Karen and David Matchus
Karen Warren Matchus is a two-time graduate of WKU (’66, ’71). Originally from Morgantown, KY, Karen majored in business education at WKU and was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi and the WKU Marching & Symphonic Bands while an undergraduate student. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she accepted a high school teaching position in Miami, FL. Four years later she returned to WKU as a graduate assistant teaching classes in business and office administration to undergraduates as she pursued her master’s degree in business education. After graduating in 1971, Karen married David and moved to Chicago where she taught in a post-secondary school. They were married for 43 years until David’s passing in 2014.
When the couple met, David worked for GTE (now Verizon) in Chicago. In 1972 they moved to Tampa where David had accepted a position at GTE Florida. In 1978 he accepted a position with GTE International in Tehran, Iran. Altogether, he spent 31 years as a systems engineer and business analyst with GTE before retiring in 1999.
After their return to Florida from Iran in 1979, Karen also went to work at GTE Florida where she found her career niche working in Human Resources. She retired from Verizon in 2000, continuing to work part-time as a career management consultant for Spherion until 2004. Her time is now spent volunteering for various community nonprofit organizations, including the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, Friends of Joshua House Foundation, Friends of the Library, and Carrollwood Cultural Center as a member of the Carrollwood Winds Band.
Since her time as a student, Karen has been very involved with WKU serving as the Tampa Bay alumni chapter president for a number of years and as a member of Dr. Gary Ransdell’s president’s advisory board. Although David was not an alumnus of WKU, he enjoyed coming to campus and attending alumni events with the Tampa Bay alumni chapter. He was made an honorary Hilltopper by Lee Robertson, former WKU Alumni Director.
To further their support of WKU, Karen and David established a scholarship fund in 1999. The fund was created to assist students with a demonstrated financial need who are pursuing a major within the School of Teacher Education in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Through this fund Karen and David continue to positively impact WKU in perpetuity.