KU Giving Issue 15

Summer 2012

THE GIFT OF MOTION KU researchers seek high-tech treatments for spinal cord injury $10 MILLION GIFT FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CENTER FAR ABOVE CAMPAIGN GOES PUBLIC

University Marshal Maria Carlson leads the 2012 Commencement procession down the Hill.

KU Giving is published three times a year by KU Endowment, the private fundraising foundation for the University of Kansas.

You are receiving this magazine because you support KU.

CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES A. Drue Jennings

PRESIDENT Dale Seuferling

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Rosita Elizalde-McCoy

EDITOR Charles Higginson

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Lisa Scheller Katie Coffman Jessica Sain-Baird Valerie Gieler

ART DIRECTOR Chris Millspaugh

ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Melissa Meyer

We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions.

KU Giving magazine P.O. Box 928 Lawrence, KS 66044-0928 785-832-7400 kugiving@kuendowment.org

Postmaster: Send address changes to: KU Endowment, P.O. Box 928,

EARL RICHARDSON

Lawrence KS 66044-0928

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KU GIVING | SUMMER 2012

CONTENTS | SUMMER 2012

FEATURES THE GIFT OF MOTION | 8 Anonymous $4 million gift drives research in treatment for spinal cord injury

SOAR WITH US | 14 Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas went public in April

Adult skin cells like these supply the raw material for a potential treatment that would replace damaged nerve tissue in the spinal column.

The crowd at the kickoff event filled the floor of Allen Fieldhouse.

DEPARTMENTS PRESIDENT’S NOTE | 2 To touch the future

GREATER KU FUND | 19 Special events near and far

EVERY GIFT MATTERS | 3 Award honors legendary nurse

KU VOICES | 20 Wounded Warrior Program graduate looks beyond Paralympics

ON THE COVER KU researchers have developed a microelectronic device that bypasses spinal cord injuries.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK MCDONALD

WHY I GIVE | 4

ACROSS KU | 16 An unending aria; Hall Center challenge; Marge Franklin firsts; a very worldly piano

PAST AND PRESENT | 21 Students revive tree-planting tradition

LET’S BE SOCIAL

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PRESIDENT’S NOTE

VISION AND PERSEVERANCE NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER

Cancer center director Roy Jensen, M.D., has overseen the drive for NCI designation since 2003.

of a bold and compelling vision to

move people to action.

Eight years ago, the University of Kansas put its cancer center on the path to gain recognition by the National Cancer Institute. It was a gutsy move, and it was fraught with risk. The required investments seemed monumental at the time, most especially in the face of the unprecedented global economic downturn.

But for many donors, there was no better cause, and their belief in this vision would not be shaken. Gifts came from modest donors in rural Kansas, from major foundations and from Kansas City civic leaders. All of them decided that the state of Kansas and our region would no longer be left behind. We deserved this recognition, and the access to research and life-saving cures that comes with it. Large and small, their gifts added up to $107 million in private support for the cancer center since 2008.

On July 12, the official announcement came at a news conference: The University of Kansas Cancer Center became the 67th NCI-designated cancer center in the country. This designation means nothing less than a transformation for our region.

And yet, it’s hard to believe that, at one time, this vision seemed farfetched. Many people cherished the dream, but none more than Dr. Roy Jensen, the cancer center’s director. In 2003, Roy uprooted his family from Nashville and returned to his native Kansas to help navigate the cancer center toward this designation. He became emotional at the news conference when he described the sacrifice this move meant for his family at the time.

When he first met Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little a few years ago, Roy told her, “I’m going to do this, and I will not be deterred.” Not given to rest on his laurels, Roy is now setting his sights on an even higher milestone: to achieve NCI designation in 2015 as a comprehensive cancer center, the highest possible distinction. Is there any doubt we will get there with him at the helm?

To all of you who contributed to making this vision a reality: Thank you for believing in us. And to Roy Jensen: Thank you for your indomitable spirit.

MARK MCDONALD

Dale Seuferling, President

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EVERY GIFT MATTERS

AWARD HONORS LEGENDARY NURSE belonged to the first group of continuum of care nurses at The University of Kansas Hospital. Nurses in this relatively new role help patients make a seamless transition from inpatient to outpatient care. It’s a complicated role, balancing the needs of patients, the hospital, doctors and insurance companies.

Around the time this type of care was first established, about 1997, Janice Sandt, clinical nurse coordinator at the Hospital, met Jenny. Sandt said Jenny often came in early and stayed late.

“Jenny was a legend at KU Hospital,” she said. “She was a kind and caring person. She would walk down the halls starting before sunrise with a smile.”

