Larry and Kent Gildersleeve

Larry Gildersleeve of Redmond, Wash., and Kent Gildersleeve of Atlanta, Ga., recently made a gift of
$50,000 to Western Kentucky University’s Department of Geography and Geology to honor the memory oftheir father, Dr. Benjamin Gildersleeve, who was a highly respected geologist.

The family gift created the Gildersleeve Endowed Fund for Excellence in Geology and has been
matched by $50,000 through the Regional University Excellence Trust Fund.

"My brother Larry and I desired to establish this fund for the benefit of Western's Geography and Geology Department to honor our parents; their long-term interest,work, and support of Western; and, to recognize our father's 45-year career as a highly respected geologist," said Kent Gildersleeve. "Also, in selecting Western we wanted to acknowledge our undergraduate alma mater, the substantial but largely unrealized contribution that the members of the geology department make to the school, Bowling Green, and Kentucky as well as the ongoing contribution that Western makes to the quality of life in the city to which our family moved in 1960.”