A Fort Hays State University graduate and his wife will donate $1.6 million over the next four years to the northwest Kansas school.

Peter Werth said Thursday the couple wants the gift used for education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and for the university’s chemistry department.

Werth is a Hays native who received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the university in 1959.

He is the founder and CEO of Connecticut-based ChemWerth, which develops pharmaceutical ingredients to produce generic drugs.

Werth announced the gift ahead of receiving Fort Hays State’s Alumni Achievement Award.