LAWRENCE - Generations of University of Kansas students will benefit from two $10,000 endowed scholarships established in memory of a former KU professor's parents. The John S. and Yoshino Harmon Multicultural Scholars Award and the John S. and Yoshino Harmon Award in American Studies funds were established through KU Endowment by their children, former KU professor Chico Herbison, Olympia, Wash., and Tonya Farmer, Kansas City, Mo.

Chico Herbison is a first-generation college student who earned four degrees at KU, including a Ph.D. in American Studies in 2006. He taught African and African-American studies at KU from 1998 through 2007, and served as faculty adviser for the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center from 2002 to 2005. He now teaches at The Evergreen State College.

Cheryl Lester, director of American Studies, said the John S. and Yoshino Harmon award is the first scholarship created specifically for undergraduates majoring in American Studies. The annual award will be given to a senior with an outstanding thesis or senior project.

"Although KU's American Studies majors have been the recipients of university-wide and national recognition, we have never had internal funding to support and reward our majors, whose undergraduate education leads them to dedicate their professional lives among other areas to education, social reform, museums and libraries," Lester said.

Herbison credited his mother and stepfather for instilling in him the importance of education. As a professor, Herbison reminds students that they're fortunate to have access to a college education. He also stresses the importance of serving their communities, the towns in which they live, and the other groups that enrich their lives. It's a lesson he learned from his parents.

Herbison's mother and his father met during his father's military service in Japan. When Herbison was 3, the family moved to Oklahoma, where shortly afterward an automobile accident claimed his father's life. A few years later, Herbison's mother married John Harmon, a serviceman from Philadelphia. By the end of his military career, Harmon would serve in three wars: World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

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