Jenny learned she had lung cancer in 2011, and had a lung removed and completed chemotherapy. She returned to work six months later, her long workdays shortened to accommodate her health.

Charles West, Jenny’s husband, said, “She loved the nursing profession, and she especially loved KU. She wouldn’t have considered working anywhere else.”

In January 2012, she had to stop working completely because of a hip frac-

ture. Sandt organized a memory book for Jenny and was overwhelmed by the number of contributions. She then decided to create an award in Jenny’s honor. “Jenny is somebody who you do these kinds of awards for,” she said.

With the help of colleagues, families and friends, the annual award was established to provide $1,000 to one fulltime nurse who works in nursing clinical excellence, case management or another expanded nursing role at KU Hospital.

Jenny died shortly after the award was created. She was touched that her friends wanted to create the award in her honor, and she liked the idea of recognizing nurses in continuum of care, Sandt said. More than 50 donors have given more than $7,540 to the award fund; to create an award for nurses in perpetuity, it must reach $25,000.

“Jenny’s energy and presence changed the lives of those around her,” Sandt said.

“She will be a hard act to follow.”

— Jessica Sain-Baird

YOU CAN HELP Nurses touch many lives. To support the Jenny West Continuum of Care Nursing Award, contact Courtney Johanning, 913-588-4704 or cjohanning@kumc.edu, or visit kuendowment.org/jwest.

Jenny West was a member of the Brainsaver team at the 2006 Kansas City Heart Walk in support of the American Heart Association.

COURTESY OF JANICE SANDT

JENNY WEST

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WHY I GIVE | SNAPSHOTS

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2 “I established the scholarship to help build KU’s outstanding foreign language and area studies programs, and as a memorial to my parents and aunt, who imparted to me an appreciation of my Ukrainian heritage.”

Peter Jarosewycz, Kansas City, Mo. $32,000 outright— for the Jarosewycz Family Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies in the Center for Eastern European and Eurasian Studies; for graduate students with an interest in Ukrainian Studies, one of the leading programs in that area in the United States.

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KU GIVING | SUMMER 2012

3 “KU is a great asset for the state and a wonderful opportunity for Kansas kids. It deserves support from those of us who’ve benefited from it.”

Darrel Cohoon, B.A. English 1965, and Sharon Cohoon, 1966, Huntington Beach, Calif. $500,000 — bequest expectancy to provide unrestricted support for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

4 “My training at KU enabled me to have a long and successful professional life. In return, I wanted to leave a legacy for my residency training program, which will be instrumental in further elevating the qualifications of newly graduated residents.”

Misha Curtis, M.D., Certificate of Residency 1980, Scottsdale, Ariz. $500,000 outright— to establish a visiting professorship in obstetrics/ gynecology at the School of Medicine.

5 “We made this gift as a living memorial to Gail and to provide a teaching tool for pharmacy students. It’s a small token of the family’s appreciation for the great education we received at KU.” Jim Heim, Pharmacy 1969, and Nora Kaschube, Lawrence, Kan. $30,000 outright— to endow a fund for the School of Pharmacy’s medicinal garden. The garden was dedicated in 2011 and named for Jim’s wife and Nora’s sister, Gail Heim, Pharmacy, 1969, who died of cancer in 2009.

6 “It’s good to have the ability to make the gift. It seems like a small thing in comparison to what I got out of attending KU’s School of Social Welfare. I had so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It opened doors for me that I probably wouldn’t even have tried to find — let alone open.”

Roger Werholtz, master’s in Social Welfare 1978, and Shirley Werholtz, Lawrence, Kan. $50,000 — bequest expectancy to benefit the School of Social Welfare; $30,000 for a scholarship and $20,000 for unrestricted support for the school.

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1 “Major companies today are becoming more international.

However, people in other countries don’t necessarily view business the way we do. It’s important for our students to have the opportunity to experience different cultures and attitudes — it makes them more capable of working in today’s global marketplace.”

Don Faught, B.S. 1973 Mechanical Engineering, Red Feather Lakes, Colo. $30,000 outright, $50,000 estate commitment — to support international studies by students in the School of Engineering.

WHY I GIVE | ESTATE GIFTS

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THE LAST FULL MEASURE Many people make their final gifts to KU their most significant, by including KU Endowment in their estate planning. Recently realized estate gifts include:

The Hon. Wesley Brown : bequest, unrestricted to the School of Law 7

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Ernest Crow, M.D. 1944: charitable remainder trust to establish a new scholarship, School of Medicine-Wichita Mary De Mendez, B.A. 1962, B.S. 1963, M.A. 1970: bequest for Library Enrichment Sidney Ashton Garrett, B.A. 1968, B.S. 1970: bequest, support divided among 10 specific KU areas Margaret Hoffman: bequest to support scholarships and research at the KU Medical Center Dean Holben, B.S. 1950, M.S. 1952: bequest for scholarships, School of Engineering

7 “I supported the Engelmann and Youngberg scholarship funds because, without the scholarships and help that I received while in school, I would not have had the many wonderful opportunities provided to me during my career.

