Dane & Polly Bales

The Dane and Polly Bales Organ Recital Hall and Hellmuth Wolff & Associates, opus 40, were created entirely through the generosity of private donors. The University of Kansas is deeply grateful to each of them for their commitment to this extraordinary project and the students, faculty, and programs of the University.

Dane and Polly Bales, along with the Dane Hansen Foundation, are the primary donors to both the organ and the recital hall.

Dane Bales, a native of Logan, KS, graduated from the University in 1941. During World War II he served in the U.S. Air Force in the Philippines. Following the war he joined his uncle, Dane G. Hansen in the oil exploration business, and after Mr. Hansen's death in 1965, became manager of the Hansen Trust, which owns the Hansen oil properties. He was a member of the board of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the Dane G. Hansen trust, and the Kansas Independent Oil Operators Association and a former member of the National Board of Directors of the Independent Petroleum Producers of America. He was in the first class inducted into the Kansas Oil and Gas Hall of Fame.

Polly Roth Bales, born in Whitewater, KS, studied organ at the University of Kansas, taking lessons in Hoch Auditorium. In 1972, she helped create and organize the Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum and Museum Association in Logan, and served as president of the Museum Association. She was active in many organizations, including serving as president of the Business and Professional Women's Club, who on two different occasions named her "Woman of the Year," the Logan Library Board, the Phillips County American Red Cross, the Native Daughters of Kansas, and the Sunflower Knife and Fork Club. She also served as an officer or on the board of the Kansas State Historical Society, P.E.O., the Phillips County Hospital Guild, Logan Community Concerts, the Wesley Foundation, the President's Advisory Committee at Bethany College, the Huck Boyd Foundation, KOOD-TV, and the Travel Industry Association of Kansas.

Polly Bales was active in the Republican Party, serving or holding office on the Republican State Executive Committee, the Phillip's County Republican Women's Club, Big First Republicans, and the Kansas Day Club. She was Regional Co-Chairman of Dole for President and was a member of the Dole for President Exploratory Committee. She was also active in the United Methodist Church, serving three terms as President of the Methodist Women, teaching Sunday school, and serving as a church organist in Logan, KS continuously from 1952 until late in her life when she moved to Lawrence.

At KU, Dane and Polly Bales have served as members of the Chancellor's Club, the KU Development Committee, the Williams Fund, and the Historic Mount Oread Fund. In 1987 they were inducted into KU's Gallery of Outstanding Kansans. Dane was a member of the School of Business Board of Directors and Polly was a Life Trustee of the KU Endowment Association, a member of the Fine Arts Advisory Board, and a recipient of the Fred Ellsworth Medallion for unique and significant service to the University.