Foundation

FOUNDATION

The Timothy P. O’Shaughnessy Foundation, established as a Wichita-based 501(c)(3) operating foundation in 2016, is dedicated to recognizing, motivating, and supporting exceptional high school graduates from the Wichita area who have shown a strong passion for learning and exploration beyond traditional classrooms by providing scholarship recipients financial and mentorship support; and by encouraging them to adopt the entrepreneurial mindset (exploratory spirit, critical thinking, challenging conventional wisdom, always seeking truth) and virtues (kindness, generosity, creativity, honesty, integrity, and humility) which Timothy O’Shaughnessy embodied during his lifetime.

By giving this support and encouragement, the Foundation hopes to help scholars embark on a journey of lifelong learning in pursuit of their own unique dreams and the pursuit of the “Good,” following the principle of subsidiarity, which holds that the “Common Good” is best achieved, not through the unnecessary intervention and bureaucratic control by larger organizations or societies, but rather through the primary agency of individuals, families and local social units.

Entrepreneurs are not obedient, they learn!” – Anon
“I do the things I don’t know how to do, so that I learn how to do them.” – Van Gogh
“Dare to be different” — Timothy P. O’Shaughnessy Foundation
“Create your own path.” – Timothy P. O’Shaughnessy Foundation
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” – Tennysonk

The video below was presented at our most recent fundraising golf tournament and highlights comments from family members and current scholars. 

Board of Directors


Learn to use your talents and stretch your limits

Our logo is a visual interpretation of Timothy’s life

The Timothy P. O’Shaughnessy Foundation logo is modeled on a Chinese logographic character, reminiscent of Timothy’s journeys to the Far East, where he mastered the Chinese language.  It is also a graphic illustration of the “Vitruvian Man” of ideal proportions, sketched in 1490 by Leonardo da Vinci, a polymath like Timothy; and it is intuitively recognizable as including shape elements of the English language letter “T,”  open and open-ended on all sides, like Tim.
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