Both honored individuals — my wife and Irvin Youngberg — were largely responsible for helping me reach my goals.”

Cal Engelmann, B.A. Chemistry 1953, M.D. 1957, Mission Hills, Kan.; to honor his late wife, Anneliese Engelmann, Business 1953, and the late Irvin Youngberg, Endowment executive secretary from 1948 to 1975. $113,000 outright— $100,000 to establish the Anneliese Engelmann Scholarship for the School of Business, and $13,000 to enhance the Youngberg-Engelmann Scholarship for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, bringing the fund to more than $53,000.

8 “The annual presentation of this scholarship to a student committed to furthering social justice through literature is a wonderful way for our family to honor Jamie and acknowledge her love of KU.” Dave Otis, Fort Collins, Colo.; Bill Crockett, Mill Valley, Calif.; Pat Otis, Ottumwa, Iowa; and Kelsey Holt, Boston, Mass. $40,000 outright— to establish a scholarship for graduate students majoring in English who have an interest in social justice, in memory of Jamie Crockett Otis, B.A. English 1971.

Clarence Kivett, B.S. 1928: charitable remainder trust for faculty development in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning John P. O’Connell, B.M.Ed. 1961: bequest for scholarships, School of Music Chester Oberg, CLAS 1931: bequest, uses to be determined Frances Peterson: charitable gift annuity and charitable remainder trust for the School of Music, scholarships and unrestricted Marilyn Prewitt, CLAS 1949: bequest, unrestricted support to the Department of Geology Caryl Anderson Toedter, B.A. 1936: charitable gift annuity, unrestricted to the university David Tripp, B.S. 1937: bequest, unrestricted to the university

Estate gifts to benefit KU should be written to KU Endowment. Please contact Andy Morrison, Director of Gift Planning, 1-800-444-4201, when you set up your estate to make sure your wishes can be fulfilled.

If you have included KU Endowment in your estate plans, please let us know so we can recognize you in the Elizabeth Watkins Society. We respect all requests for confidentiality.

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WHY I GIVE | FEATURED GIFTS

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CENTER A NEW Energy

Scott and Carol Ritchie, of Wichita, have continued their long history of support for KU.

WHY I GIVE

“ KU Geology gave me a head start in my field of petroleum exploration geology. Carol and I met at KU, sent our kids here, and have enjoyed our continuing close relationships with many facets of the university. It is our great pleasure to support a new generation of scientists by helping provide a modern facility for their training and research.

”

—Scott Ritchie

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and Environment Center at KU will provide a hub for multidisciplinary research on energy and the environment. Plans took a giant leap forward when KU alumni Scott and Carol Ritchie, of Wichita, made a $10 million lead gift to support the project.

The center will be a landmark: a 40,000-square-foot addition to Lindley Hall, the home of the Department of Geology, at the corner of Naismith Drive and Jayhawk Boulevard. It will create spaces for collaboration among geology, engineering, the Kansas Geological Survey and the tertiary oil recovery project.

Moreover, it will bring together faculty conducting energy-related research in virtually all academic fields.

The building’s design itself is intended to inspire innovation. It will have a green roof, deep daylighting and rainwater harvesting. Program spaces will be connected visually, creating an open-source environment.

The center’s laboratories can be shared by multiple researchers and repurposed as opportunities and funding become available. Currently, the geology department’s high-end research labs are located on west campus and explicitly prohibit teaching. Notably, the new labs will support both research and teaching. This aspect alone guarantees better-trained graduates, even more so considering that these labs will be shared with the School of Engineering.

The building also will include an adaptable auditorium to bring together students in geology and petroleum engineering for co-taught courses. Several collaborative spaces will facilitate small theme-based conferences, bringing

industry and scientists from around the world to KU. The center is expected to cost $28 million altogether. Earlier this year, Chesapeake Energy also committed $5 million toward its construction.

