TOPEKA – Washburn University and Washburn Institute of Technology have received grants.

Rick LeJuerrne, regional director, Washburn Small Business Development Center, received $77,000 from the Kansas Department of Commerce-Small Business Administration for the operation of the the Center. Started in 1983, the Washburn University Small Business Development Center provides small business consulting services and training seminars to northeast Kansas entrepreneurs.

Richard Stephens and Paul Verhage, instructors at Washburn Institute of Technology, were awarded $44,785 through the Kansas Board of Regents (Carl D. Perkins Reserve Fund CTE 2009-2010) to purchase new equipment for the expansion of the industrial and electrical technology programs. The equipment will enable both programs to better train students to serve advanced manufacturing facilities in the northeast Kansas region that are currently installing technically-advanced and robotic equipment.

Monica Scheibmeir, dean of the School of Nursing, will receive a $26,874 contract from the Marian Clinic as a result of a Finding Solutions in Challenging Times grant award from the Sunflower Foundation. The School of Nursing will assist the staff of Marian Clinic to provide primary health care services to patients twice a week for the length of the grant for the purposes of easing staff overload and providing a teaching and learning opportunity for nursing students. Marian Clinic is a non-profit medical and dental clinic founded in 1988 that serves the uninsured and under-insured populations in Topeka, Kan., and the surrounding areas.

Richard Ellis, director of Learning In the Community: The Center for Community Service and Civic Engagement and professor in the human services department in the School of Applied Studies, received $25,000 from the Bonner Foundation for support of Washburn’s Bonner Leaders Program. Established in 2001, the Bonner Leaders Program provides scholarships to students willing to commit 900 hours of service to the community over a period of two years.

Stephen Angel, associate professor and chairman of the chemistry department in the College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded $15,000 from the National Institute of Health, through the Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Program to purchase laboratory equipment and supplies to augment a prior K-INBRE grant of $25,000 for a UV-Vis Plate Reader.

-Press Release