The Kansas State University chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi was established in 1915 and was the fourteenth Phi Kappa Phi chapter organized. Phi Kappa Phi promotes academic excellence in all fields of higher education and recognizes outstanding scholastic achievements by students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

In 2009, Photographic Services became part of the Division of Communications and Marketing at Kansas State University. Previously, it had been part of the News and Editorial Services Department for many years. When Photographic Services started in 1919, it was under the Office of the President. In 1961, the department was first listed as Photographic Services. For many years, the offices for the unit were in the power plant. In 2010, Photographic Services moved to Dole Hall.
F.E. Colburn, who was also a professor of Illustration, was the first College Photographer in 1919. In 1930, Floyd J. Hanna assumed this role until 1966. From 1966 to 1985 David von Reiesen led Photographic Services, and Paul Maginnes led it from 1986 to 1994. Dan Donnert was the head of Photographic Services from 1994 to 2008, and David Mayes has led the unit since 2008 as the Manager of Communications and Marketing Photographic Services.

The Pillsbury family were early residents of Manhattan, Kansas, who settled in the area as part of the anti-slavery movement. Josiah Hobart Pillsbury was born in 1821 in Hebron, New Hampshire to Stephen and Lavinia (Hobart) Pillsbury. Josiah began teaching in public schools in 1840 at the age of 19 and continued to teach in Orange County, New York and Londonderry, New Hampshire in 1844. From 1844 to 1845, he studied engineering while also working for the National Anti-Slavery Standard. In 1847, Josiah met Horace Greeley and became active in the abolitionist movement. Josiah married Alnora Pervier on August 16, 1853. The couple’s first son, Arthur Judson, was born on January 31, 1854. That same year the family moved to Kansas as part of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, settling in Zeandale Township. In 1855, Josiah was chosen as a free-state delegate to the Topeka Constitutional Convention. Josiah and Alnora’s second child, a daughter named Annie, was born on January 25, 1858. Josiah was also active in the Zeandale Township community, first hosting the post office in the family cabin in 1856 and then serving as Justice of the Peace in 1860. The Pillsburys’ third child, a daughter named Ellen, was born on March 5, 1860. In 1863, the family moved to Manhattan, as Josiah served as the county surveyor from 1863 to 1872. Josiah also bought and owned the free-state newspaper The Independent. Alnora died on July 15, 1868. She bore eight children, with four surviving to adulthood: Arthur Judson, Annie M. (Annie Pillsbury Young), Nellie (Ellen Pillsbury Ellsworth Martin) and Mary A. (Mary Pillsbury Akerley). While Josiah worked as the postmaster for Manhattan from 1869 to 1879, he was remarried in 1870 to Mrs. Emma Steele. The couple divorced in 1874. Josiah died on November 12, 1879. He was honored on August 25, 1936, with the naming of Pillsbury Drive in Manhattan.

