By investing in faculty, Mike and Becky Goss help advance K-State faculty and students.
Professors are the heart of Kansas State University; they teach, mentor and inspire students. A couple of extraordinary professors inspired Mike Goss to create a faculty enrichment fund in the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences at K-State. Goss, a 1981 economics graduate, is originally from Great Bend, Kansas, played on K-State’s men’s tennis team and is a second-generation Wildcat. He and his wife, Becky, live in New York where he currently works as the chief financial officer for Sotheby’s.
As an economist, Goss realizes his support of faculty will benefit more people and have the largest impact at K-State. “By supporting faculty, you can actually influence a lot more lives by funding one great professor than you can by funding one great student,” Goss said. “To me, there’s a lot of leverage in giving financial support to a professor.”
Besides the faculty enrichment fund, Goss has also been a major investor in the Roger Trenary Chair for Excellence in Economic Instruction. Dr. Dan Kuester, who teaches hundreds of students in the introductory economic classes, holds this chair and exemplifies how supporting one faculty member benefits many students.
Mike and Becky Goss do see the importance of investing in student enrichment at K-State, though, and about five years ago created the Goss Discovery Scholarship study abroad award. This program supports 25 students a year so they may have an international experience. “I funded this scholarship program to help Kansas kids see the world,” Goss said. “The world is getting smaller and I want K-State students to know they can go abroad to study and be just as competitive as anyone else.”
The Goss Discovery Scholarship has helped 125 students experience the life-changing opportunity of living in a different culture and furthering their education in another country. Through this scholarship, his faculty support, other financial investments and volunteering of his time, Goss follows through on his belief that it’s important to help make a difference.
“I live in New York, so giving to K-State enables me to stay connected to Kansas and to K-State,” Goss said. “I want to see the university and the state prosper. If I can help, I want to do it. I have this belief — if not me, then who?”
