Help Create the Kim and Ken Kihlstrom Endowed Chair in the Natural Sciences
Westmont is proud to honor Kim Kihlstrom's enduring legacy and to celebrate Kim and Ken's dedication to Westmont's mission; both have had a profound impact on Westmont and shared an unwavering belief in the transformative power of Christian higher education. With your support in establishing this endowed chair, their legacy will continue to inspire future generations of scholars, educators, and students.
Ken Kihlstrom, together with Westmont College, invites you to help realize the vision of an endowed chair. Ken and the family will match all donations up to $750,000 in order to reach the total of $1.5 M to establish the chair.
You are warmly invited to join Ken Kihlstrom, by contributing to endow the chair.
This endowed chair will support and maintain a faculty position within the Natural Sciences Department, with a primary focus on computer science.
The endowed chair aims to attract and retain outstanding scholars who exemplify the Kihlstroms' commitment to academic excellence, mentorship, and the integration of faith and learning.
You are warmly invited to generously contribute to help endow the Kim and Ken Kihlstrom Endowed Chair in the Natural Sciences.
Ken is committed to ensuring chair is endowed and will match gifts you make to this endowment.
Donate to Help Endow the Chair
On the donation form, select "Other" and enter: Kihlstrom Endowed Chair
About Kim and Ken Kihlstrom
Dr. Kim Kihlstrom, a distinguished professor of computer science, embodied Westmont's ideals throughout her tenure. A Stanford University alumna with a degree in electrical engineering, Kim furthered her education by earning a doctorate in computer engineering from UC Santa Barbara. Joining the Westmont faculty in 1999, she became the inaugural professor of computer science, passionately fostering the growth of the department. She won the Teacher of the Year award for the Natural and Behavioral Sciences as well as the Faculty Research Award. Kim was the principal investigator for two four-year National Science Foundation scholarship programs for Westmont computer science, engineering and mathematics students. She also directed a two-year National Science Foundation grant for computer security research in 2005. In 2004, she received the Wilkes Award for the best paper published in a volume of the Computer Journal.Her dedication to mentoring students, especially women in STEM fields, left an indelible mark on the college community. This gracious, lovely, smart, determined and cheerful woman died of ovarian cancer December 12, 2013. She was 56. Kim's legacy of hospitality, intellect, and unwavering faith continues to inspire all who knew her.
Dr. Ken Kihlstrom, Kim's husband, has been a pillar of the Westmont community since 1984, serving as a professor of physics. A Stanford graduate with a master's and doctorate in physics, Ken's contributions to the college are manifold. He has worked as a research physicist at Superconducting Technologies Inc. doing temperature-dependent microwave measurements on superconducting filters. He was also a visiting researcher at Conductus Inc. where he focused on research on SQUID magnetometers and digital superconducting electronics. As a research associate at the Naval Research Laboratory, he established a superconducting tunneling program and UHV sputtering of superconductors. He has won the Faculty Research Award at Westmont and the Teacher of the Year Award in Natural and Behavioral Sciences three times.
Together, Kim and Ken led Europe Semester trips with Westmont students in 2008 and 2011. Ken continued to their legacy by co-leading once again in 2015.
Homecoming 2010
Chapel 2012
Kim Loved Unconditionally
Sarah Elliott
Kim Kihlstrom. I don't know how to say what a blessing she was and how much she will be missed... but she was beautiful from the inside out, brilliant, amazing, generous, selfless, loving towards everyone she met, and always smiling. Her cookies were incredible, and her giggle was contagious. She brought the very best out of everyone around her as she loved them unconditionally. Her faith was her strength and an inspiration to me and all those around her. She was my second mom: listening, encouraging, praying and always believing in me. Whether on Europe Semester or at Small Group, if Kim and Ken (and Kevin of course:) were there it felt like family. I was so blessed to have her and Ken baptize me in the Jordan river in Israel, and there's no one else I would have rather been there with. Her strength and faith through the difficult times were amazing, as her beautiful smile, thankful heart, and trust in the Lord never wavered. I am so grateful to have known her and so blessed by every moment spent with her. She leaves behind so many whose lives she blessed, but Heaven just became a better and more joyful place now that she is there. Thank you to the rest of the Kihlstrom family for sharing her - you are all wonderful - we will miss Kim so very much. All my love, Sarah.
A Grief Observed and Shared
Patrick Watters
She epitomizes the love of Christ bubbling up and over to bless others...
The deeper the love, the larger the loss. Though her family had time to prepare for the day, to be with her and say their loving goodbyes, today Kim Kihlstrom is no longer with us on earth, having gone home to her Savior. This morning I awoke to both an aching heart and a "knot in my gut" as I pray without words for Ken and the family. I mourn the loss of one who touched so many lives beyond her own family, Kim who overflowed with an abundance of love. She epitomizes the love of Christ bubbling up and over to bless others, who know well what I'm trying to express here.My heart and soul ache as this old husband, father and grandfather tries to share their grief, reflecting from those roles. It is true, there is much to celebrate about this saintly, loving woman, but much to mourn in our collective loss as well, and now we do mourn; for children who've lost their mother, for grandchildren who won't be held by her, for a husband who literally and spiritually lost a part of himself to Heaven. A community, a family of students, parents and friends, her extended legacy in Christ, are mourning and will too celebrate this deeply beautiful woman who was indeed "larger than life" to many.
Father, we are grateful for Kim. We give You thanks for her life with us. We ask as Your children and family that You would now send Your Peace and Reassurance to Ken, their children and their extended family; biological and spiritual. In the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
She Shared Her Passion
Annie Hodson
She shared her passion with us and I can only pray that I'm half as effective in sharing my passion with others
Kim Kihlstrom impacted so many lives of students at Westmont, and she made a huge difference in my life and encouraged me to take an unexpected path. Without her, I never would have studied Computer Science. I haven't pursued a career that directly involves computer science, but my experience at Westmont was invaluable. I remember that Kim was so hard-working, but also always so upbeat and passionate. She shared her passion with us and I can only pray that I'm half as effective in sharing my passion with others. In a tech world that is dominated by geeky guys, it made all the difference to have a female role model who was intelligent, feminine, and following the Lord. I remain in awe of her ability to simultaneously teach advanced CS concepts and pass out homemade cookies! I'm incredibly sad for the future women in computer science at Westmont that will never have the privilege to know Kim. Her family remains in my prayers.
Kim's Memorial
Baccalaureate 2014
Join Us in Honoring Kim
Help Honor Kim with Endowed Chair
On donation form, enter as designation: Kihlstrom Endowed Chair
Online: Use secure online giving
Check: Make check payable to Westmont College and mail to:
Office of College Advancement
955 La Paz Road
Gifts of stock and donations made through donor advised funds are welcome.
For Assistance, contact:
Steven Jay Davis, D.Min.
Associate Vice PresidentGift Planning & Transformational Philanthropy