Rose and Frank Gasperich

5/18/10

Planned bequest will augment mechanical engineering scholarship

Contact:
Lisa Scheller, 785-832-7398
Rosita McCoy, 785-832-7336

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A University of Kansas alumnus and his wife have made estate plans to add $340,000 to a scholarship they created for junior and senior mechanical engineering students who participate in ROTC.

Lt. Col. Frank John Gasperich Jr. and his wife, Rose, of Albuquerque, established the endowed scholarship fund through KU Endowment in 2000.

In 1963, Gasperich earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering at KU, where he participated in Air Force ROTC all four years. Though Gasperich later earned a master of science degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he credits KU for his success.

“I always felt I would not have accomplished anything like what I have accomplished without my education at the University of Kansas,” Gasperich said. “I feel that other people ought to have a similar opportunity.”

Gasperich retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1989. “I spent half my career in the aeronautical world and half my career in the space world,” he said.

Gasperich was chief systems engineer for propulsion for the F-5 and T-38 family of aircraft, also known as the Freedom Fighter and Talon. He was responsible for the fleet’s 5,000 jet engines. Later, he was chief engineer for the Inertial Upper Stage booster, which was used on the NASA space shuttle and the Air Force Titan IV launch vehicle to send heavy payloads to geosynchronous orbit at 22,500 miles. A derivative of this booster sent a NASA spacecraft to Jupiter.

Now retired, Gasperich and his wife are active in the Commemorative Air Force, Lobo Wing, in which members restore and operate World War II aircraft. The group has restored a PT-26 Cornell primary trainer, and currently is restoring an AT-11 Kansan, which was used to train bombardiers.

“The gift from Frank and Rose Gasperich is an astonishing tribute to the value of the KU experience,” said Stuart R. Bell, dean of engineering. “This gift will allow more KU students to focus on their studies as they balance their efforts to become leaders of our nation’s military and beyond.”

The gift will be managed by KU Endowment, the official fundraising and fund-management foundation for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

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