$8 million gift establishes KU’s first named deanship and two professorships in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

LAWRENCE — David Pittaway has built a storied career in private equity since graduating from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1972. He has remained passionate about U.S. history. As a sixth-generation Kansan, he proudly describes his ancestors moving to Kansas in the 1850s to oppose slavery and help forge the state’s history. Now he is honoring his family’s legacy and making history of his own with the first named deanship at KU.

His $8 million gift establishes the David B. Pittaway Deanship in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. The gift also establishes two professorships named in honor of his late parents: the Alan Ralph Pittaway Professorship in Chemistry and the JoAnne Kenney Pittaway Professorship in the Humanities.

“David Pittaway’s extraordinary generosity has already shaped the University of Kansas and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in profound and enduring ways,” said Arash Mafi, executive dean of the College. Mafi will now be the first to hold the title of David B. Pittaway Executive Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“These gifts extend a remarkable legacy of support for academic excellence, discovery and student success,” Mafi said. “A named deanship provides flexible, strategic resources that strengthen the very heart of the College, while endowed professorships allow us to attract, retain and support world-class faculty whose scholarship and teaching elevate our university. We are deeply grateful for David Pittaway’s continued partnership and lasting commitment to advancing KU’s mission to serve Kansas and the world.”

Pittaway said that when presented with the opportunity to create the first named deanship in KU history, he knew it was the perfect way to honor the family name.

“I have all of these ancestral ties and personal history with Kansas and KU,” he said. “This is a way of tying the family legacy to KU and making a permanent contribution to its future.”

He cited Lawrence’s significance in Kansas’ history during the Civil War as particularly important to his family. 

“Lawrence’s role as the center of the free state movement symbolizes why my ancestors had moved to Kansas in the first place,” he said. “This gift will carry on their work and hopefully strengthen the university going forward.”

Pittaway said there is a continuing need for students of all disciplines to have a well-rounded liberal arts education. He said that his own success in business and finance involved understanding patterns in history.

“Many people begin their careers with too narrow of a focus,” he said. “A dean who is focused on preserving broad exposure to disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences and bringing them into the 21st century is important.”

In addition to his bachelor’s degree from KU, Pittaway earned both a law degree and an MBA from Harvard University. He served for 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserve and retired as a major. He is vice chairman, senior managing director and chief compliance officer of the private equity investment firm Castle Harlan Inc. in New York City. He has been with the firm since its founding in 1987 and now works out of Florida where he lives with his wife, Jeannine DuFresne Pittaway.

The professorships named for his parents are tailored to their respective careers and interests. 

“When my parents died, I decided to create a legacy for them, for their remembrance,” David Pittaway said. “These professorships are in their honor and honor what they did with their lives.” 

The JoAnne Kenney Pittaway Professorship in the Humanities is named for his mother, who was a librarian. 

“If there were a professorship in crossword puzzles, I would have done that,” he said. “She appreciated things of the mind. I want to make sure that higher education continues to foster that kind of thinking.”

The Alan Ralph Pittaway Professorship in Chemistry is named for David Pittaway’s father, a graduate of Kansas State University who was commissioned in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He would go on to become a noted inventor, with the patents on the now standard small arms weapons flash suppressor for U.S. military rifles, as well as an infrared decoy against heat-seeking missiles in defense of U.S. aircraft. He retired from Northrop Grumman after working as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and Arthur Young. He also worked for many years at Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City.

In 2012, David Pittaway made a gift that established the David B. Pittaway Director of Debate professorship, currently held by Scott Harris. Under Harris, KU Debate won the 2018 National Debate Tournament Championship. In 2019, Pittaway also established a professorship in military history at KU, currently held by Adrian Lewis. Since 2022, Pittaway has been a trustee on KU Endowment’s board of trustees.

About KU Endowment

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.