Chancellor Brady Deaton announced the university had endowed $1.3 million to a lecture series honoring former Sen. Kit Bond, R-Missouri on Monday.

The lecture series will become a permanent fund for the university and is meant to provide a forum for nationally and internationally recognized leaders to express the importance of issues regarding economics, science, political and security policy.

Deaton praised Bond for directing about $500 million to the MU during his time as a lawmaker. Former Sen. John Danforth, R-Missouri, set the idea for the Kit Bond Distinguished Lecture Series in motion.

“About a year ago, we caught wind that Kit was about to leave (the Senate),” Danforth said. “We wanted to find a way to honor him. There was no way he could just steal silently into the night. We wanted to do something really special, and when we pressed him for an idea, he said he wanted to do something for the University of Missouri.”

The original amount Danforth wanted to start off the lecture series was $1 million, but the fundraising efforts, led by former UM System Board of Curators member Tom Atkins, have gone above that. And the fundraising hasn’t stopped.

“We started off so well, and the fund will keep on growing,” Atkins said.

Bond stressed his desire for the lecture series to provide an internationally-focused education.

“International educational exchanges, for which the University of Missouri is known, are very important,” Bond said. “Students are going to go out into the world with international competition and work and relate whatever jobs they have back to their schooling experience. If you want to talk to someone who knows the dollar-to-yen ratio, talk to a Missouri farmer. They realize that 95 percent of their market is international, and we need good relations.”

A committee comprised of MU staff members will choose the speakers and the cities in which the lecture series will take place. No information as to who the speakers will be or when the lecture series will begin has been released.

“The lecture series will bring in outstanding speakers,” Atkins said. “It will bring a lot of attention to Missouri, benefits to the students and to all of the state.”

Bond said he has high hopes for the lecture series and thinks it will help the state prosper by first enhancing the university.

“Making sure the university thrives and grows and educates is such a benefit for a state,” Bond said. “I’m very pleased that I’m working on something that will bring greater things to the University of Missouri and students here. It will add luster to an already outstanding flagship university for which this state is very proud of.”