Frank Bowman Tyler, a Kansas University alumnus, has given $1.8 million to KU for cancer research at KU Medical Center and the KU campus in Lawrence.

The gift, left to the Kansas University Endowment Association, will fund three positions at the university.

It will pay for a deputy director for clinical cancer care on the Kansas City, Kan., campus; a director of therapeutic cancer treatment development serving the Medical Center and the Lawrence campus; and an assistant director based at the Lawrence campus to coordinate KU’s basic science research programs.

Tyler, a 1947 graduate, died in 2003. He worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in Europe and for the Environmental Protection Agency. He also worked for the Gustin-Bacon Manufacturing Co. in Kansas City, Mo., and in continuing education for the KU Medical Center.

The gift will advance KU efforts to be designated an NCI cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, a move that would bring additional funding, help attract leading researchers and provide opportunities to train new doctors in up-to-date techniques.

“I think this will be a real important statement to the NCI that we’re serious about establishing an NCI-designated cancer center,” said Jim Roberts, vice provost for research.