Alumni scholarship gifts fuel opportunities for KU professional selling students

Two recent gifts will help students in the Professional Selling Program at the KU School of Business. Matt and Amy Paquette of Manhattan, Kansas, knew they wanted to help KU students have opportunities available that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to access if they had to work after-school jobs to pay for school.

Their contributions include an endowed scholarship to be used toward tuition, and the other includes an unrestricted fund for student participation in sales competitions, study abroad trips and other program needs.

Matt, originally from the Chicago area, earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting 1996, and Amy, a Lawrence native, graduated from KU in 1997 with a degree in exercise science. Matt made his career with Edward Jones in Manhattan while Amy built her own personal training company. Their son, Zachary, a 2025 KU Business graduate, was involved with the Professional Selling Program. After seeing how the program benefited him, they committed to helping other students access the same opportunities.

“As a donor, if we can be that one person that gives somebody the opportunity to make a difference, then it's all worth it,” Matt said. “If it's that little piece or a portion of their journey, and it allows them to then make a difference in the world. That what it's all about: giving someone a tool, in this case financial support, to help them grow, to change the world and go make an impact in their own way.”

The Paquettes saw the practical skills that the Professional Selling Program was giving students firsthand. They connected with Kristen Helling, director of the Professional Selling Program and assistant teaching professor, and knew immediately they wanted to provide support to the program.

The program comprises a minor and certificate and includes networking opportunities, experiential activities and sales-focused curriculum. The minor is open to all Bachelor of Science in Business majors while the certificate is open to all undergraduate KU students. It also offers a summer study abroad experience for students to learn about marketing and sales in Europe for two weeks as they explore how businesses and industries use marketing and sales in London and Dublin.

“Everybody can benefit from sales classes, learning and experiences,” Amy said. “It builds confidence and skills and expands networks. And with studying abroad, you can’t quantify the benefits that people can get from traveling. There is so much you can get out of traveling and seeing the regional, national or global differences from it and greater human understanding.

Matt and Amy encourage anyone looking to support the KU School of Business to get inventive and ask questions.

“You never know who might know the areas where support is needed,” Amy said. “KU gave us a place of belonging and a passion for a greater cause, especially with education and athletics. We had to think about the foundational ideas of what mattered the most and who needed it the most. It was being active donors and giving back to a place that gave us so much. We wanted to be our own advocates in this journey, be proactive about how we supported, and find where we wanted to make a difference.”