WSU professor leaves $2M to chemistry department

A Wichita State University professor has donated $2.2 million to the university’s chemistry department where he spent more than 40 years.

The WSU Foundation says Erach R. Talaty left the money to the chemistry program to help create endowed scholarships and fellowships for students and to establish a teaching and research position for the department.

The Wichita Eagle reports Talaty died in June in Wichita. He was 86.

James Rhatigan, executor of Talaty’s estate and a consultant to the foundation, says the donation is thought to be the largest estate gift given to WSU by any current or former faculty or staff member.

Talaty joined the WSU faculty in 1969. He authored nearly 100 scientific publications and was named the Carnegie Foundation’s Kansas Professor of the Year in 1999.

Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com