As a University of Kansas freshman in mechanical engineering, Ronald Hill built a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus and demonstrated it (under water) at a KU engineering exhibition. Today, 60 years later, that project represents the type of innovative mindset that he and his wife want to advance at KU.

University of Kansas alumna Kathleen Hall, of Lecompton, Kan., has made a leadership gift to establish a geology professorship at the University of Kansas. Gene Rankey, associate professor of geology, will be the inaugural recipient of the Hubert H. and Kathleen M. Hall Professorship in Geology.

A gift from Sandra W. Gautt, University of Kansas faculty member in the Department of Special Education, will establish the Gautt Teaching Scholar Fund. The endowed fund will support KU’s director of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

This year, an estimated 30,000 patients will come to The University of Kansas Cancer Center for cancer care. To help guide them through their treatment, Tom and Teresa Walsh, of Leawood, Kan., have made a $2.5 million gift to support a nurse navigation program.

As the University of Kansas School of Architecture, Design and Planning marks its centennial anniversary this weekend, the school is also celebrating a gift to honor the occasion. The Prairie Village architectural firm of Nearing Staats Prelogar & Jones (NSPJ) has made a $100,000 gift for a student prize within the school.

In appreciation of the educational foundation he received at the University of Kansas, John Eyler, of Kansas City, Mo., has established a gift commitment to create full renewable scholarships in architecture and music at KU.

A $2.7 million gift from the Hall Family Foundation will provide lasting support for the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas. The gift includes $500,000 to establish a distinguished professorship in the collaborative humanities, $1 million to create a postdoctoral fellowship in the digital humanities, and $1 million to establish a mid-career fellowship in the humanities. It also includes $210,000 to support Hall Center initiatives during the next three years.

Students at the University of Kansas will benefit from a new center to be built on Naismith Drive, thanks to a leadership gift from KU alumni Paul and Katherine DeBruce, of Mission Hills, Kan.

The Advancement Board for the University of Kansas Medical Center and The University of Kansas Hospital will host Brackfest 2013 on Monday, March 18, at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo.

University of Kansas alumni employed by Shook, Hardy & Bacon have reached $880,000 in gifts and pledges for the KU Law School’s Center for Excellence in Advocacy. Their latest contributions, combined with anticipated matching gifts from the firm and the Center’s existing endowment, are expected to bring the Center’s total endowment to $1 million.

A $1.2 million gift of farmland and cash from the estate of John M. and Frances R.B. Peterson will benefit University of Kansas students and faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Music and the Department of Dance.

Dana and Sue Anderson, of Los Angeles, have made a $1.4 million gift toward construction of new School of Business building at the University of Kansas. This brings contributions by KU alumni and friends for the new building to more than $33 million.

Roger and Julie Davis, of Chicago, have made a $1 million gift toward construction of new School of Business building at the University of Kansas. This brings contributions by KU alumni and friends for the new building to more than $33 million.

Community leaders across Kansas have joined in the fight against cancer. They are volunteer members of the newly formed Midwest Cancer Alliance Funding Partners, which will hold its first meeting February 11 in Hays. The council’s goal is to generate awareness of the importance of the Midwest Cancer Alliance and to raise $5 million to further its mission.

Leaders of the University of Kansas are mourning the death of Adele Hall, a Mission Hills, Kan., philanthropist and civic leader. She was vacationing with her husband, Don Hall, in Hawaii on Saturday, when she died unexpectedly at the age of 81. Memorial services are pending.

At the University of Kansas, traditions come in all shapes and sizes, one of which is the scholarship hall system. Scholarship halls offer lower-cost housing and opportunities to form life-long friendships in an academic environment. In appreciation of his experiences as a scholarship hall resident, KU alumnus John Regier has made a $40,000 gift to provide lasting support for the halls.

The family of the late Robert B. Riss has made a $1 million gift toward construction of a new School of Business building at the University of Kansas. This brings contributions by KU alumni and friends for the new building to more than $33 million.

After a career in journalism that has spanned more than 60 years to date, University of Kansas alumnus Bob Sigman has given $50,000 to create an endowed scholarship for the new Ph.D. program in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

University of Kansas officials are mourning the death of alumnus Madison “Al” Self, of Hinsdale, Ill. He died Sunday, January 13, in Hinsdale at the age of 91. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, January 26, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana St., Lawrence, Kan.

