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K-State Today

February 4, 2014

New endowed scholarship supports architecture students

Submitted by Hayli Morrison

Robert and Kathy Jonas, Overland Park, were proud when their son, Tim, achieved his lifelong dream of graduating from K-State's College of Architecture, Planning & Design. They were also thrilled to discover the ease of helping other K-State students achieve that same dream.

With a $34,000 pledge payable over five years, the couple is gradually funding an endowed scholarship in honor of Tim, who now works as an architectural intern at Flad Architects in San Francisco.

“I think we felt like you’ve got to have lump sum cash to be able to do a scholarship, and we found that not to be true. Doing that over a period of time lets you achieve a large goal by making it more attainable,” said Robert Jonas, who is a 1973 alumni of the K-State College of Business Administration.

The Jonases decided to endow the scholarship, meaning the principal amount would remain invested and the resulting investment earnings would fund the annual scholarship.

“We thought an endowed scholarship was important because it would be something that could go on and on after we’re gone,” Robert Jonas said. “If more people would do that, we could help a lot of students reach their goals.”

The couple was motivated to give for three reasons: a love of K-State, a desire to ease the burden of student loan debt, and to create a vehicle for their family’s continued support of the university.

“Many times decisions are laid out for you due to economics, social pressures, or lack of support, and people’s opportunities are dictated by these circumstances,” Tim Jonas said. “I have had the unique opportunity to choose where and how I want to live, all while pursuing a career that I have chosen and love. This scholarship will provide those same advantages to others and in turn help them achieve that same level of freedom with their futures.”