Charley Oswald’s gifts to the Kansas University economics department are adding up.

Pleased with the results of a previous $6 million gift to KU economics, Oswald on Wednesday announced he would contribute another $10 million to the department.

The money will establish a distinguished professorship in the study of econometrics — the use of mathematical methods and statistical techniques to understand economics — and support economics students, research and faculty travel.

“I’ve sort of adopted the econ department,” said Oswald, former chairman and CEO of National Computer Systems, now NCS Pearson. “The university has an excellent administrative philosophy that works, and I want to provide more lubrication for the department to grow and flourish.”

The new donation pushes Oswald’s donations to KU to more than $21 million. In addition to the previous gift to the economics department, he has donated $1 million to the School of Business, $3 million in unrestricted funds and $1 million to boost Chancellor Robert Hemenway’s salary.

He also donated $1 million each toward salaries of Jon Wefald, president of Kansas State University, and Don Beggs, president of Wichita State University.

The previous gift to the economics department, made in 2001, paid for distinguished professorships in microeconomics and macroeconomics, teaching fellowships and undergraduate scholarships. In response to the gifts, KU renamed the undergraduate program the Charles W. Oswald Program in Economics.

But Oswald wasn’t through giving.

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“I can be flippant and say it’s because they put my name on it, so I wanted to be damned sure it’s funded,” Oswald said. “But really, at my age, I want to do something good for KU and the economics department.”

KU officials welcomed the investment.

“Few alumni of the University of Kansas have the capacity and the generosity to transform an entire department through their support, but Charley Oswald is one of them,” Hemenway said in a statement. “His belief in the value of his KU education and his vision for future KU economics students have made KU a recognized leader in economics education.”

Oswald, a native of Hutchinson, graduated from KU in 1951 with a degree in economics. From 1970 to 1994 he served as chairman and CEO of National Computer Systems, which became NCS Pearson and today has projects at Pearson’s sprawling call center complex in the East Hills Business Park. Oswald now is chairman of Rotherwood Investments LLC in Minnesota.

Joe Sicilian, chair of the KU Economics Department, said Oswald’s gifts had more than doubled the amount of private funding available to the department.

“It’s a phenomenal boost for the department,” he said. “It’s hard for me to express our appreciation in strong enough terms.”

Sicilian said KU’s reputation was growing quickly in the field of economics. KU this fall will play host to the Midwest Economic Theory and International Trade Conference.

“The profession is becoming more aware of us now,” he said. “The money is tremendous, and it’s making a lot of things possible.”