February 8, 2015 | Read Time: 1 minute
Amount donated in 2014: $58-million
Beneficiary: University of Kansas
Background: Mr. Self was president of Allen Financial, a holding company, and he led Bee Chemical, which he sold in 1984.
The Selfs met in 1943 as students at the University of Kansas, and that is where they chose to leave $58-million, the bulk of their estate. The Selfs, who both died in 2013 at age 91, directed $39-million of the total toward a fellowship program for doctoral students in STEM disciplines. The couple established the fellowship in 1989.
Of the remainder, the Selfs directed $15-million to an engineering fellowship they established in 2006 and $4-million to create a fellowship program to benefit graduating seniors.
Mr. Self earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1943, and Ms. Self did not graduate.