Gerry L. Posler was born 24 July, 1942 and raised on a farm near Cainsville, MO. He received his B.S. (cum laude) (1964) and M.S. degree (1966) from the University of Missouri, and his Ph.D. degree (1969) from Iowa State University. He served on the Agronomy faculty in the Department of Agriculture at Western Illinois University, Macomb, from 1969 to 1974. Since 1974, he was at at Kansas State University, primarily doing undergraduate Crops teaching and retiring in 2008. He served as Assistant head for Teaching from 1982-1989 and Head of the Department of Agronomy from 1990 - 1998. He co-coordinated the Department of Agronomy Centennial celebration and co-authored the Agronomy Department History in 2006.
Before serving as Head, Dr. Posler's primary activities were teaching and advising, but he also had an active research program in forage management and utilization. At Western Illinois and Kansas State Universities, he taught courses in Crop Science, Plant Science, Forage Management and Utilization, Crop Diseases, World Crops, Crop Breeding, Crop Growth and Development, Internship in Agronomy, Plant and Seed Identification, Grain Grading, and Crops Team. He actively participated as member or chair of many departmental, college and university committees, including extended terms on the Faculty Senate at both WIU and KSU.
His research activities at Kansas State University included management and quality of cool-season grasses, legumes, summer annual and small grain forages, and planning forage systems for beef cattle. He also received USDA-DOE grants to evaluate sweet sorghum as a potential alcohol fuel feedstock. His research and teaching publications include 44 abstracts of papers presented at national meetings, 31 refereed journal articles, more than 30 other technical and popular publications, and 26 book reviews.
Dr. Posler has been advisor to many student groups, including Wheat State Agronomy Club, Plant Science Club, Alpha Zeta, Agriculture Council, and the Student Activities Subdivision of ASA. He coordinated two Comparative Agriculture study tours to Central and South America and two tours to Australia and New Zealand. He initiated a Collegiate Crops Team at WIU and coaches the KSU Collegiate Crops and NACTA Crops Teams. Fourteen of his Collegiate and NACTA Crops Teams were National Champions during 1999-2007.
Dr. Posler is a life member of the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), chairing the NACTA Journal book review board, serving as Central Region Director, Vice President, and President in 1991. He was program chairman for the 29th NACTA Conference at KSU in 1983 and served on the NACTA Foundation Board. He was the first President of the Kansas Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (KACTA) and served as NACTA coordinator for Kansas.
Dr. Posler has been an active participant in the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and Crop Science Society of America (CSSA). He served on numerous committees and was Chair, Division A-la, Student Activities Subdivision; Chair, Division C-3, Crop Ecology, Production, and Management; Associate Editor, Crop Science Journal, Board Representative, Member, ASA Budget and Finance committee; and Chair, Crop Science Research Award, Student Achievement Award, and Collegiate Crops Contest Committees. He was a co-organizer of the KFGC and was Member and Chair of the KFGC Awards Committee.
Dr. Posler holds membership in many honorary and professional societies, including Phi Eta Sigma, Sigma Rho Sigma, Alpha Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi. In addition to NACTA, he is also a member of American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, the American Forage and Grassland Council, the Council of Agricultural Science and Technology (Cornerstone Club), and the Kansas Forage and Grassland Council.
Dr. Posler has received numerous awards, including the Kansas State University College of Agriculture Outstanding Faculty of the Semester (1978,1981,1986,1999, and 2006), the NACTA Teacher Fellow and Outstanding Central Region Fellow awards (1978), the Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award of Merit (1982), the Kansas State University Outstanding Teaching Award (1983), the ASA Agronomic Resident Education Award (1986), the NACTA Ensminger-Interstate Distinguished Teaching Award (1987), the Gamma Sigma Delta Distinguished Faculty Award (1991), the Kansas Forage and Grassland Council Award of Excellence (1992), the KSU NACTA Teaching Award of Merit (1992), the NACTA Distinguished Educator Award (1997), the KSU College of Agriculture Alumni Distinguished Ag Faculty Award (l999), the KSU College of Agriculture Outstanding Advisor Award (2000), the Crop Science Society of America Teaching Award (2002), Gamma Sigma Delta Outstanding Advising Award of Merit (2003), Honorary Membership in the Kansas Crop Improvement Association (2004), and the Collegiate Crops Contest Coaches Committee Appreciation Award (2005).
He was elected Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1988 and the Crop Science Society of America in 1991.

Clearance O. Price was Post Commander at Pearce-Keller American Legion Post 17, Manhattan, Kansas, and later assistant to the president of Kansas State University from 1929 to 1950.

