Kansas University chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little announces a 8 million gift from the estate of late Kansas University alumni Madison “Al” and Lila Self, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014.

A historic $58 million gift from the estate of Madison “Al” and Lila Self will benefit Kansas University students seeking scholarships and fellowships in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, business and economics, KU officials announced Tuesday.

The Selfs, who met on the KU campus in the early 1940s, have been generous benefactors; their donations over the years total $106 million, the most in university history.

“This is a very special day,” KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little told a gathering of alumni, faculty and students at the Adams Alumni Center to celebrate the gift. “This is a very special day for the university, this is a very special day for students, and this is a very special day for all Kansans.”

Gray-Little said the estate directed the gift to be used for fellowships and graduate programs and scholarships:

l $39 million will be added to the Self Graduate Fellowship Fund for doctoral students in STEM disciplines, business and economics

l $15 million will go to the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows Program, which benefits engineering and computing undergraduate students.

l $4 million establishes a new Self Graduating Senior Fellowship Fund to recognize graduating seniors for their achievements, as well as for their ability to attain goals that require exceptional tenacity.

The $58 million is the largest gift in KU’s “Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas” and helped the drive reach its goal of raising $1.2 billion dollars, Gray-Little said. When KU publicly announced Far Above in 2012, alumni and university friends had already committed $612 million to date since 2008.

Even though the goal has been reached, Gray-Little said the fundraising will continue through 2016.

Other donors to the Far Above campaign include a $10.5 million dollar gift from the Hall Family Foundation and $32 million from the estate of Charles E. and Mary Jane Bruckmiller Spahr.

Howard E. Mossberg, a former KU vice chancellor, said the Self endowment program was for older students who understood the need for leadership.

“Overall these gifts are to support individuals who have already demonstrated their passion for learning, their ability to innovate and to fully accept the fact they will be leaders,” said Mossberg, who was friends with the Selfs and was dean of the KU School of Pharmacy from 1966 to 1991.

The Selfs — no relation to basketball coach Bill Self– came from humble beginnings. Both grew up on Kansas farms. Al Self attended a one-room grade school.

The couple met in college and married after Al Self graduated in 1943 with a degree in engineering.

In 1947 Self acquired the Bee Chemical Co. in Lansing, Ill., which produced polymers and polymer coatings for use on plastics. The company grew from three employees to having operations in the United States, Japan and England, when they sold it 37 years later.

“We are grateful to the Selfs for this remarkable gift that helped us achieve our initial campaign goal, but we have more work to do,” said Kurt Watson, who chairs the campaign with his wife, Sue. “Though we have accomplished much through this campaign, some of our fundraising imperatives remain. To take us to the finish line, we are confident that our loyal alumni and friends will take KU to even greater heights.”