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A member of the Kansas City Kansas Community College Endowment Association Board since 1991 and president the past eight years, retired Federal Reserve Bank CEO Rich Rasdall was inducted into the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame in a surprise announcement Saturday, Nov. 7. He was joined in the induction ceremonies by his wife, Becky, and son, Brett. (KCKCC Photo by Alan Hoskins)

By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

As a student at what was then Kansas City Kansas Community Junior College, Rich Rasdall was one of the most vocal supporters of a new campus.

Today, he’s a member of the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame located on the KCKCC campus he so actively advocated.

The President of the KCKCC Endowment Association for the past eight years and recently retired as first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank, Rasdall was inducted into the Education Hall of Fame in a surprise announcement Saturday night.

“I’m dumbfounded and speechless, which I know a lot of people won’t believe,” said Rasdall. “It’s hard to believe. Thank you very, very much. I’m so shocked I’m not sure what to say.”

Rasdall was class president in 1968 when a bond issue was proposed to build a new campus in western Wyandotte County.

“The referendum needed to be successful to take our school ‘to the next level’ and as class president and leader, Rich personally spoke to numerous civic groups, from his student perspective, to explain the importance of and future need for our community to build a larger expanded campus,” remembers Peter Mirkovich, Rasdall’s classmate at the time and now president of Chicago-based Sandotte, Inc.

“Working tirelessly, he went from public function to function with his flip chart presentation to speak about why KCK needed this new campus and talking about KCKCC’s need to be prepared to serve the future higher education needs of Kansas City and the surrounding areas. A few others of us students followed his leadership in making presentations but we were no match compared to Rich. He made it a personal challenge to do all he could to help get this new campus built. When the bond issue passed, Dr. (Jack) Flint told Rich that his ‘grass roots’ work was significant contribution in getting it passed. ”

“When Dr. Flint and Paul Jewell told me they wanted me to speak to the Kiwanis and Rotary and other groups, I told them I didn’t know if I could do it,” said Rasdall. “They said if I wanted to pass English, I would. I said, ‘Oh, you hadn’t explained it that way.’ We were in the old Horace Mann grade school and the old Wyandotte gym and they were not adequate. Fortunately, what was lacking in facilities was more than made up in the quality of the staff.”

As a graduate of Wyandotte High School, Rasdall had a combination of offers to attend various colleges but each would require additional funding. Or he could stay home and attend KCKCJC and hold a part-time job.

“My friends were going away to four-year schools so it was a tough call but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to attend the community college, particularly from an economic standpoint when tuition probably wasn’t more than a $100,  which dollar for dollar made it the best thing going, which it still is today.”

Looking back, Rasdall says “It was the best decision I ever made and I’m just not saying that. I got such a rich education. The faculty and staff were so good to me and the friends I made were friends of a lifetime, people like Paul Jewell and Alton Davies and Jack Flint. You can’t repay those folks. That’s why the opportunity to work with the Endowment Association is so important to me.”

In a record eighth year as President of the Endowment Association, Rasdall joined it as a board member in 1991.

“Rich Rasdall has been a tireless ambassador for the Association as well as the College,” says Jerry Toney, Association Director. “Under his leadership as president, the Endowment Association has grown from providing a few scholarships a year to 500 a year and fund-raising has grown from a few thousand dollars a year to several hundred thousand. It has truly been a privilege to work with Rich over the years and an honor to call him my friend.”

After earning his Associate of Arts degree, Rasdall graduated from Kansas State in 1970 with a double major in history and education and then returned to Wyandotte High School to teach American Government and serve as volunteer assistant baseball coach.

He was about to return for his third year at Wyandotte when a friend who was working at the Federal Reserve Bank suggested he talk to the Bank’s personnel department.

“I really did it for the heck of it,” says Rasdall. “I was not dissatisfied with teaching and it was a curiosity more than anything. I just thought it might be something to do that I could learn from but then they got serious.”

Serious enough that he would join the bank, succeeding the man who hired him as an analyst in Personnel in 1972.

“Telling Carter Burns and especially Ray Daniels that I was taking another job a week before classes started was one of the hardest thing I ever had to do,” said Rasdall.

Named an officer in 1978, he was elevated to first vice president and CEO in 1994. As chief operating officer, he directed the Bank’s operations through the Tenth Federal Reserve District involving 13,000 employees in Kansas City and branch offices in Denver, Oklahoma City and Omaha. 

In addition to a degree from Kansas State, Rasdall is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On July 31, 2009, Rasdall retired, ending a 37-year career with the Bank.

His interest and participation in the Endowment Association, however, remains a priority.

“One of the reasons for my continued involvement is the reward of seeing the Association grow and the positive impact it’s had on the college and students,” says Rasdall.

“If I have a goal, it’s to continue the outstanding work of (past presidents) Alton Davies and Pat Gaunce. They did the heavy lifting. I want to capitalize on the great start Alton and Pat gave us.”

Two areas of particular interests are the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame and increasing support from alumni.

“The Hall of Fame has such a great foundation and such a tremendous asset,” says Rasdall. “With people like Phil Witt and all the work by Jerry Toney and Karen Atchley, I think there’s a great, great opportunity for it to grow to an even bigger event than it is. By getting it on its feet financially, the end result will be more scholarships for students and that’s our sole purpose, to continue to work for the student population.

“Another goal is working with our alumni. I think there’s a lot of alumni willing to help if we can make the contact. That’s the tough part.”

In addition to the Endowment Association, Rasdall has been a member of the Business Advisory Council of Kansas State University and the Management Advisory Board of the College of Business at the University of Missouri-Columbia and served as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of INROADS/Kansas City.

“Through his affiliation with INROADS, Rich has helped businesses gain great access to diverse talent through leadership development of outstanding ethnically diverse students and placement of those students in America’s top corporations, firms and organizations,” said Dennis Scott, Chief Administrative Officer for Burns & McDonnell.

“An original ‘Dotte,’ Rich Rasdall has never forgotten his roots,” said long-time friend Steve Terbovich. “He excelled with the training and education that he received in KCK, remained very involved in the education of young people and has continued to help others do the same.”