David Pittaway is a sixth-generation Kansan whose ancestors moved to Kansas prior to the Civil War. He has lived out of state since graduating from the University of Kansas in 1972, yet still considers Kansas his home. To show his support for Kansas, KU and KU’s debate team, in which he participated as a student, Pittaway has made a $500,000 gift to create an endowed fund to support the debate team’s head coach. This is the largest gift in the debate team’s history.

Momentum is growing for a new School of Business building at the University of Kansas, with donors contributing an additional $13 million for the project to date.

University of Kansas alumni Gary and Sue Padgett understand the importance of advancing new and better ways to prevent and treat asthma. The disease claimed the life of their 14-year-old daughter, Pam, in 1974.

Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer knows that the disease can raise challenging emotional issues for both patients and caregivers. A gift from the Kansas Masonic Foundation will help to address those needs. The foundation has made a $1 million gift to establish the Midwest Cancer Alliance Behavioral Health Therapist Fund through The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

In celebration of the lives of her children, Vergie Anderson and her husband, Mark Anderson, of Kinsley, Kan., have committed $150,000 to establish an endowed scholarship for the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare.

Marilyn Stokstad, a renowned University of Kansas distinguished professor emerita of art history, art historian, and former art museum director, has made a lead gift to create an endowed directorship at KU’s Spencer Museum of Art.

Four University of Kansas faculty members have been named Chancellors Club Teaching Professors: Philip Barnard, professor of English; Winnie Dunn, professor of occupational therapy; Paul R. Hanson, professor of chemistry; and Jack Winerock, professor of music.

Showing his lasting appreciation for the mentorship he received as a University of Kansas journalism student, alumnus Mark Mears and his wife, Stacy, have established a faculty award honoring Associate Professor Timothy Bengtson.

KU Endowment’s office building in Kansas City, Kan., has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.

Making strides internationally in the areas of public affairs and neurology, KU professors Dr. John Nalbandian and Richard J. Barohn, MD, have been respectively named winners of the 2012 Chancellors Club career teaching and research awards.

Kurt Watson, chair of Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas, and a KU Endowment Trustee, announced today that donors have contributed more than $708 million toward the campaign’s $1.2 billion goal. Publicly launched in April of this year with $612 million raised, Far Above is scheduled to conclude in June 2016.

KU Endowment provided an all-time high of $119.3 million in direct financial support for the University of Kansas in fiscal 2012, which ended June 30. This represents a 6 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

A $1.5 million gift from Kansas Health Foundation will enhance healthcare in the state of Kansas. The gift provides support for growing the leadership for the planned University of Kansas School of Public Health.

Capitol Federal Foundation of Topeka has committed a $20 million lead gift toward construction of a new School of Business building at the University of Kansas. The announcement of the gift—the largest in the business school’s history—was made at a celebration today at KU.

The University of Kansas is one of only seven public research/doctoral universities nationwide to receive a 2012 Educational Fundraising Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), recognizing exceptional development programs.

For the fifth year in a row, private gifts for the University of Kansas reached an all-time high of $156.5 million in fiscal year 2012, which ended June 30. The number of donors who made contributions also set a new record — 46,257.

David and Debbi Elkouri, of Wichita and Houston, have longtime connections with the University of Kansas School of Law. And, they are making sure their family’s ties to KU will last in perpetuity by donating $800,000 to the school.

A new scholarship at the University of Kansas will benefit students in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. KU alumni Kathy and Tom Plimpton, of Fort Worth, Texas, have made a $60,000 gift to KU Endowment to create the Kathleen Donnelly Plimpton Scholarship. The scholarship will focus on women undergraduate journalism majors from Kansas.

From 1996 through 2011, nearly 300 University of Kansas professors received William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence. The awards included cash gifts and became synonymous with the start of the academic year. Presentations were made in surprise classroom visits by leaders of the Kemper Foundation, KU and KU Endowment; recipients represented virtually every discipline across KU and all of its campuses.

Proud of Jayhawk ties that span generations, University of Kansas alumni couple Lydia Beebe and Chuck Doyle, of San Francisco, have made a $1 million gift to KU Endowment for the KU School of Law.

They came from modest donors in rural Kansas, and from prominent civic leaders in Kansas and Missouri. Large and small, their gifts shared the common vision of bringing an NCI-designated cancer center to the region.

