

“The scholarship gives me an opportunity to study abroad that I never would have been able to afford otherwise,” Roy said.

During the summer trip, which lasts from June 9 to Aug. 2, Roy will live with a host family and complete nine hours of college credit. “It’s a chance to enrich my language skills by being submerged in the culture, and it will develop my confidence in the language,” she said.

The Dr. Walter Fahrer Scholarship Fund is managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit foundation serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

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