A generous estate gift from longtime University of Wyoming supporters Mary Shafer-Malicki and Pat Malicki will support UW student-athletes, boosting their success in competition and in the classroom.

The significant planned gift will create an endowment -- the MSM Trust Athletics Excellence Fund. The fund will be used to foster excellence and to provide financial support to UW student-athletes.

“I’ve been a fan of University of Wyoming athletics since I was 10 years old,” says Pat, a Wyoming native and two-time graduate of UW. “I’ve learned how academically successful student-athletes are, and I wanted to contribute to that success as well as to support something I love.”

“Besides being a big sports fan myself, I also am very interested in student-athletes,” says Mary, who married into the Wyoming family. “We have been women’s basketball scholarship supporters for years, so it was just natural to want to continue to support them in their success on and off the court.”

Mary and Pat’s generosity to UW extends beyond their financial support.

“They have consistently invested their time, energy and hearts into our program,” says Heather Ezell, UW women’s basketball head coach. “They genuinely care about the success and well-being of our players, and their commitment has had a lasting impact on countless student-athletes. We are incredibly grateful for their belief in our program and for the example they set through their selfless support of Wyoming Athletics.”

Mary and Pat are season ticket holders not only for women’s basketball, but also for men’s basketball and football. Although they now live in Denver, they attend almost all of the home football games and about half of the basketball games. They also attend the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament in Las Vegas and football bowl games.

“Mary and Pat are some of the most engaged and supportive fans that we have at the University of Wyoming,” says Randy Welniak, deputy athletics director for revenue and external relations. “The personal relationships that they have created with several of our student-athletes will last a lifetime. We are so fortunate to have people like them who truly care about these young men and women and who are making such a positive impact on our athletics program.”

Pat was born in Greybull and grew up in Riverton. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from UW in 1978 and went on to earn his law degree from UW in 1982.

Mary grew up in Tulsa, Okla. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1983.

Mary and Pat met in 1981 while they were working at the Beaver Creek gas plant near Riverton. Mary was working as a summer engineer for Pat’s father, who introduced her to Pat. They married in 1983.

Over the course of their careers, Mary and Pat worked in four states and six countries.

Pat served as manager of Park County Title Co. and as associate counsel at Bormuth, Freeman & Fuller in Cody. He was recovery counsel at the FDIC and claims counsel at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. in Denver. He also served as litigation manager at Dun & Bradstreet in Chicago.

Mary worked for Amoco as an engineer and operations manager in Wyoming, Colorado, West Texas and northwest Indiana. She then moved into senior leadership roles, serving as president of Amoco/BP Netherlands in The Hague; business unit leader in Aberdeen, Scotland, for BP; director general of BP Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City; chief operating officer of BP Angola in Luanda, Angola; and CEO of BP Angola in London.

Mary has served on multiple corporate and nonprofit boards. She previously served as chair of the QEP Resources board and as a member of other corporate boards, including McDermott International and Callon Petroleum. She currently serves on the board of Gulfport Energy. She is a former chair -- now a board member emerita -- of the UW Foundation Board of Directors. She also is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board for the UW Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

“We are deeply grateful to Mary and Pat for their unwavering support of UW,” says John Stark, president and CEO of the UW Foundation. “Their many contributions -- financial and otherwise -- have made an important difference for our university. Their most recent commitment will provide meaningful support for our student-athletes for generations to come.”

For more information about making a gift to UW through an estate plan, visit www.giveuwyo.org/gift-planning.