Ada Rice was born in Breckenridge, Missouri, on 21 December 1869.  Her family moved to Clifton, Kansas, in 1878.  She attended Baker University for one year and taught school near Washington, Kansas, for two years. She entered Kansas State Agricultural College (KSAC) in 1889, then left in 1890 to teach high school in her father's place at Clifton.  She then was the assistant principal there in 1891.  Rice returned to KSAC in 1893 and graduated in 1895.  She taught in the grade school at Randolph, Kansas, from 1896 to 1899, and then was an assistant in the Preparatory Department of KSAC from 1899 to 1903.  She received her Life Teacher's Certificate from Kansas in 1900, and became a founding member of the local chapter of the American College Quill Club that same year.  Rice became an assistant in English at KSAC in 1902, earning the title of instructor in English the following year.  She attended the University of Chicago during the summer of 1902 and Harvard University during the summer of 1905.  She spent the summer of 1909 touring Europe.  Rice received her Master's degree from KSAC in 1912.  She was Assistant Principal of the School of Agriculture from 1913 to 1918, and alumni editor of the Industrialist from 1918 to 1920. She spent a sabbatical at Kings College of London University in 1926-1927, and was granted professorship at KSAC in 1927.  Rice was elected president of the KSAC chapter of Phi Kappa Phi in 1932, toured Asia during the summer of 1937, and retired in 1946.  She died on 9 March 1953.

The Robertson Corporation is a family-owned company specializing in grain, feed, and flour milling. The Robertson Corporation was founded in 1881 in Brownstown, Indiana, by the Robertson family, and over the first few decades of its existence, the Corporation specialized in flour production, including wheat flour and refined white flour, using steel-roller mills. In 1900, the Corporation was the first to sell wheat bran as feed, and they continued to develop new flours and feeds into the 1930s. This included inventing self-rising flour in 1931. In 1938, the Corporation developed “glue-extender” flour, the forerunner to Glu-X, which is commonly used today in the plywood furniture industry. The Robertson Corporation expanded to new mills across Indiana throughout the 1940s, and in 1948, the balanced dog food product “Triple-R” was invented. Glu-X was patented by the Corporation in 1957, as was Triple-R in 1966. The Corporation partnered with Kansas State University in 1971 on a research project regarding new cereal starches. In 1980, the Corporation first donated antique mill equipment to the Smithsonian Institute, and this partnership has continued in the years since. Since its founding, the Corporation has continued to be owned and managed by the Robertson family.

Robin David Stewart Higham (June 20, 1925 – August 27, 2015) was a British-American historian, who specialized in aerospace and military history, and also served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Higham was born in London, England to David Higham, a British veteran of the World War I and Margaret Anne Stewart, an American. He grew up in London but had met relatives in Texas and Oklahoma with his mother in 1929 and 1935. Following the outbreak of the Battle of Britain in 1940, Higham's parents sent him to the United States. He attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. He married Barbara Jane Davies (1927-2017) on August 5, 1950. They had four children: Peter, Susan, Martha, and Carol; they had three grandchildren at the time of his death. Higham lived in Manhattan, Kansas for the majority of his life and became an American citizen in 1959. He died in Manhattan, Kansas and is buried there in Sunrise Cemetery with Barbara.

From 1943 to 1947, Higham served as a pilot and flight sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Europe and Asia (Burma Road). Higham studied at the University of New Hampshire and Harvard University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1950 cum laude. In 1953, he received his master's degree at Claremont Graduate University in California.

From 1954 to 1957, Higham was an instructor at the University of Massachusetts. He received a PhD in 1957 from Harvard with a dissertation on the development of aviation in Great Britain. For the next six years, until 1963, he was an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, where he was co-founder of the National Security Seminar of Duke University and University of North Carolina. In 1963, Higham became a professor at Kansas State University. He was granted professor emeritus in 1999.

Though he described himself as a "historical generalist" in a 1998 interview, Higham's primary publications were on the subject of aeronautics, especially military-scientific aspects. He did, however, also write extensively on geopolitics in general.

He was editor of Military Affairs (re-titled later as The Journal of Military History) from 1968 to 1988 and of Aerospace Historian from 1970 to 1988. Higham was also the editor of the Journal of the West beginning in 1976.

In 1977, Higham founded Sunflower University Press, which existed until 2005 and published books on military science and military history.

