Be\nGood. Make A Difference. Change the World. These eight words are the guiding\nprinciples of Fort Hays State University alumnus Peter J. Werth. Indeed, I have\nwitnessed over and over again his kindness, the tremendous impact he has had on\nteaching and learning at FHSU, and how Peter has changed not only our world but\nthe lives of so many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting\nwith a $25 gift in 1981, and steadily expanding for more than 40 years, Peter\nhas given generously to our women\u2019s basketball program, departments of applied\ntechnology and chemistry, the entrepreneurship program housed in the Robbins\nCollege of Business and Entrepreneurship, the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and\nScience, the Honors College, and the Werth College of Science, Technology and\nMathematics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who\nis Peter J. Werth? If you read his biography, you will know that he has been a\ntransformative visionary leader for more than fifty years. He is the founder,\nCEO, and president of ChemWerth Inc., Woodbridge, Conn., and a 1959 FHSU\ngraduate with a bachelor of science in chemistry. He also earned a master\u2019s in\norganic chemistry from Stanford University. Peter began his career with\nHewlett-Packard in 1961.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\n1964, he worked as a staff scientist at Spindletop Research before becoming the\nhead chemist for Upjohn Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer). In 1965, he became\nmanager of Upjohn’s R&D department. From 1975 to 1983, Peter served as vice\npresident of sales and marketing for Ganes Chemicals. Peter founded ChemWerth\nin 1982 to develop active pharmaceutical ingredients to produce generic drugs.\nToday, Peter serves on several boards and is connected to several startup\ncompanies as an Angel investor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another\nscan of his biography reveals the many awards he has received, including the\nFHSU Alumni Achievement Award. He also has received honorary doctorate degrees\nfrom Southern Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut.\nThe good works of his family foundation, his many charitable contributions, and\nthe impact of his work have made significant contributions to improving the\nquality of life for people all over the world. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\nthe elements of his story that most resonate with me are his humble beginnings,\nstrong work ethic, kindness, and the direct, personal impact he has had on so\nmany individuals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter\ngrew up in Hays, Kansas. Born into modest beginnings, he was one of eight\nchildren. His parents owned The Mecca, a local restaurant at the corner of 27th\nand Vine, the current location of Walgreens. He learned the value of hard work\nearly in life. Peter and his siblings all helped out at the restaurant, famous\nfor its hamburgers. When not studying or working at the restaurant, Peter could\nalso be found mowing the acres of grass in the cemetery across the street. Hard\nwork was a lesson all the Werth children learned early and often. These lessons\nnot only powered him through college but also helped fuel his success\nthroughout his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having\nhad the honor of spending time with Peter and watching him interact with many\npeople, I have been most inspired by how he selflessly develops and champions\nopportunities for our students that are extraordinarily impactful. We are\ndeeply indebted to Peter for his generous financial support for our Tiger\nwomen\u2019s basketball program. But what differentiates Peter\u2019s impact is his focus\non crafting peak experiences for our student-athletes \u2013 like flying our team to\nConnecticut to meet legendary coach Geno Auriemma and practice and play an\nexhibition game against his UConn Huskies, one of the top women\u2019s basketball\nteams in NCAA Division I. Our student-athletes will remember that experience\nfor the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis\ndefinitely was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the players,\u201d said FHSU\u2019s\nKacey Kennett, who actually was making her second trip to UConn with Peter and\nthe Tiger team \u2013 her first time back in 2017 as a player and this year as a\ngraduate assistant coach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA\nlot of Division I teams don\u2019t even get to play UConn,\u201d Kacey added, \u201cso this\nopportunity \u2013 and all the opportunities I have gotten by attending Fort Hays\nState \u2013 I will cherish forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nam also awed by how compassionately he connects with others and his ongoing\ncommitment to helping break down barriers for our students. As a very recent\nexample, Peter is planning to fund the education expenses of a young Nepal\nwoman, Nyima Gyalmu Lama, and send her to FHSU to study nursing. If Nyima can\nget her Visa by January, she might be able to begin her dream of becoming a\nnurse as early as the spring 2022 semester!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently,\na delegation of FHSU faculty and staff had the opportunity to travel to UConn\nto visit the Peter Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. There,\nwe met sophomore Allie Davenport, who, like Peter, has dreams of making our\nworld better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allie\nwas a high school athlete who developed a medical condition known as\nparadoxical vocal fold motion, a breathing disorder where the vocal cords\nfunction abnormally, restricting airflow during respiration. Allie learned that\none of the underlying causes of this condition is anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy\nmind was powerful enough to trigger my vocal cords to malfunction and restrict\nairflow,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allie\nunderwent months of speech therapy to help her retrain her body how to breathe\nand her mind how to resist a panic mode and to relax. Her journey fueled her\npassion for mental wellness and for helping to make a difference for others on\ntheir personal wellness journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\nthe support of the Peter Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation,\nAllie set out to make a difference in the lives of others through the creation\nof StarMind \u2013 an interactive journal that combines daily self-reflection logs,\nthought-provoking activities, and a series of QR codes that leads the\njournalist to digital resources and tools on specific psychology-related concepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allie\ndid not just receive funding for an idea. Focusing on experiences, Peter\nprovided her with an audience of FHSU faculty to hear her story and her pitch.\nWe marveled at her passion and dedication. We expressed our enthusiastic\nsupport and encouragement. Several purchased journals on the spot while Peter\npurchased a book for the entire Tiger team and their parents who were present\nthat day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like\nour basketball players and our Nepali nursing student, I bet Allie will\nremember that day and the connections she made with FHSU Tigers for a very long\ntime. I will maintain an email relationship with Allie myself \u2013 encouraging her\nheart to continue to inspire the hearts and minds of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some\nmay know Peter Werth as a \u201crags to riches\u201d story, others as an astute and\naccomplished businessman. I will always see him as someone who has lived his\nmantra: Be Good. Make A Difference. Change the World. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Be Good. Make A Difference. Change the World. These eight words are the guiding principles of Fort Hays State University alumnus Peter J. Werth. Indeed,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62278"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62279,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62278\/revisions\/62279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}