Grundfos, a global pump manufacturer that strives for environmental sustainability, has made a $20,000 gift for the University of Kansas School of Engineering’s mechanical engineering program.

A $31,000 gift from the government of Mexico for the University of Kansas Medical Center addresses health disparities of Latinos in the Kansas City area and in southwest Kansas. The gift will provide support for the medical center’s Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health.

An educational opportunity at the University of Kansas Medical Center made such a positive influence on his late daughter’s life that Jim Osborn, of Honolulu, has given $1 million to create the Kathleen M. Osborn Chair in Molecular and Integrative Physiology in her memory.

A $1.7 million estate gift from two late Topeka psychiatrists has established a study abroad scholarship for University of Kansas students to study in Germany. The Drs. Dean T. and Elisabeth Collins Scholarship will annually provide full support for KU students to study longer-term — a semester or a year — at an institution of higher education in Germany.

University of Kansas alumnus Roger Werholtz and his wife, Shirley, have made a $50,000 gift commitment to benefit KU’s School of Social Welfare. Their gift will include $30,000 to establish an endowed scholarship for students majoring in social welfare and $20,000 in unrestricted support for the school. The scholarship will have a preference for students who have an interest in corrections.

A $1.25 million gift to KU Endowment has created the Mabel A. Woodyard Fellowships in Neurodegenerative Disorders at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

A $10,000 gift for the University of Kansas Honors Program honors Jeff Weinberg, assistant to Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. Weinberg, who has worked at KU nearly 42 years, will take a new post this summer, becoming a faculty fellow in the KU Honors Program.

Building on four years of record private giving, KU Endowment has publicly launched Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas, a $1.2 billion fundraising campaign to support the aspirations of the University of Kansas and The University of Kansas Hospital.

Former Kansas Sen. David Wysong, of Mission Hills, Kan., is the new chair of the Advancement Board, an 85-member organization of business and community leaders formed in 2005 to promote the interests of the University of Kansas Medical Center, The University of Kansas Hospital and the University of Kansas Physicians.

A $790,000 gift from the Hall Family Foundation will provide $430,000 for renovations to the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas and $360,000 toward meeting a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) matching challenge grant.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation, based in Oklahoma City, has pledged a $5 million gift to fund an interactive high-tech auditorium to anchor the new $28 million Energy and Environment Center at the University of Kansas. The center, a future addition to Lindley Hall, will create a unique team approach to teaching the next generation of geologists, engineers and environmental scientists.

A $500,000 gift from the Burns & McDonnell Foundation will help the University of Kansas School of Engineering increase the number of engineering graduates.

In November 1949, Hugo Zee stepped off a ship in Hoboken, N.J., with $100 in his pocket and a determination to start a new life. Within 10 years, the Holland immigrant would graduate from the University of Kansas and the KU School of Medicine, where today a new scholarship bears his name. 

A new University of Kansas scholarship honors the late Jamie Crockett Otis, a KU alumna who earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1971.

Misha Curtis, M.D., grew up in old Yugoslavia and knew since early childhood that she would become a physician and specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. Now retired, the Scottsdale, Ariz., physician has made a $500,000 gift commitment to establish an obstetrics/gynecology visiting professorship at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

A $2.4 million gift to KU Endowment from the estate of University of Kansas alumnus George A. Daniels has created an endowed scholarship for KU undergraduates. The renewable, unrestricted scholarship fund will benefit students with academic merit and financial need. It will cover the cost of in-state tuition, fees, books, and room and board.

University of Kansas students and the public have the opportunity to learn about environmental planning from a nationally known climate action planning expert at the upcoming Galloway Lecture Series.

Three people associated with the University of Kansas have received prestigious awards through District VI of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

A University of Kansas alumnus and his wife have made a $2.5 million commitment to establish an endowed scholarship program for KU's School of Education. The donors, who wish to remain anonymous, have had strong ties to KU's School of Education through both graduate teaching and the supervision of elementary student teachers.

Just days after University of Kansas alumnus Thomas Lovitt made arrangements with KU Endowment to create a music scholarship in honor of his late wife, KU alumna Polly Owen Lovitt, he received a diagnosis nobody wants to hear — pancreatic cancer. Lovitt made a $60,500 gift to create the Polly Owen Lovitt Music Education and Choir Scholarship for KU music majors who participate in KU choirs.

