Donald L. and Gwendolyn I. Hellar Endowed Geology Scholarship

Donald Hellar graduated from Wichita University in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in geology. Through the years, he was an active and generous supporter of the department of geology, serving on WSU’s Geology Advisory Board. The founder of Hellar Drilling Company Inc., in the early 1960s, he was elected into the Kansas Oil and Gas Hall of Fame. Upon his passing, Mrs. Hellar established a scholarship in his memory, the Donald L. and Gwendolyn I. Hellar Endowed Geology Scholarship. She recalled that while Mr. Hellar was attending WU, he worked full time at Cessna, always struggling to make ends meet. ‘I’m very aware of how hard it is for some students to go to school she once said. ‘He would have wanted to do this.’ Mrs. Hellar passed away in 2004.