Inventor Gives $2 Million To University Of Kansas

A University of Kansas graduate who invented a synthetic gel called “Superflab” for use in radiology clinics has donated $2 million to the university for a professorship and two scholarships.

Gene Feaster, of Leawood, received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1940 and a doctorate in physics in 1953.

The university said Thursday the gift includes $1 million to establish the Ida Johnson Feaster Professorship at the KU School of Nursing, named for Feaster’s late wife. The other $1 million created two endowed scholarship funds, one in nursing and the other in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Feaster twice was named “Inventor of the Year” while working at Westinghouse and holds 10 U.S. patents. He taught radiation therapy at KU Medical Center from 1977 until his retirement in 1992.