WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Fall 2017

Pizza Hut Building Moves to New Campus Location

The original Pizza Hut building, which was moved to WSU’s Innovation Campus on Sept. 18, will be turned into a museum dedicated to the history of the world-famous pizza chain.

Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by brothers Frank ’00 and Dan ’53/04 Carney, students at what was then the University of Wichita. The building’s structure influenced the name of what would become an international chain. The building had a sign that would only accommodate nine characters. The brothers wanted to use “Pizza” in the name and that left room for only three more letters. A family member suggested that the building looked like a hut – and Pizza Hut was born.

Dan Carney will donate his sizeable collection of Pizza Hut mementos and artifacts to the new museum. Wichita franchisee Fugate Enterprises made a lead gift to the project. Other area franchisees also have donated to the project, with substantial gifts from franchisee Daland Corp. and Pizza Hut Corp. The Pizza Hut Museum is a $1.2 million fundraising campaign initiated by WSU Foundation to move the 500-square-foot original building from its earlier location on campus to its permanent location. The Foundation plans to raise $500,000 to endow a student curator program, employing students in academic areas such as history and museum studies to work as docents and update museum contents. The museum will serve as a way to highlight Wichita’s past and present entrepreneurial history.

 


LOOK BACK

Pizza Hut Building Moves to New Campus Location

The original Pizza Hut building, which was moved to WSU’s Innovation Campus on Sept. 18, will be turned into a museum dedicated to the history of the world-famous pizza chain.

No Humble Pie

A funny thing happened to Dan ’53/04 and Frank ’00 Carney on their way to business degrees at Wichita State. Both were sidetracked, at least temporarily, by the chore of building an international business empire.