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Kung Chi Kang Silver supports Shocker Success Center to give back to WSU students

The project is WSU President Rick Muma’s top capital project priority

The engineering degree Kung Chi Kang Silver earned at Wichita State in 1997 never led to a career in engineering, yet in Silver’s estimation, his student days at WSU were among the most valuable in his life.

“I would say those years in Wichita were a turning point for me, going from a naive young boy to becoming a grown-up with independent solution-finding skills. I learned a lot at Wichita State,” says Silver, a resident of Taiwan who also owns a home in Washington state.

After graduating, Silver changed his career path from engineering to finance, eventually earning a master’s degree in finance from Pace University in New York and a Ph.D. in economics from Nankai University in China.

Today, he is a professional asset manager, working with international investment funds and splitting his time between Asia, Europe and the United States. He has reached a stage in his life and career when he wants to give back to the university he credits with much of his success.

Silver has pledged a significant gift to support the Shocker Success Center, a new facility that will house 17 student services now located in buildings scattered across campus. Clinton Hall, home to the W. Frank Barton School of Business, will be renovated to become the Shocker Success Center when the Barton School moves to its new home on the Innovation Campus this fall.

To recognize Silver’s gift, a naming opportunity will be given for the Tech Help and Consultation suite, to be located in the Shocker Success Center.

“It is time for me to help young people who are like I was back then,” Silver says. “My best time at WSU were my junior and senior years. We had a lot of projects and spent a lot of time together in the lab and NIAR (National Institute for Aviation Research). We stayed up together and got tired together. But it was great. I still think about that all the time.”

Silver grew up in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, which he still considers home. He is married and has two teenage daughters. He says that even though he didn’t become an engineer, his engineering education at Wichita State served him well in life.

“Engineering training opens up all kinds of doors,” he says. “There is a big world out there with so much opportunity.”

His advice to today’s students: “Open your heart, open your mind and see the world.”

Private support needed for Shocker Success Center

The support of Wichita State donors and friends is crucial to the campaign to build the new Shocker Success Center. A combination of private dollars and university funds will be used to renovate and transform Clinton Hall after the W. Frank Barton School of Business moves to its new facility this fall. The Shocker Success Center will open in 2023, providing a centralized home for 17 student services now located in buildings across campus.

Naming opportunities are available to those who give philanthropically to the project, supporting WSU students for many years to come. To learn more, contact Corey Saleh, campaign director for the WSU Foundation, at 316.978.4483 or corey.saleh@wichita.edu.