Scott Ritchie, a Wichita native, graduated from KU in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in geology. He is chair of Ritchie Exploration Inc., a Wichita-based oil and gas exploration company he founded in 1963. He also is chair of Hallrich Company, which owns Pizza Hut restaurants in northeast Ohio, and president of Highland Ranch Company, a cattle ranching operation in the Flint Hills. Carol Swanson Ritchie grew up in Clarinda, Iowa, and earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from KU in 1954. She is a longtime Wichita community and civic leader, active in organizations that include the botanical garden, historical museum and symphony. The couple married three weeks after their KU graduation, and they have three children, all of whom attended KU. The Ritchies have maintained strong connections with KU. Both serve on 4-Wichita, which promotes the School of Medicine-Wichita. Scott is a Life Trustee of the KU Endowment Board of Trustees, and Carol has served on the advisory board of Women Philanthropists for KU. She is past president of the KU Alumni Association and has been involved at the state and national levels.

They have provided generous support to areas across KU, including geology, KU Alumni Association, Lied Center, Spencer Museum of Art, School of Medicine-Wichita and student scholarships.

— Charles Higginson

BRIAN GOODMAN

New building brings disciplines together

FROM DISCOVERY TO CURE Fellowships will advance neuroscience research at the University of Kansas Medical Center will spur research and aid in transforming discoveries into cures for neurological disorders.

The estate of Mabel Woodyard distributed $1.25 million to KU Endowment through the Douglas County Community Foundation to establish the Mabel A. Woodyard Fellowships in Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Peter Smith, Ph.D., directs KU’s Institute for Neurological Discoveries, which administers the Woodyard awards.

“These awards were created to fulfill the desire to mold the next generation of neuroscientists,” said Smith. “By encouraging trainees to engage in an area of neuroscience discovery early in their careers, we advance the field for generations to come.”

Mabel Woodyard was born in 1921 and grew up on a farm near Charleston, Ill. Following high school, she completed a secretarial course. In 1950, she became executive secretary and personal assistant to Nina Pulliam, wife and business partner of Eugene Pulliam, editor and publisher of the Indianapolis Star, the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette, and other newspapers.

Her career with the Pulliams spanned nearly five decades.

LISA SCHELLER

NEW FELLOWSHIPS

She died in 2008 from progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative disorder that results in movement deficits similar to Parkinson’s disease.

Her brother, George Woodyard, was her connection to KU — a professor of Spanish from 1966 to 2005 who also held a variety of administrative positions, including serving as KU’s first dean of international studies. His wife, Eleanor, said the neurosciences fellowship fund and the university were important to her husband.

The inaugural fellowship recipients are Lezi E, a doctoral student in the departments of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences and Neurology; and Michelle Healy Stoffel, an M.D./Ph.D. student in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics.

— Lisa Scheller

WHY I GIVE

“ Knowing what Mabel went through with a progressive neurological disease, George hoped that her estate would help researchers find a cure so others wouldn’t have to suffer as she did.

”

— Eleanor Woodyard

Eleanor Woodyard, center, stands with the first two recipients of the Woodyard Fellowships: Lezi E, left, and Michelle Healy Stoffel.

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Peter Smith, Ph.D., holds a slide containing sections of the injured spinal cord of a rat.

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The gift of motion Donor spurs research into treatment for spinal cord injury

BY JULIE METTENBURG PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK MCDONALD

Two research projects at the KU Medical Center may provide new hope for the treatment of spinal cord injuries: not only to retain movement in patients’ arms and legs, but also to enable them to use their hands, stand or even walk again.

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has provided $4 million to support the Spinal Cord Injury Repair Program in developing two novel approaches in restoring nerve communication using microelectronics and cellular regeneration.

“To be able to stand up would be a major change in quality of life for many patients,” said Randolph J. Nudo, Ph.D., director of the Landon Center on Aging and one of the program’s lead researchers.

“We want to go beyond that, but one step at a time.”

The donor, a quadriplegic following a spinal cord injury several years ago, approached KU with a desire to fund neuroscience research that might lead to restored function after chronic spinal cord injury.

Smith and colleagues identified five potential projects based on expertise in KU’s Institute for Neurological Discoveries (IND) and relevance to the donor. They narrowed the list to the two that provided the best chances for improvement.

Peter G. Smith, Ph.D., director of the IND and the Spinal Cord Injury Repair Program, said the project brings researchers from basic science disciplines such as physiology, anatomy and pharmacology together with clinicians One gift, many benefits in neurosurgery, neurology, This research is inspired and rehabilitation medicine and supported by an individual more. “This is not just about donor, but it holds potential KU,” Smith said. “We’ve promise for thousands of others. brought in key collaborators Spinal cord injury is costly, at K-State, Case Western devastating and, currently, Reserve University, Harvard essentially untreatable.