Higham authored, co-authored, and edited over 38 books and many professional articles.

Higham was a member of many aviation and military history organizations. His honors from these groups included the Social Science Research Council National Security Policy Research Fellowship, 1960–1961. In 1985, he received the first Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for Military History. In 1986, Higham received the Victor Gondos Award (now The Edwin H. Simmons Award) for his outstanding service to the Society for Military History.

Jimmy Rogers was a famous blues musician, known for his work with Muddy Waters as well as his R&B solo songs. In 1947, Rogers first began playing with Muddy Waters and Little Walter in Chicago, and in 1950, the trio began recording with Chess Records. Rogers first charted as a solo artist on the Billboard R&B charts in 1957 with the single “Walking by Myself.” After the rise of rock and roll, Chess Records placed less emphasis on blues music and Rodgers’s career, so Rodgers briefly left the music business in the early 60s. He returned to the blues scene in the late 60s and toured Europe, where blues music had become particularly popular. A new song, “Gold Tailed Bird,” was released in 1972, and Rogers continued to tour across the U.S. and around the world throughout the 1980s. In 1991, Rogers was awarded the W. C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation for his song “Ludella.” He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1995, and he received the W. C. Handy Award for Best Male Traditional Blues Artist in 1996. Rogers died in 1997, but his last album, Blues Blues Blues, was released posthumously in 1998 and featured contributions from Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and others.

In 1853, Charles W. Rogler, age 17, left family in Asch, Austria, for the United States.  At age 23, he settled his first 160 acres in Matfield Green, Chase County, Kansas.  By 1883, Charles had increased his holdings to 720 acres and by the time of his death in 1888, he had acquired 1,800 acres.
By 1900, under the management of long-time friend, Henry Brandley, the estate encompassed 4,020 acres when it was divided among Charles’ five children.  In 1902, Henry Rogler, an 1898 graduate of Kansas State Agricultural College, purchased one of his sisters’ sections of the ranch that included the original 1872 homestead and old barn.
In 1901, Henry Rogler married Maud Sauble, a 1901 graduate of Kansas State Agricultural College.  They designed and built a large home on the property in 1908. They named the ranch Pioneer Bluffs Ranch.
Between 1905 and 1925, Henry made the transition from farming to ranching.  He was a farmer-stockman and pastureman.  Pasturemen were local agents who brought together cattle owned by capitalists from outside the Flint Hills.  Therefore, Henry was key to the development of the transient grazing industry that dominated twentieth century land use in the uplands of Chase Country.  Transient grazing provided stable and conservative income for ranchers.  The size of the Pioneer Bluffs ranch fluctuated dependent on the acreage rented or held as payment/security.  As Henry managed more cattle for others, the more his own herd grew.  By 1931, Henry’s son, Wayne, a 1926 graduate of Kansas State Agricultural College, grazed 2,000 head of cattle during the summer.
In the 1930s, the ranch became a leader in modernized production of feed crops, cooperating with Kansas State Agricultural College in pioneering alfalfa production, some sorghum and soybean crops.  In addition to the livestock and crops aspect of the ranch, the Rogler’s also sold poultry and dairy products.  Maud Rogler was a founder of women’s farm bureau work in Chase County and carried out model projects in poultry raising to exemplify self-sufficiency and diversification.  She bragged that she put their four children through college with her “egg money.”
Henry Rogler served the state by serving two years in the Kansas House of Representatives (1914-1916) and four years in the Senate (1928-1932). Henry served eight years as Vice President for the Chase County Farm Bureau and his involvement in agriculture was noted when he received the first Kansas Master Farmer Award in 1927.  He operated the ranch until the late 1950s when he sold a large part of it to his son, Wayne.  After Henry died in 1972, Wayne purchased the remainder of the farm and ranch land.
The younger Rogler followed in his father’s footsteps as a prominent farmer-stockman, serving four consecutive terms (1929-1946) in the Kansas House of Representatives and was appointed one term in the Kansas Senate.  Wayne served as president of the Chase County Farm Bureau, the director of the National Farm Loan Association and as chairman of the state Chamber of Commerce.  He was a member of various other organizations and a charter member of the National Cattlemen’s Association.  Wayne owned and managed Pioneer Bluffs Ranch until his death on April 8, 1993.  His wife, Elizabeth died on January 24, 2004.
The Rogler Ranch or Pioneer Bluffs Ranch was one of the best known in the region.  Under Wayne’s management the ranch grew to some 60,000 acres, including leased pastureland and managed 15,000 head of cattle a year.  After Wayne’s and Elizabeth’s death no other family member was interested in the ranch and it was placed in trust.  In 2006, Pioneer Bluffs Ranch was sold at auction for $6.92 million.  A group of local Chase County members knew the value and importance of the ranch and were able to purchase 12-acres that included the house and outbuildings.  Today, the Pioneer Bluffs Ranch is a historical tourist site (http://pioneerbluffs.org/).
Charles W. Rogler (1836-1888) married Mary Mariah Satchell in 1869.  They had five children: Albert (1870-1953), Katherine (1872-1915), Emma (1875-1961), Henry (1877-1972) and Mary Jane (1879-1854).
Henry Rogler married Maud Sauble (1880-1972) on July 21, 1901. They had four children: Helen (1902-1999), Wayne (1905-1993), Irene (1908-2000) and George (1913-2003).

