11/9/2004

Contact: Carolyn Barnes, KU Alumni Association, (785) 864-4760

KU alumni, endowment associations to honor Pete Talbott for volunteer service

LAWRENCE -- The Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment Association will honor Fenton R. “Pete” Talbott of Bedford, N.Y., for his longtime volunteer efforts on behalf of the University of Kansas.

Chancellor Robert Hemenway, Endowment Association President Dale Seuferling and Alumni Association President Kevin Corbett will present Talbott the Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award at a reception for the Chancellors Club, KU Endowment's major donor organization, on Nov. 30 in New York City.

Talbott, a native of McPherson, received his bachelor's degree in history from KU in 1963, followed by an MBA in 1965. As a longtime executive in the financial industry, he is an operating principal with McCown De Leeuw & Co. Inc., a private equity firm. Previously he had leadership roles at Comerica Bank, American Express, Bank of America, the First Boston Corp. and Citibank Corp. He began his career at Ford Motor Co. after being recruited while a student.

Talbott has assisted his alma mater in numerous ways. He is a trustee of the KU Endowment Association; a major donor to KU First, the association's historic fund drive to raise more than $600 million; and played a major role in the northeast region during Campaign Kansas, KU's second major fund drive. He has helped guide fund-raising efforts for the School of Business, for which he has served on the Board of Advisers, and he is a member of the Chancellors Club.

For the Alumni Association, Talbott served on the national Board of Directors from 1990 to 1995, advising on international programs, student programs and the Jayhawks for Higher Education. He and his wife, Judith, also a McPherson native, are life members of the association and donors to the Williams Educational Fund, which supports scholarships through KU Athletics for student-athletes.

The Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award, created in 1986 by the Alumni Association, honors volunteers who serve as KU ambassadors in their home communities. The award is named for Clodfelter, who received a bachelor's degree in 1941 from KU and worked at KU for 47 years, 42 of them at the Alumni Association. Clodfelter, known to countless Jayhawks nationwide, retired in 1986 and lives in Lawrence.