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Kenneth Spencer KENNETH ALDRED SPENCER, 1902-1960, was graduated from the University of Kansas in 1926. He was a member of Tau Beta Phi, Sigma Gamma Epsilon and Alpha Kappa Psi, and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Erasmus Haworth Award. His attachment to KU was reflected in a popular cartoon in the 1950s showing the football stadium with one of the officials saying "We can't start the game until Kenneth arrives!"

Mr. Spencer started his business career with the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company, established by his father in 1885. In 1941, when he was vice president and general manager of the coal company, he founded what was to become his outstanding business accomplishment, the company internationally known as the Spencer Chemical Company. At the time of his death, Mr. Spencer was the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Spencer Chemical Company, as well as president and chief executive officer of the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company.

He and his wife established the Kenneth A. and Helen F. Spencer Foundation in 1949 and began dispersing generous awards to universities, museums and art groups throughout the Midwest. Mr. Spencer is remembered as one of the founders of the Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City, Missouri, and was a longtime member of the Business Advisory Council of the U.S. Department of Commerce. At the time of his death, relatives and friends of Mr. Spencer established the Kenneth Aldred Spencer Lecture fund to bring to KU and the Kansas City area renowned lecturers and scholars in the fields of engineering, science and business.