Donna C. Roper, professional archeologists, was born to Norman E. and Laura (Dietz) Roper in Oneonta, New York, June 20, 1947. She became involved with archaeology at Hartwick College in Oneonta where she earned a B.A. in History with Departmental Honors in 1968. She completed her Master's and Doctoral degrees, respectively, in Anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1970 and the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1975.

Donna Roper was a dedicated and prolific archaeologist. She directed projects in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, and other states. She held research positions at the American Archaeology Division of the University of Missouri and the Illinois State Museum in the1970s. In 1980 she joined Gilbert/Commonwealth Inc. of Jackson, Michigan, as Senior Archaeologist and Project Manager, becoming a partner with Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group of Jackson, Michigan, in 1988.

Her projects for Commonwealth took her to Nebraska, where Donna developed a true love for the Great Plains. In 1991 she fulfilled her dream to live and work regularly in the region by moving to Manhattan, Kansas. She appreciated the environment, the town, and Kansas State University, where she became an avid fan of K-State women's basketball. She served as Research Associate Professor with the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work and also worked regularly as an independent researcher and consultant. In 2015, she also became an adjunct research associate with the Archaeological Research Center at the University of Kansas.

Donna not only stayed active with regional archaeological research, but occasionally taught classes at K-State and KU. She also was an integral graduate committee member for nine Master's and Doctoral students of archaeology. She employed and influenced many students in the field and lab leading to a number of careers in archaeology. Her curiosity, broad knowledge, and keen mind stimulated not only students, but her colleagues in the Plains, Midwest, and beyond. She presented research in two edited books, as well as five book-length monographs, and numerous professional journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports. She was active with various regional professional organizations for which she often served in leadership roles.

Donna Roper regularly looked forward to professional meetings where she presented her research, caught up with colleagues, and vigorously debated ideas. She loved to share her knowledge and learn from others through public venues. She was invited regularly to share her insights with public groups in Kansas and Nebraska and always elicited valuable conversations with others about the Native prehistory of this region. She also co-led public archaeology projects in Kansas though the Kansas Archaeological Training Program sponsored by the Kansas Anthropological Association and the Kansas Historical Society.

In 2015, Donna Roper was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the Plains Anthropological Society and the W. Duncan Strong Memorial Award presented by the Nebraska Association of Professional Archaeologists. Through these she joined a select group of renowned recipients marking exemplary contributions to her profession.

Donna Roper died on August 1, 2015, in Manhattan, Kansas.

