A recently deceased Laramie resident and retired educator, Raymond Kennedy, left $1.8 million in scholarship money for the College of Education in his will; the largest donation ever received by the college. .
In a UW press release, Ray Reutzel, College of Education dean, said the scholarships Kennedy’s donation will create would help a multitude of students.
“Ray Kennedy’s generous gift to the College of Education endowing a significant number of student scholarships will open doors of opportunity,” Reutzel said, “making it possible for many students with financial need to pursue the education they need, which will pay Mr. Kennedy’s gift forward to the next generation of K-12 students.”
John Stark, the senior vice president of development for the UW Foundation, worked closely with Ray Kennedy on making sure this money was available for as many students as possible.
“The nice thing about Mr. Kennedy’s donation is that it’s not too restricted. It can be used for in-state students, out-of-state students, undergraduate students and graduate students,” Stark said. “The fact that the language of the agreement is flexible helps in terms of the ease in which this scholarship can be awarded and that’s a very positive thing.”
The College of Education is in the midst of finalizing a process for distributing the funds and could not comment on specific details involving the money at this time.
Stark described Kennedy as a warm person, who was quiet and somewhat private.
“I would call him very humble, a low-key sort of person, obviously very generous,” he said. “He had a vision for wanting to accomplish this and fortunately I was able to help him along with Connie Palmer… and a local attorney to make sure everything was in place so that when he did pass away what he wanted to accomplish was accomplished.”
Connie Palmer, a friend of Kennedy’s, said he felt a connection with UW during his life.
“He came out here and fell in love with Wyoming and with Laramie and this was his home,” Palmer said. “He felt a connection with the University of Wyoming and there was never any doubt that it would go anywhere but to the University of Wyoming.”
Ray Kennedy was born in 1924 and was just eight days short of turning 91 when he passed away on May 1.
