Ralph and Barbara Stephens of Solon gave the Iowa women’s basketball team $200,000 to create the Ralph I. and Barbara G. Stephens Women’s Basketball Scholarship. The gift was announced on June 2.

“I’m so grateful for Barb and Ralph’s commitment to the UI women’s basketball program,” head coach Lisa Bluder said in a statement. “Their contribution will have an impact on generations of student-athletes at Iowa, and this scholarship gift provides a much-appreciated boost to our endowment.”

Ralph Stephens has taught and conducted research in the university’s Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department since 1965, and Barbara Stephens graduated from the School of Art and Art History in 1985.

“Our greatest accomplishments were gained at Iowa,” Ralph Stephens said in a statement. “This is a great way to give back to our wonderful university.”

The two gave an additional $250,000 to the College of Engineering, which will establish the Professor Ralph and Barbara Stephens Experimental Engineering Lab.