Contact: John Scarffe, KU Endowment Association, (785) 832-7336.
LAWRENCE--A $38,000 gift from a University of Kansas alumna has established the first-ever tuition scholarship for graduate students at KU's Higuchi Biosciences Center, Charles Decedue, executive director, announced today.
Barbara Johnson Bishop of Longview, Wash., gave securities to the Kansas University Endowment Association to establish the Johnson Bishop Scholarship for graduate students at the Higuchi Biosciences Center, a family of research centers at KU. The member centers conduct research across disciplines, including pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology and toxicology. The scholarship will be used to help recruit graduate students in these fields.
"The gift from Barbara Johnson Bishop gives us an opportunity to be competitive with elite graduate schools by allowing us to do more for our students," Decedue said. "Mrs. Bishop understands that we struggle constantly to attract top-notch graduate students, and her gift will help level that playing field."
Bishop comes from a KU family. Her father, C.B. Johnson, and her mother, Blanche Lorimer Johnson, graduated from KU in 1916. Bishop grew up in Eudora. In 1946, she received her first bachelor's degree, in zoology, from KU. Two years later, she received a bachelor's degree from KU's physical therapy program. As a KU student, she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
Bishop began her physical therapy career at Wadsworth Veterans Hospital in Leavenworth. She transferred to a veterans hospital in Portland, Ore., where she met her husband, Fred H. Bishop, a physician. Barbara Bishop retired from physical therapy work when she and her husband moved to Washington 45 years ago. She raised two sons, including 1979 KU graduate Brent Bishop. For 14 years, she participated in the local medical auxiliary.
An accomplished cook, she co-authored a cookbook called "Grand Slam." Her recipes were featured in Bon Appetit magazine.
Through the years, Bishop has provided support for many KU divisions, including the Dolph Simons Biosciences Research Laboratories, the Spencer Museum of Art and the School of Medicine. She is a life member of the KU Alumni Association and the Chancellors Club, KU Endowment's major-donor organization.
KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization 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.