A $150,000 gift from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, of Logan, will provide support for scholarships, facilities and equipment at the newly opened University of Kansas School of Medicine-Salina campus. The school welcomed its inaugural class of eight first-year medical students this fall.

A new University of Kansas scholarship honors longtime Hoxie physician John Rapp Neuenschwander, and his wife, Gloria. Dr. Neuenschwander practiced medicine in Hoxie from 1952 until his retirement in 2000.

Sharing tears as well as smiles, Westwood Lutheran Church members donated the remaining proceeds from the sale of their church. Church members recently gathered at KU Endowment’s offices at the University of Kansas Medical Center to present a $48,000 check to medical students who direct KU Medical School’s student-run JayDoc Free Clinic.

Alan Black, a University of Kansas professor emeritus of urban planning, has established a $1.4 million commitment through KU Endowment. His gift will create KU’s first professorship in urban planning.

Calling all shutterbugs: Enter KU Endowment’s photo contest, compete for prizes of $250 and see your photos published online and/or in print.

A new University of Kansas Libraries award will honor an outstanding KU librarian each year.

Kansas City area civic leaders Tom and Judy Bowser have made a $4 million gift commitment to the University of Kansas.

KU Endowment distributed $112.3 million in direct financial support to the University of Kansas in fiscal year 2011, which ended June 30.

Whether revving up University of Kansas students' interest in tax accounting or researching methods to repair damaged livers, the 2011 Chancellors Club researcher and professor are making a positive impact at KU.

A $500,000 capstone gift from Topeka-based Capitol Federal Foundation to KU Endowment has fulfilled The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s goal of raising $61 million before applying for designation from the National Cancer Center Institute on Sept. 25.

The generosity of donors supporting the University of Kansas reached a new pinnacle in fiscal year 2011, totaling $153.2 million. This is the fourth year in a row of record private support for KU during a period marked by economic uncertainty.

A new professorship in pathology and laboratory medicine will honor Barbara Atkinson, M.D., executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center and executive dean of the KU School of Medicine.

University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little today announced a $5 million gift that advances the University of Kansas Cancer Center's quest to achieve National Cancer Institute designation.

When Mark Pigott, chairman and CEO of PACCAR, sought to honor his friend and retiring vice chairman Tom Plimpton, a 1971 University of Kansas alumnus, he found inspiration on KU Endowment's website.

William Davis never realized his dream of having his own pharmacy. Instead, the University of Kansas alumnus found his success in the corporate world, climbing the ladder to become president of one of the nation's leading pharmaceutical firms.

Each year, an estimated 15,000 Americans are diagnosed with spinal cord injuries. Of these, about 10,000 will be permanently paralyzed. Until recently, these individuals had little, if any, hope of recovery. But current research gives them hope.

A $50,000 estate gift to KU Endowment from University of Kansas alumnus Stanley Kelley Jr. will provide a four-year scholarship for a Summerfield or Watkins-Berger Scholar at KU.

During their lifetimes, University of Kansas alumnus Charles E. Spahr and his wife, Mary Jane Spahr, were among the most generous donors to KU, giving $13 million. But they saved the best for last, contributing an additional $32 million to KU Endowment through their estate to benefit the School of Engineering.

A $1 million gift from the Sprint Foundation will create a new professorship in blood-related cancers at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

A $1.6 million gift from University of Kansas alumnus Carl Krehbiel will provide support for students attending the German Summer Language Institute programs in Holzkirchen and Eutin, Germany.

A $1 million lead gift from Gilead Sciences enhances a professorship fund honoring Valentino Stella, University Distinguished Professor of Phamaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas.

If not for Elizabeth Miller Watkins, the University of Kansas and the city of Lawrence would be very different today.

A Kansas City-based design firm has made a $25,000 gift to provide support for the University of Kansas’ new Center for Design Research. Tucker Trotter, president of Dimensional Innovations, said he was pleased to support the development of the center.

New gifts totaling $4 million will enhance The University of Kansas Cancer Center's efforts to achieve designation as a National Cancer Institute center. These gifts bring the total raised for this initiative to $50 million since 2009.

A $1 million gift from Salina Regional Health Center ensures vital support for the new University of Kansas School of Medicine-Salina campus.

A capstone gift from the Dolph Simons Jr. family, of Lawrence, has fulfilled a $1 million challenge grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.

