Dr. Craig Denny (BSCE’71, MSCE’73) and his wife, Terry (BSElemEd’72), recently donated $100,000 to the Shawnee Mission School District (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) and $100,000 to the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University to improve science, technology, engineering and math career opportunities for K-12 students and female college students, respectively.
At Shawnee Mission School District the new Denny Family Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Fund supports new instructional initiatives, professional development to support teachers in STEM-focused areas, opportunities for students to conduct specialized research, curriculum development, and specialized equipment.
At Iowa State the Craig Kenton Denny Endowed Scholarship supports female Iowa State civil engineering students who have an interest in pursuing a career or advanced degree in geotechnical engineering.
“Terry and I graduated from Iowa State University, where Terry earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and I earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Engineering,” said Dr. Denny in a Shawnee Mission School District press release. “We have benefitted from our science-based education and we believe our support of STEM education will help spark the interest of current and future students to pursue education and careers in engineering, science and many other technical fields yet to be discovered.”
Dr. Denny has served on the Shawnee Mission Board of Education since 1997, serving as president for four terms and vice president twice. He also is a member of the Civil Engineering External Advisory Council at Iowa State University and is a senior principal/senior consultant at Terracon Consultants (Lenexa, Kan.). Mrs. Denny worked in the Shawnee Mission School District from 1992 until retiring in 2008.