University and the UniverAbout 265,000 people in the sity of Washington. This is United States are living with about building the best posits effects, with about 12,000 sible research teams to solve new patients each year. It a very complicated problem.” affects primarily males who The brain-spinal cord average 40 years old. They face interface approach, led by reduced life expectancy and Nudo, uses microelectronimmense continuing medical ics to provide an artificial costs. Only a third of patients communication link from N ANONYMOUS DONOR

ever successfully resume

employment, with just 11 percent working one year after injury.

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the brain to the spinal cord, a pathway that is severed in spinal cord injury. The regeneration strategy, led by Smith, is to discover a way to place new cells in the spinal cord that can replace damaged pathways.

“Together, these short- and long-term fixes provide the greatest hope for individuals with spinal cord injuries,” Smith said. The early phases of the work must be performed in animals in order to perfect techniques and develop rigorous measurements to determine if therapies are working. The challenge now, for Nudo’s team, is mapping brain and spinal cord areas to connect; for Smith’s team, it’s engineering the proper cells to replace injured spinal cord cells.

ANSWERS ON THE HEAD OF A PIN

The next time you curse your cell phone, think twice: The same technology might hold the key to preserving motion after spinal cord injuries.

Nudo has previously focused on developing therapies for stroke using neural prosthetics to bypass damaged areas of the brain. This project brings that approach to spinal cord injury.

When the neural pathways that connect brain to limbs are severed, several structures remain intact: the parts of the brain creating signals, the neurons below the injury in the spinal cord that relay signals, and the muscles that would receive the signals. Therefore, a patient could retain basic motor function if implanted electrodes could record the brain’s electrical signals and send them past the damaged area, where they could activate an external limb, stimulate a muscle directly or stimulate neurons in the spinal cord.

“Our work is trying to put those two things together,” Nudo said, “so someone literally would think about moving a limb, using the same neurons as before, and trigger the movement.”

Implantable devices must be very small. Ten years ago, Nudo said, the technologies he’s using would have required an entire rack of computers. With microelectronics advances, his team can borrow from resources like cell phone technology.

“Basically, we’re functionally reconnecting the brain and spinal cord with electronic devices,” he said. “We are designing circuits like a computer on the head of a pin.”

A BRIDGE OF CELLS

Unlike nerves outside the central nervous system, the nerves in the spinal cord cannot regenerate or repair themselves. Smith’s team is working on a treatment involving new cells with the ability to repair the damage for good.

“A more permanent treatment would be reconnecting those wires, which means replacing dead cells,” Smith said. “If we can discover the right kinds of cells and the right technique to move them back into the spinal cord, we can get them to create new pathways and restore function below the lesion.”

Top: Peter Smith and Dora Agbas, Ph.D., examine sections of injured spinal cords. Agbas is a research assistant professor of molecular and integrative physiology.

Above: Smith’s team took a patient’s skin cells, converted them to stem cells, and induced them to grow into these adult nerve cells.

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Smith’s team takes adult skin or blood cells and Nudo said the scientific community at KU is grategenetically reprograms them into stem cells, which ful for the opportunity to develop this program, which can then become any other kind of cell. The IND could not have happened without this donor’s help. partners with KU’s High “It brought together scientists and Throughput Screening Laboraclinicians who normally don’t work “BASICALLY, WE’RE tory in discovering drugs that together to work single-mindedly FUNCTIONALLY can coax these stem cells to on a project, and created the focus RECONNECTING become the right type of neufor all of us to think about a single THE BRAIN AND rons for repairing spinal injury; goal,” he said. “It’s bringing a lot SPINAL CORD WITH testing in animals will ensure of visibility to the IND and to KU ELECTRONIC DEVICES.” neuroscience in general.” they perform appropriately.

— RANDOLPH NUDO The goal is to take a patient’s Smith said, “Suddenly, you’re own easily obtainable cells, not working on a grant from the turn them into stem cells, and then encourage them National Institutes of Health. You’re working for to become cells that can be transplanted to repair a someone — a patient — and you understand the goals, spinal cord injury. hopes and desires, the urgency with which they would like to see some restoration of function.”

DONOR PARTNERSHIP DRIVES RESEARCH He said the current NIH funding situation is This project represents an unusual way to fund unpromising. Many good projects are not funded, research. The donor had expressed interest in supwhich doesn’t tend to open up much new explorporting research on two levels: He wanted to keep atory science. his support local rather than send it to research However, donations like this one create opportucenters in other cities, and he wanted to partner with nity for researchers to work on projects NIH might a top-notch scientific institution able to conduct cutdeem too risky. And success would likely help KU ting edge research related to spinal cord injury. and the IND obtain future additional funding from KU’s Institute for Neurological Discoveries, a NIH, the Department of Defense and others, bringnew model developed with just this kind of purpose ing new opportunities. in mind, was poised to work with him. To prepare The IND was set up for just this purpose, Smith for potential opportunities, the IND formed in 2008 said, with teams preassembled and resources in after identifying research strengths at the medical place to respond rapidly. “This is the culmination of center and affiliated regional institutions. Six specialexactly what we were trying to accomplish,” he said. ties were identified addressing some 22 conditions, “It serves as a template for people as a way to get spinal cord injuries among them. With appropriate involved: You can make a difference.” funding, Smith said, the IND could become preeminent in any of these areas of research.