Momentum is building for the University of Kansas' comprehensive campaign with the formation of its steering committee.

Thanks to the generosity of the William T. Kemper Foundation, the Lied Center at the University of Kansas now has a lobby that's larger than ever. The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the new Kemper Foyer.

An $860,000 estate gift has created a pathology professorship at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

A generous gift from a retired University of Kansas faculty member and noted art history scholar will leave a major mark on KU Libraries this year. Marilyn Stokstad has given $250,000 to KU Libraries to create a new interior reception space and remodel the reading room at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library.

A cross-section of leaders has joined together to promote the expansion of the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita to a full, four-year campus. Civic leaders, business executives, university officials and medical professionals are working together to promote the expansion of the Wichita campus by forming a new board, named 4-Wichita.

The late Ward L. and Irene Neis Kiester devoted their lives to education. A gift of $780,000 from their estate to establish scholarships at the University of Kansas continues that tradition.

University of Kansas engineering students will benefit from a new lecture series in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.

Three alumni couples will lead the steering committee for the next comprehensive campaign for the University of Kansas.

A $264,000 estate gift from University of Kansas alumni Wayne and Joan Anderson has created a new scholarship for KU students.

In less than four months, donors have contributed $2.7 million for expansion of the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. The lead gift of $800,000 was given by the Kansas Health Foundation.

A University of Kansas alumna has committed $400,000 through her estate to honor her father, Ethan Allen, a former chair of KU's Department of Political Science.

At its 119th annual meeting Oct. 22, the KU Endowment Board of Trustees appointed A. Drue Jennings as board chair, reappointed Judge Deanell Reece Tacha as vice chair and elected five new trustees. Jennings replaces Kurt Watson, of Wichita, whose four-year term ended.

KU Endowment provided a record $115.1 million in philanthropic support to the University of Kansas in fiscal year 2010, a 9.2 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

This year's University of Kansas Chancellors Club professor and researcher award recipients include two internationally known professors — a philosophy professor on the Lawrence campus and a pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutics professor at the KU Medical Center.

A $300,000 gift from Back in the Swing USA will help breast cancer survivors find the answer to the question “What's next?”

For the third year in a row, contributions to KU Endowment in support of the University of Kansas reached a new record. Donors gave $110.2 million in fiscal year 2010, which ended June 30, a 3.6 percent increase over the previous year.

University of Kansas alumnus James Zakoura has provided more than $400,000 to KU Endowment for the School of Music. His passion is to bring music to people who otherwise would not be exposed to it.

Two $100,000 gifts for the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas bring the museum closer to meeting a $1 million challenge grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

When Nelson Gipson realized how close to death he was, he summoned his attorney. From his hospital bed, Gipson formalized estate plans to leave more than $800,000 to create scholarships at the University of Kansas.

A University of Kansas professor who pioneered the theory of psychological reactance, also known as "reverse psychology," has donated $2.2 million for KU's Department of Psychology.

Nationally known University of Kansas debate coach Scott Harris is the inaugural recipient of a new teaching professorship award thanks to a gift from former Chancellor Gene Budig and his wife, Gretchen.

A program that enables University of Kansas students to help people who lack access to adequate healthcare has received a shot in the arm. The Kansas Health Foundation donated $645,000 for the program, called the Community Health Project.

Tucked away in an unassuming building in Kansas City, Kan., is a health care clinic that provides medical services to those who otherwise could not afford them.

A new scholarship has been established for students in the Ukrainian Studies Program at the University of Kansas.

A gift for deferred maintenance at the University of Kansas creates a win-win situation. It supports needed campus upgrades, and it provides a tax credit for donors.

A $200,000 estate gift from University of Kansas alumnus George Seymour will provide support for KU's Natural History Museum and establish an endowed scholarship for students majoring in industrial design.

Three Kansas City civic leaders have been elected as officers of the Advancement Board. Cheryl Jernigan was elected for a second term as board chair. David Wysong was elected chair-elect, and Mary Hunkeler was elected as secretary.

A leadership group has been formed to continue preparations for the next comprehensive campaign for the University of Kansas. The group, the Campaign Organizing Committee, held its first meeting April 23.

Jerry Jennett, business ’63, and his wife, Kay, recently provided $200,000 to KU Endowment to establish an endowed scholarship at KU. The Jerry and Kay Jennett Scholarship is for undergraduate business majors who work for or hold internships with KU Athletics.

