Contact: John Scarffe, KU Endowment Association, (785) 832-7336.
LAWRENCE - A retired Johnson County official and University of Kansas alumnus has given nearly $45,000 to establish scholarships for graduate students in the Department of Public Administration, John Nalbandian, department chairman, announced today.
Richard B. Chesney of Olathe gave stock to the KU Endowment Association to endow the Richard Chesney Scholarship Fund. The scholarship will be awarded to public administration graduate students with preference given to minority students and graduates of Kansas high schools. "We deeply appreciate this gift from Dick," Nalbandian said. "He has served the department in many ways over the years, and he continues to be a model of professionalism who always is willing to share with those just entering city management."
Chesney said he established the scholarship because he has always been interested in mentoring and helping students. "After spending 40 years in public administration and 25 years in Kansas, I saw this gift as a way to get more minorities involved in our local governments and to help kids from Kansas, too."
Chesney was born in Detroit and graduated from high school in Roseville, Mich. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1957 and a master's degree in public administration from KU in 1959.
After earning his master's degree, Chesney became the assistant city manager in Lombard, Ill., and later in Middletown, Ohio. In 1965, he became the city manager in Marshall, Mich., where he spent the next nine years. He returned to Kansas in 1974 when he became the city manager in El Dorado. Eleven years later, he became the deputy county administrator for Johnson County. He retired in 1998.
Chesney continues to be involved in public administration. In the last year, he has been interim city manager for Hoisington and then interim city administrator for Cheney, and currently he is interim city administrator for Bel Aire.
A longtime contributor for KU's Department of Public Administration, Chesney also has provided support for the Williams Educational Fund for athletics.
Chesney is a life member of the International City/County Management Association and a member of the Kansas Association of City/County Management. At KU, he is a life member of the Alumni Association and treasurer and past president of Kansas University City Managers and Trainees, the alumni group of the Department of Public Administration.
He and his wife, Marcia, have two daughters, Cynthia Chesney Mies, who received a bachelor's degree in linguistics from KU in 1988, and Jennifer Chesney Schulz, who received a bachelor's degree in psychology from KU in 1991.
KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management foundation for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the oldest foundation of its type at a public university in the United States and one of the largest.