Frank Newby, who earned two degrees at Kansas University while on a Solon Summerfield Scholarship, is returning the favor with a gift of $370,000 to the KU Endowment.

Newby, who lives in Johnson City, Tenn., where he taught chemistry at East Tennessee State University from 1959 until his retirement in 1993, was a native of Columbus, Kan.

“I went to KU on a Summerfield Scholarship,” Newby said. “If it wasn’t for that, I couldn’t have gone there.”

He earned a bachelor’s and a doctoral degree in chemistry.

Newby said the benefits he received from KU have stayed with him.

His gift includes $160,000 for the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum; and $105,000 to establish the Dr. Frank A. Newby Jr. Physical Science award for undergraduate students in the Department of Chemistry; and $105,000 for Summerfield Scholarships.