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On December 9, 1966, the Kenneth A. and Helen E. Spencer Foundation rededicated the Spencer Award as a memorial to Kenneth A. Spencer "so long as the foundation is in existence and determines the award to be worthy of Mr. Spencer's name. " In September 1978, the board of directors voted to dissolve the Spencer Foundation. On January 24, 1979, a generous grant from the Spencer Foundation to the Kansas City Section of the American Chemical Society guaranteed the perpetuity of the award, which shall henceforth be sponsored and administered by the Kansas City Section.
This award is respectfully dedicated to Kenneth A. Spencer, a man of vision, ideals and deep humility, who constructively and progressively built his dreams into reality for the betterment of his fellow men. Kenneth Aldred Spencer was born in Columbus, Kansas, January 25, 1902, son of Charles Favor and Clara (Hughes) Spencer. After receiving his preparatory education at Columbus, Kan., Pittsburg, Kan. and Culver Military Academy, he attended Cornell University at Ithaca, N.Y. and the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kan. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1926 with an A.B. in Mining Engineering and Geology In January 1927 he and Helen Elizabeth Foresman were married. They had no children. Starting in 1926 as a junior engineer in construction with his father's company, The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company, Spencer successively became chief engineer, general manager, vice president and treasurer and in 1942 he succeeded his father as president. In 1941 he organized and became president of The Military Chemical Works Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company. In 1940, Spencer submitted a proposal to the U.S. War Department calling for the development in the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri area of a chain of war plants to produce explosives. As a result, he was requested to take on the responsibility of constructing and operating the Jayhawk Ordnance Works near Pittsburg, Kan. to supply wartime demands for anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate This responsibility he discharged with great distinction. At the end of the war The Military Chemical Works Inc leased the Jayhawk Works for peacetime operation. The name of the corporation was changed to the Spencer Chemical Company and ceased to be a subsidiary of the coal company. The Jayhawk Works was purchased outright from the government in 1948. Additional plants were purchased or built in Calumet City, IIl., Henderson, Ky., Vicksburg, Miss, Fort Worth, Texas and Orange, Texas. Through an international subsidiary company, products of the company were distributed in 43 states and Canada in addition to many foreign countries. Three years after Spencer's death, the stockholders of Spencer Chemical Company voted to accept a favorable offer from Gull Oil Corporation to purchase the company and in October 1963 the sale was consummated. Spencer was one of the nine original incorporators of Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City. He served on the boards of several local companies and took an active part in the civic cultural and political affairs of this area. On a national level Spencer served as a member of the Business Advisory Council to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1951 until his death. He was a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. Also he was a member of the Board of Directors of such corporations as American Telephone & Telegraph, Armco Steel Corporation, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and International Harvester Company. Serving with Herbert Hoover, Spencer was a National Associate of Boys' Clubs of America. Spencer was the recipient of numerous honors. The University of Kansas awarded him a citation for outstanding achievement in 1943, and in 1957 Baker University, Baldwin, Kan., awarded him an honorary LL.D. degree. Park College, Parkville, Mo., awarded him an honorary D.Sc. degree in 1959. In 1955 the National Association of Soil Conservation Districts presented him with its Distinguished Service Award. He received the Sam Casey Award of the Society for Advancement of Management in 1957. He was a member of the National Coal Association, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Alpha Kappa Psi, Sigma Gamma Epsilon, Sigma Tau, Tau Beta Pi, and Beta Theta Pi, whose local alumni chapter named him "Man of The Year" in 1959. Kenneth Spencer died in Miami Beach, Fla., February 19, 1960. The Spencer Award -- 43 Years of Excellence By Franklyn Pogge Next month, February 1998, the Kansas City Section will present the 43rd Annual Spencer Award. The recipient will embody the degree of excellence which has been the hallmark of his predecessors. The Kansas City Section can take honor in their participation in the administration and sponsoring of this award. But how did this award come about? To many, especially newer members to the Section, it is one of our awards with its background and history buried in our "archives." A review of these archives will bring to thought the names Ervin Segebrecht, Perry Bidstrip, Dr. Louis H. Goodson, Delta W. Gier, Herbert M. Steininger, and Ludwig G. Krchma. All were involved in the founding of the Award and in its first presentation. In reviewing historical documents and in interviews, I found