He said relatively few institutions have adopted YOU CAN HELP this partnership model. “Donors have specific endTo support this research or any other points in mind, and we’ve developed specific mileprogram at the KU Medical Center, contact Stephanie Grinage, 913-588-5552 stones that we believe will take us toward those endor sgrinage@kuendowment.org, or visit points,” he said. “We’ve done this with the highest kuendowment.org/KUMC. level of scientific integrity, so it’s really good science, but we also have catered to the needs of the patient.”

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Randolph Nudo works to map areas of the brain that send signals to muscles. He is assisted by Shawn Frost, Ph.D., research assistant professor of molecular and integrative physiology.

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Soar

with us

PHOTOGRAPHY | EARL RICHARDSON AND RYAN WAGGONER

and friends celebrated the launch of Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas, at Allen Fieldhouse on April 28.

There was a lot to celebrate, too — an ambitious $1.2 billion goal to benefit KU and The University of Kansas Hospital to be met by 2016, and the announcement that donors had given $612 million so far.

The fieldhouse was transformed for the event, which featured Professor of Voice Joyce Castle, the KU Chamber Singers and the KU Marching Band. Interactive areas were devoted to showcasing how various programs are working hard to build an even greater university.

Far Above seeks support to educate future leaders, advance medicine, accelerate discovery and drive economic growth to seize the opportunities of the future. To learn about the campaign and its goals, visit farabove.org.

EARLY 450 KU ALUMNI

These underwriters helped make the event possible: Jean and Joe Brandmeyer; Suzanne Deal Booth and David G. Booth; Capitol Federal; and IMA.

MORE See more kickoff photos at kuendowment.org/ kugiving.

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ACROSS KU

AN UNENDING ARIA THE LATE Elisabeth Collins, M.D., wanted her estate

and that of her late husband, Dean T. Collins, M.D., to benefit students at KU, his alma mater. Their $1.7 million estate gift established the Dean T. and Elisabeth Collins Scholarship to provide full support for KU students to study longer-term — a semester or a year — at an institution of higher education in Germany. While the scholarship is open to students of various majors, its focus is on opera students.

From vastly different beginnings, both became psychiatrists. Elisabeth grew up in Germany during

was on the staff of Kansas State Hospital and other institutions. Both also later worked in private practice.

World War II, and Dean was reared south of Junction

They shared a lifelong love of opera, attending as

City, Kan. After he earned an M.D. from KU in 1955,

many as 150 operas a year and visiting all the world’s

he served a residency at the University of Tübingen,

major opera houses several times. Elisabeth’s native

where Elisabeth was his supervisory physician.

Germany lay at the heart of their love of opera, and

After Dean returned to Kansas, they corresponded

they felt KU opera students would benefit from

by mail, and in 1959, he convinced her to cross the

extended study, absorbing the language and culture.

ocean and become his wife. In Topeka, Dean was a

— Lisa Scheller

staff psychiatrist at the Menninger Clinic; Elisabeth

BETH WHITTAKER, head of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, offers this update on the story in our previous issue about the remodeled Marilyn Stokstad Reading Room at the library: “I’m happy to report that, since remodeling the entryway and creating the new reading room, we are already seeing a major increase in visitors — nearly double the number of visitors this semester over last — and returning visitors seem as thrilled as the Spencer staff with the improvements, all of which were made possible

by Dr. Stokstad’s generous gift.”

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BOTTOM: BRIAN GOODMAN/TOP (2): COURTESY OF CHERYL COLLINS

SHE BUILT IT, THEY HAVE COME

TO CHANGE THE WORLD MARGE FRANKLIN was a woman of “firsts.” In

1956, she became the first woman to graduate from KU’s aeronautical (now aerospace) engineering program. She was the first woman in the United States to be initiated into the Sigma Tau engineering honor society and the first woman to serve on the KU School of Engineering Advisory Board.

She also became internationally known for her expertise in the areas of municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, recycling and material flows methodology.

“MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH KU AND THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING WAS IMMEDIATE AND LIFELONG.”

— MARGE FRANKLIN

When Franklin received the KU Distinguished Engineering Service Award in 2003, she said, “My love affair with KU and the School of Engineering was immediate and lifelong. No matter how I try, I can never repay this school for the difference it has made in my life.”

