Late Kansas State grad leaves $17 Million to university

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man who owned and operated an oil and gas company has left a $17 million estate gift to Kansas State University to fund scholarships, the university's foundation announced Thursday.

The gift will establish the Robert E. Campbell Opportunity Scholarship and Robert E. Campbell Opportunity Scholars Recognition Fund.

Campbell graduated from Kansas State's business college in 1950 and was self-taught in how the oil business worked, the university said in a statement. He opened Robert E. Campbell Oil and Gas Operations in Wichita, which he operated for 56 years.

The new donation is in addition to a $1 million gift he made to the College of Business Administration in 2018.

Campbell, who died in March 2021, was inducted into the Kansas State Distinguished Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2016.

“Thousands of students will benefit from this incredible gift as it helps K-State achieve our land-grant promise of providing access to higher education,” said university President Richard Linton.