1922 Born April 19 near Barnes, Kansas, son of Floyd and Dora (Wesche) Roper
1940 Graduated high school in Barnes. Attended Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science
1943 Left Kansas State to enlist in US Army. Completed basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama
1944 July 4: Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant.
July 7: Married Alice Roelfs of Bushton, Kansas
October 30: Completed 17-week course at Fort Benning, Georgia.
1945 January 10: Departed New York to Le Harve, France
January 22: Arrived in Le Harve, France
March: In combat in Germany in March. Reassigned to Red Cross Service Center in Metz, France. Transferred to Anti-Tank Platoon Leader in Battalion Headquarters. Alice Roper takes correspondence course in preparation for teaching. Assisted in liberation of concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria.
December 26: Appointed 1st Lieutenant
1946 January: Observed Nurnberg trials in. Returned to United States
1947 June 25: Graduated from Kansas State with B.S. in Accounting
1965 Transferred to Retired Reserve
1985 January 6: Retired from First National Bank as Senior Loan Officer
1997 March 1: Passed away in Manhattan, Kansas
Victor Kenneth Roper was born April 19, 1922 near Barnes, Kansas, the son of Floyd and Dora (Wesche) Roper. Victor ("Vic") attended eight years of county school in the Maple Wood community before graduating from high school in Barnes in 1940. Victor attended Kansas State Agricultural College and was active in ROTC. Before he could graduate, Victor left Kansas State in 1943 to enlist in the US Army. While in basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, he courted Alice Roelfs of Bushton, Kansas via correspondence. He completed his training on October 30, 1943, and after a 17-week course at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on July 4, 1944. On July 7, he married Alice in Washington County, Kansas.
In the fall of 1944, Vic was stationed at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he prepared for war in Europe. After spending a short time with Alice in New York, Victor departed the United States on January 10, 1945 and arrived in Le Harve, France on January 22. He was deployed in Company E, 65th Division. As Infantry Platoon Leader, Victor was responsible for the training, supply, and tactical employment of the platoon. The 65th Division stayed at Camp Lucky Strike, where they lived in tents, dealt daily with snow and mud, and ate K rations. Victor’s time in France was filled with discomfort and anxious waiting, though at times this tension was broken by the receipt of letters and care packages of candy, cookies, popcorn, and clippings from the Kansas State Collegian. Victor spent much of his time in France training, censoring mail, and exploring the countryside. Beginning March 4 in Saarlautern, Germany, Victor saw three continuous weeks of combat. During this period, he could not bathe or change clothes. When another lieutenant, Henry Amster, was wounded and evacuated, Victor temporarily took command of that platoon. Later that month, he recuperated at the Red Cross Service Center in Metz, France. In April, he was a part of the first wave of allied soldiers to cross the Danube to take Regansburg. In April, he was transferred to Anti-Tank Platoon Leader in Battalion Headquarters.
While Victor was away, Alice took a correspondence course in preparation for becoming a teacher in Barnes. After the war was officially over in May, Victor was made Information and Education Officer. That month he relocated to Linz, Austria, and a month later to Mauthausen. In June, Victor took part in the liberation of the concentration camp at Mauthausen, where he personally witnessed and documented the prisoners and mechanisms of genocide. By September, he was in Mons, Belgium, in charge of gasoline supply. From October 1945 until his departure, he handled the administration of 11,000 prisoners of war employed by the Base Depot. On December 26, 1945 he was appointed 1st Lieutenant and the following January he observed the Nurnberg Trials. He returned to the United States June 25, 1946, having served overseas a total of 18 months. Victor was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze and Silver Star Campaign Ribbons for the "Rhineland" and "Central Europe," the World War II Victor Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal, and the Combat Infantry Badge. Victor completed his separation from the service on August 28, 1946. He was transferred to the Retired Reserve on January 6, 1965.
After the war, Victor returned to Manhattan and completed his studies at Kansas State, graduating with a B.S. in Accounting in 1947. He was employed 38 years by the First National Bank, retiring in 1985 as Senior Loan Officer. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Manhattan of which he was a Life Elder, Lions Club of which he was a Past President, and the Fraternal Order of United Commercial Travelers of which he was a Past Grand Counselor. Victor and Alice had two daughters, Barbara Kravitcz and Nina Moss, two sons, Dennis and James Roper, and five grandchildren. Victor Roper died on March 1, 1997, in Manhattan Kansas.

