The Wichita State University Foundation has received a commitment of $250,000 from the Walter S. and Evan C. Jones Testamentary Trust for WSU’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) facility campaign.

The gift represents the first major commitment to the AEGD facilty since the joint three-year pledge from Delta Dental of Kansas and Delta Dental of Kansas Foundation was announced in October 2008.

The AEGD program will be the only dentistry education program in Kansas.

Students and faculty are being recruited for the one- to two-year residency program, with the projected first class beginning in fall 2009 at GraceMed Health Clinic, a Wichita community health center that provides medical and dental care on a sliding scale.

The following semester, construction is scheduled to begin on the facility to be located on north Oliver Street, immediately south of the Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex, which will exclusively house the program and a community clinic.

Residency students will complete their first year of training there before rotating to rural and community health sites.

The cost for phase one of the proposed building is $6.4 million, which includes construction and equipment.

The WSU Foundation continues its efforts to raise the remainder of funding from private sources. Naming opportunities are available at all giving levels throughout the facility.

The Jones Testamentary Trust, which focuses on providing assistance with medical care and post-secondary education to individuals primarily in the Coffey, Lyon and Osage counties of Kansas, is a continuing supporter of WSU.

It gave to the renovation of the WSU dental hygiene clinic’s radiology wing, which is named in the founders’ honor.

For more information about the AEGD facility and program or how to support them, contact Lynette Murphy, WSU Foundation director of development for the College of Health Professions, at (316) 978-3441 or lynette.murphy@wichita.edu.