Philanthropy for the Ages

Philanthropy has always been a part of Steve and Sam (Susan) King’s lives.

The Steve and Susan King Excellence Fund in Landscape Architecture in the College of Design, Steve said, is “a demonstration of that interest.”

To establish the fund, the couple took a novel approach: gifting a life insurance policy. The discretionary fund will be put to strategic use to advance every aspect of the department, which is already ranked among the top 10 programs nationwide by DesignIntelligence.

The gift will strengthen the department’s environmental focus while furthering innovative faculty research and expanding valuable scholarship support and entrepreneurial opportunities for students.

“We have a lot of confidence that the money being provided will be used creatively for innovation,” Sam said.

The couple shared that they hope the Steve and Susan King Excellence Fund in Landscape Architecture helps propel the top-ranked program to even greater heights.

“We have a desire to create meaningful experiences for students and give them as many advantages as possible in terms of what the program offers and the resources made available to differentiate it from other top schools,” Sam said.

For Steve, the inspiration to give back to the College of Design stems from his own experience at the university.

“Iowa State has been very good to me,” he said. “It gave me a great education, and I’m trying to pay that back.”

After graduating from Iowa State in 1968 with a degree in landscape architecture, Steve went on to lead a successful, storied career. He’s credited for developing “continuous play,” a concept that reshaped how children play – and one he came up with while a student at Iowa State. The idea also inspired Landscape Structures, a playground equipment company he co-founded in 1971 with his late wife, Barb.

The company grew over the years, with more than 100,000 structures installed today at school and neighborhood playgrounds worldwide. Steve and Barb eventually sold Landscape Structures through an employee stock ownership plan and the company became fully employee-owned in 2012. Today there are more than 500 employee-owners.

In addition to the Steve and Susan King Excellence Fund in Landscape Architecture, Steve has benefited the college through a lead gift for the King Pavilion addition to the design building and the Barbara King Scholarship for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Through all their giving, including through their estate, Steve and Sam’s impact on Iowa State will be felt for generations to come.

“At the time of our deaths, we want to be able to continue the philanthropic work that we’ve done by designating gifts to the institutions that we feel most loyal to and that have been great stewards of our philanthropy up to that point,” Sam said.

For the Kings, Iowa State is the perfect fit.

You can join the Kings in helping Iowa State and its students become the best in the world. Whether making a gift of life insurance or remembering Iowa State in your will, there are many options for estate gifts that cost you nothing today that can meet your goals and passions. Please contact the office of gift planning at 800.621.8515 or giftplanning@foundation.iastate.edu to discuss your many options.