Verne and Helen Omer Professorship I

Mrs. Helen Omer attended the University of Wichita in 1950. When other interests drew her away from her studies, she left school not to return until 1972, upon which she sold everything she owned to pay for her studies. She graduated in 1975 with a degree in accounting, crediting her success to the personal attention she received from university administration and faculty. She passed the Missouri Certified Public Accountant Board in 1977 and worked as an auditor for the Kansas City office of the Internal Revenue Service.

Her husband, Mr. Verne Omer, a graduate of the University of Kansas in 1932 with a bachelor of science in engineering, founded Inland Associates in 1957, an electronic and computer peripheral company. He retired as a consulting engineer.

Through their estate, they established the professorships in the W. Frank Barton School of Business, at the time one of the largest deferred gifts ever pledged to WSU. Originally a tribute to WSU for changing Mrs. Omer’s life, this endowment is truly a tribute to two thoughtful individuals and their desire to give back.