Estate gift supports multiple areas across campus.
Dr. Charles Wilson has enjoyed a successful career as a research scientist in the public sector, but he never forgot the people and places of Kansas State University.
While at K-State earning his bachelor’s degree in 1962, graduate degree in 1964 and doctorate in 1972, the mechanical engineering major learned firsthand the value of faculty and the K-State Libraries. When creating a plan for his estate, he decided to include gifts to Kansas State University in his will, creating four different gifts to support a student scholarship, faculty chair, engineering excellence fund and the Library Acquisition Endowment.
“I have no family to take care of, so where are my money and assets going to go?” Wilson said. “Working with the KSU Foundation, I decided to make my support for the university a long-term commitment.”
Wilson was motivated to support faculty in remembrance of his graduate professor, James M. Bowyer, Jr., who helped him line up job interviews in the San Diego, California area Wilson still calls home today. He was motivated to support scholarships in recognition of the fact that college financing is a serious modern-day issue.
“These days so many kids have to have financial support to make it through college,” he said. “Year after year, we hear how many kids would not be able to have a college education without financial support and how many kids and parents are going into debt to pay for a college education.”
Finally, Wilson wanted to support the Library Acquisition Endowment because he recognized the value K-State Libraries bring to the graduate and doctoral education.
“I became aware that there were a lot of academic libraries that were a lot better funded than our library,” Wilson said. “I wanted to help improve the library for the use of the students and make additional resources available.”
To learn how you can support K-State through your estate plan, please visit k-statelegacy.org or contact the Gift Planning Department at 785-775-2000 or giftoptions@ksufoundation.org.
