Cassat Workshops in Aging

Evelyn Cassat graduated from Florence Memorial High School in 1929, received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri in 1933 and a Bachelor of Science in education from the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia in 1938. She was a high school teacher in Florence, Chapman and Abilene, Kan.

Paul Cassat attended Kansas Wesleyan University and worked with the United Telephone Company in Abilene. He became a trouble shooter and key man for Southwestern Bell when the company took over in 1939. Mr. Cassat performed that job until his retirement in the mid-1970s.

The Cassats’ quality of life in their later years was severely compromised by hearing loss. Mrs. Cassat also had macular degeneration and glaucoma, impeding her vision. These factors led her to a growing interest in aging, which became the focus of her gift to WSU.

Their important contribution created and supports the Carl and Rozina Cassat Professorship in Aging, named after Mr. Cassat’s parents; the John and Ruby Hendren Distinguished Professorship in Communication Sciences and Disorders, named after Mrs. Cassat’s parents; the Paul M. Cassat Distinguished Chair in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Cassat Workshops in Aging, Cassat Regional Institute on Aging Faculty Development Fund, and the Paul and Evelyn Hendren Cassat Faculty Development Fund in Communication Sciences and Disorders.