After Franklin died in 2011, her family and friends began giving back to honor her memory and transform more students’ lives. More than 50 donations quickly raised the Marjorie Franklin Women in Engineering Scholarship above the $30,000 minimum to be endowed, and the

LEFT: COURTESY OF JANICE WILSON/RIGHT: STEVE PUPPE

scholarship will be awarded in perpetuity.

Franklin’s family said, “Marge’s message for those in the engineering field was, ‘Engineers have changed the world and will continue to do so.’ We hope scholarship recipients will use the knowledge gained at KU to change and

HALL FOUNDATION RISES TO CHALLENGE has pioneered interdisciplinary initiatives at KU since 1976. It coordinates the oldest high-profile public lecture series on campus, the Humanities Lecture Series. Its programs provide models of successful programming now used by humanities centers nationwide. And now, the Hall Center is working to match a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities — the third in the center’s history.

The $425,000 challenge grant requires that the center raise $1.275 million in private gifts by July 31, 2015. In April, a $360,000 gift from the Hall Family Foundation put the Hall Center closer to meeting the challenge. At the same time, the foundation gave $430,000 to fund renovations and improvements to the center’s building, including creation of a new seminar room and two office spaces.

The center received the latest NEH challenge grant in 2011. When met, the grant will provide a $1.7 million endowment to create two new programs at the Hall Center — Research Collaboratives and Scholars on Site — that will encourage collaborative research in the humanities and put KU on the map for innovative studies in the field. The programs will transform the conduct of research in humanities disciplines, and create public scholarship that meets community needs and demonstrates the relevance of the humanities to the public wellbeing.

— Katie Coffman THE HALL CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES

improve the world.”

— Jessica Sain-Baird

YOU CAN HELP Humanities disciplines enrich every life. To help the Hall Center meet its latest challenge, contact Molly Paugh at 785-832-7428 or mpaugh@kuendowment.org, or visit kuendowment.org/hallcenter_neh.

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ACROSS KU

MORE See video of students playing the Disklavier at kuendowment.org/kugiving.

Soojin Kim, Bloomington, Ind., graduate student, listens as the Disklavier replays her rendition of Robert Schumann’s Fantasie. “I love it and I hate it at the same time,” she said. “I hear all my mistakes.”

stand in Scott McBride Smith’s office in Murphy Hall, a scuffed old Steinway and a brand-new Yamaha Disklavier. Smith, Division Director of Piano, is more excited these days about the Yamaha: “This is the greatest new piano teaching tool in 150 years.”

You could call it a cyberpiano. Each key has a laser sensor and a microchip. An electronic controller can record every detail of a performance and play it all back at any tempo. The piano can communicate through a standard Internet connection with other Disklaviers worldwide. They can play each other’s performances, live or recorded. It even has a remote.

During playback, the keys and pedals move. Students and teachers can slow down rapid passages to reveal details of technique that are difficult to perceive in real time.

TWO GRAND PIANOS

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KU GIVING | SUMMER 2012

The School of Music is attracting increasing numbers of international applicants who can’t always afford to travel here to audition. “With this, someone in Singapore can play, and we can hear it in real time,” Smith said. “It is essentially a live audition.”

The piano allows KU musicians to give lessons or teach master classes to students around the world.

“This enables YOU CAN HELP us to reach out To support the Piano Division, please to the world of contact Mike Arp, 785-832-7410 or marp@kuendowment.org, or visit piano playing, kuendowment.org/pianodiv. which is an international art now,” Smith said. “We can let the world know what we’re doing here in Kansas.”

The school bought the piano using unrestricted funds from the Templeton Fund in Music.

— Charles Higginson

EARL RICHARDSON

A TUNE HEARD ’ROUND THE WORLD

GREATER KU FUND

EVENTS, REVERENT AND RAUCOUS allow the university to direct funds where no other support exists, and enhance what makes KU a world-class institution. This fund is made possible by unrestricted gifts.

The Greater KU Fund provides support for a wide variety of special events — including Commencement, Homecoming, Band Day, Traditions Night and KU’s presence at the Kansas State Fair.

GIFTS TO THE GREATER KU FUND

BY THE NUMBERS These KU outreach efforts and campus celebrations have been enabled by unrestricted giving

40+ recognition events on the Lawrence campus and 26,000 guests in Memorial Stadium for Commencement in 2012

9,500 guests at Traditions Night, an annual Hawk Week event involving the Marching Jayhawks, Cheer Squad, mascots and coaches Graduates find many ways to express Jayhawk Love at Commencement.

