Czech Native's $3 Million Bequest to Kansas State University for Czech Students

Joseph and Elizabeth Barton-Dobenin, Weslaco, Texas, have made a commitment of $3 million to the Kansas State University Foundation to establish the Joseph and Elizabeth Barton-Dobenin Student Exchange Program, the Joseph and Elizabeth Barton-Dobenin International Chair and the Joseph and Elizabeth Barton-Dobenin Arts/Library Grants Fund. These funds will help expand their exchange program that brings Czech students to the United States and sends K-Staters to the Czech Republic. Their bequest will also fund faculty exchanges, an international chair and fine arts by bringing Czech music, theater, dance and literature to Manhattan.

Joseph Barton-Dobenin is a native of Prague, Czechoslovakia. He moved to the United States in 1950. He earned a bachelor's degree in business in 1957 and a master's in accounting in 1958 from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He taught business classes at Kansas State University from 1958 to 1985, stopping only to get his doctorate from the University of Nebraska in 1966. He helped start the Small Business Development Center at K-State. Elizabeth Barton-Dobenin grew up on a farm near Wymore, Neb. She worked at a beauty shop in Aggieville for several years. The Barton-Dobenins resided in Manhattan until November 2001.

The Barton-Dobenins are members of Presidents Club, a leadership organization for friends and alumni of K-State. Joesph Barton-Dobenin is also a member of the board of trustees of the KSU Foundation.

"When I was a teacher, there was not much emphasis to recruit international students," Joseph Barton-Dobenin said. "That gave us the idea to recruit Czechs to K-State and the United States for the experience of an international education. We want to send Americans to Prague too. We think our contribution will stimulate this kind of exchange and keep the program growing."

"The student exchange scholarships are the core of a much larger relationship between K-State and the Czech Republic that have benefited from the Barton-Dobenins," said William Richter, the Associate Provost for International Programs at K-State. "They add a personal dimension to this scholarship that makes it special. Joe and Elizabeth provide a great amount of hospitality to the Czech and American students, both here and in Prague, where they visit several times a year. As a result of this, scores of Czech and American students have had wonderful study abroad experiences."

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