Reva Helen Lyne was born on August 4, 1906, at Oak Hill, Kansas, to Lillie Akerman Lyne and Thomas Lyne. She attended Kansas State Agricultural College in Manhattan, Kansas, from 1924 to 1928, graduating with an undergraduate degree in home economics. She married Paul Wilfred Russell in 1934. Paul died in Salina, Kansas, on November 3, 1979. Reva died in Salina, Kansas, on July 18, 2000. Both are buried in the Mount Liberty Cemetery in Oak Hill.

Shirley Sarvis was born to George Vernon Sarvis and Wilhelmina Marie Koch Sarvis on February 21, 1935 in Norton, Kansas. Ms. Sarvis graduated from Norton Community High School and went on to Kansas State University to pursue a degree in home economics. After graduating in 1957, Ms. Sarvis moved to Menlo Park, California to begin her career as a food writer. Here, she worked for Sunset magazine from 1957 to 1962, then acted as a freelance food writer from 1962 until 2004, frequently writing for magazines like Woman's Day, Better Homes and Gardens, and Gourmet, among others. During this time, Sarvis gained notoriety as a talented pioneer in wine pairing, widely respected for her excellent palate. Over the years, she became friends with several well-known cooking icons, including James Beard, Julia Child, and Julia’s husband, Paul. Additionally, Ms. Sarvis published almost two dozen cookbooks, among them The Best of Scandinavian Cooking: Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, Women’s Day Home Cooking Around the World, and Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide and taught classes on wine and food pairings.  Shirley Sarvis died on January 17, 2013.

David E. Schafer was born in Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, on August 30, 1941.  He attended the University of Minnesota and earned a B.S. in Animal Husbandry in 1963.  In September of 1963, David Schafer married Jeanne in St. Paul, Minnesota.   He then went on to South Dakota State University and received his M.S. in Animal Science in 1968.  In 1968 Schafer worked for Kansas State University and spent two years in Andhra Pradesh, India as a meat technologist with the KSU-USAID program.  In October of 1968, his first child, Jason, was born.  In 1972, Schafer earned his Ph.D. in Food Science from Kansas State University and worked as an extension specialist in meats.   In December his second child, Derek, was born.  He joined the staff the same year when he became an associate professor at Kansas State University.  In 1975 Schafer’s third child, Mark was born.
In 1984 Schafer was promoted to full professor.  He served as Faculty Senate President from 1986-1987.  In 2003 he was awarded Emeritus status and retired on August 2, 2003.  Over the years David Schafer belonged to a variety of organizations.  He was a part of the American Meat Science Association, the American Society of Animal Science, and the Institute of Food Technologists.

Phillip F. Schlee was born on March 10, 1950, at Pittsburg, Kansas. He received a B. A. in History and a Minor in Music from Pittsburg State n December 1973. In May 1975, Schlee earned an M. M. in Music History from Pittsburg State and that same month he published The Isaac Standford Family history. Schlee earned a Master's of Library Science from Emporia State University in May 1978 and shortly afterward moved to Manhattan, Kansas. From 185 to 2006, Schlee was Guest Services Coordinator in Housing and Dining at Kansas State University. It was during this time (November 2002) he started collecting letters in extension to his genealogy research. The primary thing he looked for was genealogical information on the families mentioned in the letters. In some cases, letters are the only source of information, e.g., births and marriages in the 19th Century. Most of the letters were purchased on eBay. Schlee donated his collection to the Morse Department of Special Collections in 2006 when he left Kansas State University.