10 days spent representing KU at the Kansas State Fair

2,600+ admissions booklets

EARL RICHARDSON (2)

distributed at the Fair MORE Find more commencement photos at kuendowment.org/ kugiving.

40,000+ Jayhawk buttons distributed at the Fair

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KU VOICES

HEALING BY DEGREES A retired Army sergeant, Kortney Clemons graduated in spring 2012 with a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction through the Army Wounded Warrior Education Initiative. Clemons served as a combat medic for five years and was wounded during a combat tour in Iraq with the First Cavalry Division. He trained with the KU track and field team to prepare for national trials for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London but was not selected to the U.S. team.

Tell us about your service history.

How did you get interested in

I joined the Army in 2001 as a combat medic.

I assisted troops and was the first-line responder.

I was injured 12 months into the Iraq deployment, on Feb. 21, 2005. We stopped on the road to help injured passengers in an overturned vehicle. An IED exploded while I was helping carry someone to a Blackhawk helicopter. I lost my right leg above the knee. Three other servicemen died.

the Paralympics?

What brought you to KU?

KU has been outstanding, allowing me to be a volunteer coach and train with the other athletes. It made my training so much better and made me part of the team. We motivate each other. The young athletes keep me young, and they look at me and figure if I can do it, so can they.

What are your plans and goals?

I am disappointed I didn’t go to London, but I’m not bitter about the journey at all. I have a lifelong love of education and believe my experience will help me teach others. I am working with the School of Advanced Leadership Tactics at Fort Leavenworth and plan to continue working for the Army. And I hope to continue working with people with disabilities, especially children.

Kortney Clemons prepares to burn up the track at Memorial Stadium.

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KU GIVING | SUMMER 2012

How has KU supported your training?

What has the Army Wounded Warrior Education Initiative meant to you?

It means a lot, because it is the Army taking care of one of its own, and it has allowed me to follow another career path. I’m grateful to be a part of it.

It’s going to positively affect my life moving forward.

How can private giving benefit veterans?

Support can mean a lot, especially if someone wants to come back and get an advanced degree. Having military personnel get a degree and a new career so they can help their families is a good thing.

— Valerie Gieler YOU CAN HELP With the aid of donors, KU’s Office of Professional Military Education has established a Wounded Warrior Scholarship Fund open to wounded veterans and their primary caregivers and dependents. To support it, contact Jerome Davies, 785-832-7460 or jdavies@kuendowment.org, or visit kuendowment.org/warriors.

STEVE PUPPE

During my recovery, I learned about an adaptive program and went to school to get my bachelor’s degree.

Later on, the Army Wounded Warrior Education Initiative at Fort Leavenworth brought me to Kansas.

The program is set up for wounded warriors to get a master’s degree and continue military careers or be civilian employees.

The U.S. Paralympics came to the hospital and held a Learn to Run Clinic. Seeing a person with the same injury as mine running inspired me. Initially, I couldn’t run, so I got involved in powerlifting and was on several teams. Then I pursued running and have been doing that ever since.

PAST AND PRESENT

Decades ago, the American Elms that lined Jayhawk Boulevard met in the middle.

This spring, students planted 10 redbud trees to replace several lost in recent years.

COURTESY OF SPENCER RESEARCH LIBRARY, KU LIBRARIES/INSET: CHARLES HIGGINSON

MADE IN THE SHADE students and faculty honored a 134-year-old KU tradition by planting 10 redbud trees along Jayhawk Boulevard. The trees replaced others that were removed a few years ago to allow repairs to underground steam tunnels.

On the same date in 1878, KU faculty and students planted more than 300 evergreen, hackberry, elm and honey locust saplings on Mount Oread. Chancellor James Marvin declared the day a holiday. The Class of 1945, at the suggestion of Eleanor Malott, wife of Chancellor Deane Malott, made a gift to purchase 1,200 redbud, plum and apple trees.

Unfortunately, like the canopy of elms that once arched over Jayhawk Boulevard, many of these trees have been lost to age, storms or disease.

Now, student groups have partnered with the university to maintain our beloved trees.

— Charles Higginson ON MARCH 29,

YOU CAN HELP Right now, there’s a bonus: Historic Mount Oread Friends, a campus organization, has made a challenge grant to continue the effort to replant Mount Oread. Visit kuendowment. org/replantmountoread —and plant a tree.

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P.O. Box 928 Lawrence, KS 66044-0928

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Lawrence, Kansas Permit No. 72

LAUREN CUNNINGHAM

The Memorial Campanile casts a long shadow in the midst of its 61st summer.

Make a gift to build a greater university at www.kuendowment.org/givetoku