Tabor College

Generous Gift Establishes Professor Fran Jabara Leadership Award Endowment

December 16, 2009

Categories: General News

Thanks to a generous gift from the Fran Jabara Family Foundation, Tabor College has announced the creation of the Professor Fran Jabara Leadership Award Endowment, from which the college will continue to recognize and reward the leadership potential of outstanding young men and women as they graduate.

The Professor Fran Jabara Leadership Award is named for renowned educator and entrepreneur F. D. (Fran) Jabara of Wichita, Kan., a life-long proponent of recognizing and promoting excellence in leadership.

Tabor President Dr. Jules Glanzer traveled to the Jabara Family Foundation’s headquarters recently to thank Mr. Jabara personally, saying, “Your foundation and the mission of Tabor College are close together. Tabor wants to prepare people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and his kingdom. And your award fits right into that, helping to make that happen. We are honored to be part of helping your legacy continue.”

Mr. Jabara replied, “Anything that we can do to help the college and to help young people succeed, that’s who we are.”

After meeting with Mr. Jabara, Glanzer added, “Fran Jabara is a very gracious man and someone who believes in people. He loves to encourage young leaders to launch out and do innovative and creative things. He is someone who has had an enormous impact on the Wichita community. His office is full of awards and gifts signifying his contributions to Wichita, to Kansas, and to the nation. His name has become synonymous with excellence in education and entrepreneurship.”

Tabor College President Dr. Jules Glanzer, left, and F. D. (Fran) Jabara pose for a photo after meeting at the Jabara Family Foundation headquarters in Wichita, Kan. A generous gift from the foundation will enable the college to continue to recognize the leadership potential of young men and women as they graduate. (Tabor College Photo by Grant Overstake).

The Jabara Leadership Awards program began in 2002 for students graduating from four-year private colleges in Kansas. In addition to Tabor College, the award is given to students at Baker University, Barclay College, Benedictine College, Central Christian College of Kansas, Kansas Wesleyan University, Sterling College, and Southwestern College.

The non-academic award is presented to a male and female graduate who has demonstrated a capacity for future leadership based on his or her leadership in the classroom, with service clubs, on the athletic field, or in student government. The cash award is intended to provide financial support at a time when graduates are faced with the costs of moving to jobs, student loans, or perhaps seeking a master’s degree.

“We loved the idea of an award that was a total surprise at graduation,” said Mary L. Dake, Executive Director of the Fran Jabara Family Foundation. “[The award] has grown into one of our favorite projects and Fran so enjoys hearing about the award recipients and their plans for the future. The students selected truly exemplify leadership and their energy and direction is a source of pride for Fran.”

Tabor began giving the Jabara leadership award in 2003. The two most recent recipients at Tabor are 2009 graduates Joe Wuest of Ridgecrest, Calif., and Meghann Eblen of Leavenworth, Kan. Their are etched on a plaque on permanent display in the college library along with the names of other promising leaders who exemplify the ideals of Fran Jabara.

Mr. Jabara was born on October 13, 1924 in Cambridge, Kan., the first of eight children born to Farris George Jabara and Helen Horany Jabara, who were immigrants from Syria. The family lived in a second-story apartment over the family-owned grocery store.

After serving in the Army in World War II, Mr. Jabara used the GI Bill to earn his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University and his master’s degree at Northwestern University. He is a certified public accountant. Honoring his father’s wishes, in 1949 Mr. Jabara joined the faculty at the college which would eventually become Wichita State University. He served there for 40 years until he resigned in 1989. During his tenure he was appointed Distinguished Professor, in 1971, and served as Dean of the College of Business Administration for seven years.

Compelled by his advocacy of the American free enterprise system, Mr. Jabara founded one of the nation’s first Centers for Entrepreneurship at WSU, in 1977, a program which became recognized as one of the best in the nation. He also co-founded the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE), the largest national organization for collegiate students interested in entrepreneurship, with members in all 50 states and 20 countries. Mr. Jabara also helped create similar academic programs at Cornell University, University of Calgary, University of Notre Dame, Arizona State University, St. Thomas University, Marquette University and Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico.

In honor of his many contributions to free enterprise, Mr. Jabara was awarded the prestigious Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education and the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation. He was chairman of the Kansas delegation to the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business. In 1996, WSU dedicated Jabara Hall Mr. Jabara was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Oklahoma State University. In 1997 he was the Laureate for the Wichita Business Hall of Fame, and, in 2002, the U.S. Small Business Administration selected him as the Financial Services Advocate of the Year. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Kansas Business Hall of Fame Award and the Pioneer Award from the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization.

At 85, Mr. Jabara is still involved in the day-to-day work of his foundation. His office desk is piled high with correspondence and recent articles clipped from business journals and magazines. His eyes sparkle as he tells visitors the story of his father’s humble beginnings as an immigrant. He points to a miniature bronze statue depicting his father as a teenager, dragging a peddler’s bag. The full-scale version of the statue, a tribute to the spirit of American entrepreneurship, stands outside Century II Convention Center in downtown Wichita.

“My father came to this country when he was 15 and he came for a better life,” Jabara said. “He started off as a peddler, walking. Every time I think about him, my goodness…. We created the Jabara Family Foundation with him in mind. We like for it to help people who need help. That’s who we are. We had humble beginnings, and so we try to not forget.”

Previous Professor Fran Jabara Leadership Awards Recipients from Tabor College:

2003
Shawna Stutzman
Landon Fulmer

2004
Tamara Carlson
Matt Bauer

2005
Jenna Friesen

2006
Julia Beam
Erica Hemmert

2007
Sara Schall
Kyle Larson

2008
Jamie Yoder
Sam Flaming

2009
Meghann Eblen
Joe Wuest