October 19, 1999
Contact: John Scarffe, KU Endowment, (785) 832-7336.
LAWRENCE -- A loan fund established by a $10,000 gift from late Wichita attorney Arthur L. Sparks has given four University of Kansas law students some much needed financial help.
The gift to the Kansas University Endowment Association came from Sparks in memory of his wife, Elaine D. Sparks, who preceded him in death. Since the fund was established in July 1998, the law students have received a total of $8,000.
Arthur L. Sparks graduated from KU with a bachelor's degree in 1935 and a law degree in 1938. He also attended London University and the Hague Academy of International Law. After serving as a lieutenant in air combat intelligence for the Navy during World War II, he returned to Kansas to practice law. He retired from practice in 1996 and died early last month. Elaine D. Sparks attended KU and received a bachelor's degree in education from Baker University in 1940. She was a retired real estate agent at the time of her death in 1997. The couple had six children.
"We are very grateful to Mr. Sparks for his generous gift," said Michael H. Hoeflich, dean of KU's School of Law. "There is no issue in legal education today of more importance than affordability. Mr. Sparks' gift makes a KU legal education affordable for students who otherwise might have been unable to attend."
The KU Endowment Association is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-management foundation for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, the KU Endowment Association is the oldest foundation of its type at a public university in the United States and one of the largest.
Story by Caryn Goldberg