UI, Kirkwood receive gifts

IOWA CITY -- The University of Iowa Thursday announced a $1 million gift to benefit students and faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, while Kirkwood Community College Thursday announced two estate gifts totaling nearly $550,000.

The UI Foundation received $1 million from the estate of Herman J. "Herm" Schmidt of Greenwich, Conn. The gift establishes the Herman J. and Eileen S. Schmidt Chair in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  

Schmidt, a native of Davenport, earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the UI in 1938. He wanted the named chair to be awarded to a faculty member in any Liberal Arts and Sciences department who demonstrates a priority and emphasis on teaching undergraduates. His wife, Eileen Schmidt, received a UI bachelor's degree in sociology in 1946.

Herman Schmidt was a member of the Presidents Club, which recognizes the university's most generous contributors. In addition, he was a Lifetime Honorary Member of the UI Foundation Board of Directors, and a life member of the UI Alumni Association. After graduating from the UI, he earned his law degree from Harvard. He died in October 2004.

The Kirkwood gifts came from two estates, and will create more scholarship opportunites for students.

More than $350,000 from the estate of Mary Jeanne Palmer, formerly of Cedar Rapids, will create the Mary Jeanne Palmer Memorial Endowed Scholarship to support international study abroad for Kirkwood students.

A gift of $196,880 from the estate of Margaret Jane Sayers, formerly of Belle Plaine, has created the Orville (Bill) and Jane Sayers Endowed Scholarship.  After many years of teaching in Des Moines, Mrs. Sayers and her husband retired to their hometown of Belle Plaine. First consideration for the scholarship will be given to students from Belle Plaine or Blairstown.