KU Endowment has honored Christina Hixson of Las Vegas, Nev., by naming her a Life Trustee. In total, she has made possible more than $24 million in philanthropic support for KU: $22.7 million from the Lied Foundation and $1.6 million in personal support.

A $10 million gift will benefit University of Kansas students in the KU School of Engineering. The gift, from alumni Madison “Al” and Lila Self, of Hinsdale, Ill., brings the total they have donated to KU Endowment to more than $44 million, making them the university's largest individual donors.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the Lied Center at the University of Kansas will be held at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, April 8, in front of the Lied Center. The public is invited. In case of rain, the ceremony will take place indoors on the Lied Center's stage.

A $300,000 Kemper Foundation gift to KU Endowment will benefit the Lied Center at the University of Kansas. The gift, from the William T. Kemper Foundation — Commerce Bank Trustee, will expand the foyer, which will enable the center to host a wider variety of public events.

Two gifts totaling $300,000 will help establish a four-year KU School of Medicine site in Salina, Kan. Private support was provided by longtime Russell, Kan., physician Earl Merkel, M.D., and his wife, Kathleen, as well as the Salina Regional Health Foundation.

University of Kansas students will have the opportunity to learn from the best of the best at this year's Galloway Urban Planning Lecture Series. The lectures will feature Robert Cervero and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, both internationally known for their accomplishments in urban planning.

April 9 is the last day to register for the second annual Hawk Mud Fest at the University of Kansas. The mud volleyball tournament is sponsored by Students for KU — KU Endowment’s student foundation organization. The mud fest kicks off at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 24, at the field west of the Library Annex, 1880 Westbrooke Drive, south of Bob Billings Parkway.

A $100,000 gift from LUNGevity Foundation of Chicago will provide support for two lung cancer research projects at The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

The patients may be artificial, but the training is real. Across the University of Kansas Medical Center, curricula include the use of high-tech teaching mannequins. Students learn about anatomy and hone procedural and critical-thinking skills in risk-free settings when working on these simulated patients.

There’s a new star on the stage of the Lied Center of Kansas — a Steinway D concert grand piano. Four University of Kansas donors: Barbara Nordling, Dave and Gunda Hiebert, and Hurst Coffman, provided more than half of the funds to KU Endowment for purchase of the $105,000 piano. This was augmented by gifts from 30 other KU alumni and friends.

A $200,000 gift from The Anschutz Foundation of Denver significantly advances an academic programs initiative launched by the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.

The Hall Family Foundation of Kansas City has committed $18 million to the University of Kansas Cancer Center and the Midwest Cancer Alliance, opening doors to innovative cancer treatment and research for the heartland region.

A $10 million gift from a Texas couple with ties to Kansas City will support The University of Kansas Cancer Center. Joe and Jean Brandmeyer of El Paso, Texas, made the gift to The University of Kansas Hospital.

A new fundraising council will help The University of Kansas Cancer Center in its quest to achieve designation by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

In honor of their late son's passion for international traveling, a Prairie Village, Kan., couple has established a new scholarship for University of Kansas students who study abroad.

A new award established in memory of a University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita professor will benefit one graduating master's of public health student each year.

KU alumnus Paul Brooker thought so much of his alma mater that he left an estate gift of $2.5 million to KU Endowment for unrestricted scholarship support of University of Kansas students.

A new environmentally friendly building is on the horizon at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Construction will begin this fall on a three-story 40,000-square-foot building at the southeast corner of Rainbow and Olathe boulevards. The $6 million project will be funded by KU Endowment. The first and second floors will provide space for the medical center, the third floor will house KU Endowment offices.

At its 118th annual meeting on Friday, Oct. 9, the KU Endowment Board of Trustees elected seven new trustees.

KU Endowment provided a near-record $105.4 million in support to KU’s four campuses in fiscal 2009, which ended June 30, including a 7 percent increase in student support over the 2008 fiscal year. This is the second highest level of support KU Endowment has ever supplied to KU.

The 2009-2010 Chancellors Club Scholars plan a wide range of career paths. Majors of the 16 University of Kansas freshmen include pre-medicine, film and literature, psychology, biology, pharmacy, engineering and Spanish.

