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For nearly three decades, William E. "Bill" Gapske has played a major supportive role on the behalf of the Kansas State University Department of Interior Architecture.

Gapske's relationship with KSU dates back to 1969 when he first met Jack Durgan, creator and long-time head of KSU's interior architecture program. The two immediately recognized the potential for a mutually beneficial relationship--Gapske for his entrepreneurship, business background, and business contacts, and Durgan because of his influence on students who would be entering the business world as designers, purchasers, and users of business products. The two formed an immediate personal friendship that flourishes to this day. The relationship has grown to include nearly all the faculty and students in the interior architecture program over the years and has been sustained as students become alumni in the business world.

The ways and means of Gapske's support for the interior architecture program are many and varied, as well as somewhat uncommon for someone who is not a KSU alumnus. However, Gapske states that the motivation and rationale for his involvement stems from his desire to "give something back" to the industry that has given so much to him. Gapske is the founder and a continuous member of the Department of Interior Architecture Advisory Board. In that capacity, he played a major role in updating the curriculum to meet the needs of contemporary interior architectural design. For more than 10 years, Gapske has been Chairman and a participant in the Kansas City Architects, Designers, Dealers and Representatives (KCADDR) Annual Golf Tournament, an important source of extramural support for the interior architecture program.

Upon the death of his first wife, Gapske endowed the Margaret Gapske Scholarship, designated for an interior architecture student with particular interest in woodworking and furniture design. He also organizes and judges a student furniture design and construction competition for KSU interior architecture students that takes place annually in the spring. Gapske is also a frequent guest panelist and presenter in many KSU interior architecture courses. He feels strongly that the more exposure students receive to the real business world, the better their chances of success when they enter that world, the more choices they will have, and the better informed their choices will be.

Gapske has a Bachelor's degree in business administration from Western Michigan University. He is currently President of his own company, Contract Representatives, located in Overland Park, Kansas.

We are privileged to count William E. "Bill" Gapske among the friends of our College of Architecture, Planning, and Design, and we are proud to nominate him to receive a Kansas State University Distinguished Service Award.