Marshall and Kathleen Short use matching funds to provide financial assistance to students in the College of Engineering.
As a class of ’82 graduate, Marshall Short has fond memories of attending athletic events, especially basketball games in the old stadium, and competing in intramural sports with a large group of friends. With a well-balanced social and academic life, Marshall had a very challenging engineering curriculum, recalling many inspirational discussions with professors and lots of fun study groups and lab projects.
Helping future engineers make a big, positive impact is the main motivator for Marshall to give back to the community that gave him so much. “I got a strong educational foundation at K-State and have had a successful career,” Marshall said. “K-State helped me make the transition from a small town farm boy to a big company in a large city.”
Marshall and Kathleen would like to see the K-State College of Engineering break into a top-rated school with the resources that allow the professors and students to create world class labs and work on critical research. “I want the students to have access to top professors and obtain engineering degrees that are relevant and transition well to growing industry needs,” Marshall said.
The Shorts utilized the K-State Family Scholarship Program to create a scholarship for engineering students — a lasting fund that will provide students a financial resource well into the future.
With the K-State Family Scholarship Program, new gifts of $30,000 are matched with $30,000 from the seed fund provided by Carl and Mary Ice, for a total of $60,000. $10,000 goes into an expendable fund, making $2,000 scholarships available to be awarded to students immediately. The remaining $50,000 goes into the endowment, ensuring future generations of Wildcats will receive scholarships as well.
Marshall and Kathleen encourage others to do as they have. “If you have the means, it is great to invest in our future generations and their education,” Marshall said. “There is a sense of pride, but more importantly, you can have a very positive impact on someone who has the desire, but may not have the financial means to pursue a (engineering) degree.”
Learn more about how you can take advantage of matching opportunities through the K-State Family Scholarship Program at ksufoundation.org/family, or contact John Morris, senior vice president of development, via email or at 785-775-2007.
The K-State Family Scholarship Program supports Innovation and Inspiration: The Campaign for Kansas State University, raising $1.4 billion in support of K-State students, faculty and programs.