A $2.5 million gift from the Lied Foundation Trust will pave the way for the Lied Center of Kansas, one of the state’s premier performing arts venues, to expand. The gift will fund expansion of Lied Center’s lobby, construction of an education pavilion, creation of additional office space and installation of displays about the history of Ernst F. Lied and the Lied Foundation Trust.

Walking down the hill during a University of Kansas commencement ceremony is a thrill at any age. For Peedee Brown, it was one of most important events of her life. “I was a non-traditional student, and I walked down the hill at age 48,” said Brown, who earned her bachelor's degree in English in 1988. “My diploma from KU is, next to my family, my most treasured possession.”

Governor Mark Parkinson joined the Kansas Masonic Foundation at a news conference today to announce Campaign 2011, a campaign to support The University of Kansas Cancer Center's efforts to achieve National Cancer Institute designation.

You might not think there's a connection between poker and cancer. But proceeds from a Leawood foundation's poker tournament recently yielded $100,000 for pancreatic cancer research at The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

A genetics researcher from the University of Kansas Medical Center and a geography professor from KU's Lawrence campus have been named the 2009 recipients of the Chancellors Club award for their research and teaching. James P. Calvet and James R. (Pete) Shortridge will be honored Oct. 9 at the annual Chancellors Club celebration. Each will receive a $7,000 award.

A $56,000 gift from the Max Kade Foundation will fund four $14,000 fellowships for doctoral students in the University of Kansas Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.

Donors to KU Endowment set a new record in contributions — $106.4 million — in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009. This represents a 13 percent increase over the previous record of $94 million, set in the 2008 fiscal year. The number of donors — 45,186 — also was an all-time high.

Ed Wolpert earned four degrees at three different universities. But when deciding where to establish an endowed scholarship, he came back to the University of Kansas.

A $300,000 gift from Back in the Swing® of Kansas City will help breast cancer survivors get their lives back on track. The gift provides support to The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Survivorship Center in the Westwood Campus, which opened in 2007. In the past three years, Back in the Swing has provided a total of $1 million to KU Endowment for the Center.

Martha Peterson proved early on that women can make it to the top. Peterson, a University of Kansas alumna and former KU dean of women, became the first female president of one of the colleges where she worked and later was the first woman to serve on the board of directors of Exxon.

Cancer patients and their families have a new advocate to help them navigate the heath care system. Through the Midwest Cancer Alliance Clinical Trials Network's new Patient Navigator program, Carol Bush, BS, RN, will serve patients in central Kansas to help them learn what services are available to them.

Nationally known architect Michael Arad, designer of New York's World Trade Center Memorial, will be the inaugural speaker for the Thomas D. Galloway Lecture Series in Urban Planning. Arad will speak at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 27, in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union at the University of Kansas.

Every day, thousands of University of Kansas students walk past Strong Hall, where three flags wave in the wind. The flagpole that holds them may look sturdy enough, but a closer look shows it has seen better days. This year’s Senior Class Gift wants to change that. The Board of Class Officers is raising funds to replace the flagpole.

The best place to gain teaching experience is in the classroom. Thanks to a gift from the Sprint Foundation, University of Kansas students in the UKanTeach program will have opportunities to assist teachers in a unique college preparatory school in Kansas City, Mo.

Former Kansas Senator Robert Dole has made a $150,000 contribution for clinical research at the Marc. A. Asher, MD, Comprehensive Spine Center at The University of Kansas Hospital.

A graduate of the University of Kansas has made estate plans that will benefit generations of students in KU’s School of Social Welfare. Elizabeth Scott, of Independence, Mo., has established a $200,000 charitable remainder trust that will create a $40,000 endowed scholarship.

With a click of a mouse, online giving to the University of Kansas reached a milestone: 5,000 gifts. KU Endowment will match the gift to commemorate reaching this record. The 5,000th gift — made at kuendowment.org — was a $250 donation to the Jay Turnbull Fellowship at the Beach Center on Disability from Steve Warren, vice provost for research and graduate studies, and his wife, Eva Horn, professor of special education. Their gift was in memory of Jay Turnbull, who died of natural causes Jan. 7.

A new overlook structure three miles north of Lawrence provides a spectacular view of the Kansas River valley, Lawrence and KU. Located at KU’s Field Station and Ecological Reserves, the viewing platform is the result of combined efforts of KU architecture students and Lawrence residents Dick and Sue Himes.