that the Award concept and general guidelines originated with an employee of Mr. Spencer’s, Ervin Segebrecht. Per Mr. Segebrecht, Mr. Kenneth F. Spencer insisted that the award be the Charles Spencer Award in honor of his father instead of the Spencer or Kenneth Spencer Award. With the aid of others, the late Ludwig Krchma drafted operating guidelines which led to the presentation of the first Award in 1955. For 12 years, the Kansas City Section administered the Award as the Charles F. Spencer Award. From this first Award presentation in 1955 until his untimely death in 1960, Mr. Kenneth A. Spencer took an active interest in the Award and participated in many award presentations. Following Mr. Spencer’s death, the Award tradition was continued by Mrs. Spencer and Mr. C. Y. Thomas, a close associate of Mr. Spencer, and later a member of the Board of Directors of the Spencer Foundation. On December 9, 1966, the Directors of the Kenneth A. and Helen F. Spencer Foundation, with the consent of the interim sponsor, Gulf Oil Corporation, rededicated the Spencer Award as a memorial to Kenneth A. Spencer so long as the Foundation is in existence and determines the Award to be worthy of Mr. Spencer’s name. The Kansas City Section fulfilled this trust for another 12 years. A review of the records for the period 1966 to 1979 brings another group of names from the archives. The names of Dr. Ivan Smith, Mr. Larry Breed, Dr. Leonard Sorg, Dr. Robert Stutz, and Mr. C. Y. Thomas are just a few of those deeply involved with the Spencer Award during this period. Drs. Smith, Sorg, Stutz, and Mr. Breed formed a nucleus for working with the Foundation and specifically with our long time friend, Mr. C. Y. Thomas. The purpose was to establish a means such that the Kansas City Section could continue the Award beyond that time when the Spencer Foundation was no longer in existence. The Foundation was receptive and appreciative of the Section's concerns and efforts but had reservations. The Board of Directors felt that administration and funding of an award such as this required greater continuity of personnel than the Section could offer. As many remember, each year the new Chairman-Elect was responsible for the Award; thus a new person each year dealt with the Foundation and the Board of Directors. Following considerable study and consultation with Mr. Thomas and the Foundation, the section proceeded to alter its structure to provide for continuity of award administration. Thus, in 1977 through a bylaws change, a Kenneth A. Spencer Award Administration Committee was created as a standing committee. This committee, composed of Councilors and Alternate Councilors, has the responsibility for assuring continuity and maintaining quality as well as administration of the Award. The Chairman of this committee was further charged to be the Section liaison to the Kenneth A. and Helen F. Spencer Foundation and its Board of Directors. Since Councilors serve for three year terms, this new committee established a continuum with the Spencer Foundation. The Chairman-Elect would still handle the mechanics of the Award, but do so through the Section Award Administration Committee. This action was favorably received by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and on January 24, 1979, Mrs. Helen F. Spencer advised the Kansas City Section that the Foundation was distributing a cash grant for the purpose of continuing the Kenneth A. Spencer Award as long as funds from the grant were available. The grant was made without any further direction, allowing the Section the latitude of making proper investment to assure continuance of income needed to support the Award. The Spencer Award Administration Committee members did not take their task lightly and by June of 1979 had guidelines in place for the support of the Award and the investment program. Through investment proceeds and careful stewardship, it has been possible to continue the Award. On February 15, 1982, the Kansas City Section was saddened by the death of Helen F. Spencer. The Section members had felt they would be able to continue the Award with the original endowment; however, prior to her death, Mrs. Spencer obviously felt that supplemental funds would be needed. Mrs. Spencer had made provisions for a bequest to the Kansas City Section which was received in December of 1982. In the words of Mrs. Spencer, "to be added to the existing fund established by the Kenneth A. and Helen F. Spencer Foundation and to continue to be utilized to continue the the Kenneth A. Spencer Award for outstanding achievement in agricultural chemistry, as long as possible." Again, the Section did not dally, but immediately set into motion the necessary bylaw changes and committee structure to handle the supplemental bequest in the most advisable manner such that granting of the Award could continue in perpetuity. This brief history of the Spencer Award was prepared with the hope that those who attend the 43rd Annual presentation of the Award will have a better understanding of the tremendous amount of past effort which has been expanded to maintain this Award as one of the most prestigious and coveted Awards given by any group within the American Chemical Society. It has been through these efforts that this Award has been possible, reflecting Mr. Spencer’s 1954 statement which recognized the importance of agricultural chemistry:
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