November 10, 1998
The gift from Marjorie H. Kaff of Rocklin, Calif., to the Kansas University Endowment Association has endowed the Marjorie H. Kaff Geriatric Medicine Scholarship Fund in the KU School of Medicine.
"This is a very exciting gift for the KU School of Medicine," Powell said. "Gerontology is a growing, multidisciplinary field, and its need for physicians is great. Surely, this generous scholarship will help to encourage young physicians to pursue a specialty in gerontological medicine or research. We are deeply grateful to Marjorie Kaff for her vision and commitment to the education of our future physicians and scientists."
Kaff was born and raised in Michigan Valley, Kan., a town that used to stand on the site of the Pomona Reservoir, and she attended high school in Overbrook, Kan. In 1948, Kaff graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in education with a history emphasis. While at KU, she lived for two years in Watkins Scholarship Hall and was named a four-sport all-star in women's intramural sports.
She taught social studies in the Cottonwood Falls schools for a year after graduation and was commissioned into the U.S. Navy. She served nine and a half years and rose to lieutenant senior grade. After leaving the Navy, Kaff taught high school in Auburn, Calif., for 25 years. She retired in 1986.
"Some of the best years of my life were spent at KU," Kaff said. "I have always kept KU in my mind, and in the last few years, I have become aware of the increasing need for gerontology study and services in our society. Not only am I getting older, but my reading tells me that our population is aging and that we will have a lot of old folks with an increasing need for care as the years go by. "
Kaff is member of the Kansas Alumni Association and a life member of the Chancellors Club, KU's major-donor organization. A longtime supporter of KU, Kaff has donated to the School of Allied Health and the Greater University Fund, which provides unrestricted support for KU.
The gift will be administered by the KU Endowment Association, the official fund-raising and fund management organization for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, the Endowment Association is the oldest foundation of its type at a public university in the United States and one of the largest.
Story by Karla Menaugh, (785) 832-7400