Former Kansas State president Jon Wefald, 84, passes away in Minnesota – Kansas Reflector

MANHATTAN — Jon Wefald, who served as president of Kansas State College for 23 years, died in Minnesota at age 84, officers mentioned Monday.

Wefald, the land-grant college’s twelfth president, handed away Saturday. He led Okay-State from July 1986 to June 2009.

“Dr. Wefald’s legacy is one in all transformation, progress and a real ardour for our nice college,” mentioned Richard Linton, the present president of Kansas State. “I’m honored and challenged by the chance to share the expertise of serving as Okay-State’s president and can attempt to honor the instance he set by means of his service.”

Whereas Wefald served at Kansas State the college added 2.2 million sq. toes of latest buildings, together with the addition to Hale Library, the Marianna Kistler Seaside Museum of Artwork and the Okay-State Alumni Middle. Philanthropy at Kansas State elevated from $6 million a yr to almost $100 million yearly, whereas analysis funding grew from $18 million yearly to almost $134 million.

In 1999, Wefald and colleagues wrote “Homeland Protection Meals Security, Safety and Emergency Preparedness Program” — often known as “The Huge Purple Ebook.” The ebook outlined the college’s infectious illness analysis packages and established Okay-State as a biodefense chief. This status was crucial within the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety’s 2009 resolution to call Manhattan as website of the Nationwide Bio- and Agro-Protection Facility, or NBAF.

Wefald’s efforts for development of the Biosecurity Analysis Institute on the Manhattan campus performed an element in touchdown NBAF.

Throughout his tenure, Wefald oversaw a rise in enrollment from round 16,000 college students to greater than 23,000. Additionally, throughout this time, Okay-State produced 125 Rhodes, Truman, Goldwater and Udall students — greater than some other public college within the nation.

Outdoors of lecturers, Okay-State Athletics, particularly soccer, carried out properly after hiring of Invoice Snyder as coach in 1989. Snyder received convention championships earlier than retiring.

“Jon was not solely a really particular chief of Kansas State College but in addition an exquisite husband, father, grandfather and buddy,” Snyder mentioned. “Jon was a serious a part of the rationale we got here to Manhattan. He was all the time so very decided to help our program and all different packages — athletic and tutorial — to develop into the perfect they could possibly be.”

Funeral companies are pending and knowledge shall be obtainable at a later date.