|
Expanded KU Flight Test Complex will help aerospace engineering
students
 |
|
Fellow Jayhawks -- The Jayhawk greeted
Walter and Jayne Garrison at Kansas City International
Airport upon their return to the area to announce their
$2 million gift for KU's Flight Test Complex.
|
A $2 million pledge from a retired Fortune 1000 executive
and his wife will help remodel and expand the facilities of
the University of Kansas flight test complex housed at the
Lawrence Municipal Airport. KU's flight test facility is the
only research center of its kind in the upper Great Plains
region, and one of fewer than 10 at universities nationwide
The pledge to the Kansas University Endowment Association
from Walter and Jayne Garrison of Rose Tree, Pa., will support
the department of aerospace engineering complex at the airport.
Half of their pledge will allow the department to renovate,
furnish and equip the upper floor of the department's hangar;
remodel the building's façade; and purchase a new fully
equipped flight test aircraft. The hangar includes bays for
the program's two existing flight test aircraft, a classroom,
offices and machine and electrical shops.
The remaining $1 million will establish an endowed fund to
maintain the facilities. "Walt Garrison is representative
of the many outstanding graduates of KU's aerospace engineering
program," Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway said. "This
generous gift will provide aerospace engineering students
with the best resources for hands-on learning, helping them
develop into the next generation of leaders in the field."
Stuart R. Bell, dean of engineering, thanked the Garrisons.
"The School of Engineering is deeply appreciative of
the Garrisons' gift," Bell said. "The gift will
have a perpetual impact on our students and faculty through
establishment of the facility and through the lasting message
that this gift communicates."
Walt, e '48, g'50, is the retired chairman, president and
CEO of CDI Corporation, an engineering and technology outsourcing
company headquartered in Philadelphia.
"I feel my outstanding KU technical education instilled
in me a committed belief in life-long learning," he said.
"Jayne and I are delighted to be able to make this commitment.
I credit my education as a student in the aerospace department
at KU as enabling me to gain successes I never dreamed were
possible."
David Downing, professor of aerospace engineering, said flight
testing experiences were invaluable for future aerospace engineers.
"Flight testing enhances a young engineer's training
in aerodynamics, flight dynamics, propulsion and structures,"
he said. "Most of a student's education is done with
paper and pencil or computers. The chance to deal with real
hardware — to actually design, build and test equipment
that doesn't always work — is a major enhancement."
After earning his KU bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace
engineering, Walt began his career as a stress engineer on
the B-52 bomber at Boeing Co. in Seattle. He joined CDI in
1956 as chief engineer and became chairman, president and
chief executive officer in 1961. He served in those capacities
until his retirement in 1997. By then, CDI employed 33,000
people, including 14,000 engineers, CAD designers and support
staff, plus 4,000 programmers and other information technology
professionals. Following his retirement, he has continued
to serve as board chairman.
Jayne is a retired corporate interior designer. She said
she and her husband enjoy supporting the Pennsylvania Institute
of Technology, an associate degree-granting college Walt founded
in 1953, scouting and other philanthropic activities, as well
as playing golf, traveling and "parenting and grandparenting"
their seven children and 16 grandchildren. The Garrisons'
pledge counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest
in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history.
#top#
|
