KU alumnus gives $2 million to establish law scholarship, liberal arts research fund

A University of Kansas alumnus is giving $2 million to endow a scholarship in the KU School of Law and a research fund in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“It would have been very difficult for me to have done as well as I have without a college education and a legal education,” the alumnus, William Bradley Jr., said in a news release from KU Endowment Wednesday. “And when you’ve done well, you’d like to make a contribution that would help others do well.”

Bradley grew up on a farm outside Lawrence and earned a bachelor’s degree in English at KU in 1977 and a law degree at KU in 1980, according to the news release. He eventually became the third-largest individual shareholder in NIC Inc., an Olathe-based information service provider for federal and state governments. He is now retired.

His gift will provide $1 million to establish the Bradley Family Scholarship for students in the law school with preference for those who have financial need and have contributed toward their own undergraduate educations.

Another $1 million of the gift will endow the Bradley Family Research Excellence Fund, which will provide awards through competitive application to faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences whose research programs involve undergraduates.