KU Collegian, Spring 2015

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS

spring 2015

BUILDING BR I G HTER FUTURES Researchers pursue remedies to enhance well-being

IN THIS ISSUE: First online degree completion program > New School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures > Hasta Luego, Dean Anderson >

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1 Dean Speak Aspirations Serve as Inspiration

2–13 Campus Briefs

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News from around the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, including new programs, research highlights, faculty and student honors, and new faculty

14 Cover Story

Building Brighter Futures: Researchers pursue remedies to enhance well-being

20 Alumni Briefs

College honors Distinguished Alumni // 20

Graduates make an impact from Silicon Valley to KU classrooms // 21 Seven things you didn’t know about Mini College

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Giving Back: Generosity helps students, university thrive // 25

28 Oread Encore

Decades at KU shape departing dean’s path

KU Collegian is published for alumni and friends of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences by students and graduates of the University of Kansas.

Strong Hall 1450 Jayhawk Boulevard Room 200 Lawrence, KS 66045-7535 785.864.3661 FAX: 785.864.5331 www.college.ku.edu email: clasdean@ku.edu EDITOR Kristi Henderson, ’03 khenderson@ku.edu ASSOCIATE EDITOR Christi Davis, ’12 christidavis@ku.edu

DESIGN Susan Geiger, ’98 susangeiger@att.net CONTRIBUTORS Heather Anderson, ’08 KU Endowment KU Marketing Communications KU News Service KU Office of Public Affairs University Archives

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

DEAN SPEAK

Aspirations Serve as Inspiration During 40 years at KU, I’ve seen many changes. New

chancellors, new buildings, new degrees, new technology.

Stepping back into an administrative role this semester, I was quickly reminded of one constant that has never changed at KU: our students’ stories are truly inspiring.

Just a few weeks into my tenure as interim dean of the College

of Liberal Arts & Sciences, I had the honor to learn about Ramona Cosby. At the age of 50, Ramona had returned to school to earn a

bachelor’s degree in art history. She was a model student in every way, engaged with the material, inquisitive and devoted to her studies. She was also incredibly brave.

It takes courage and fortitude to come back to school in

middle age. But to do so while battling cancer, as Ramona was, takes resilience. And to refuse to use the disease as an excuse,

until cancer forced her hand, takes tenacity. Her professors said they had no idea she was sick, until her illness prevented her from making it to class on time or getting there at all. Then,

reluctantly, she would tell them the reason she would be late or have to miss class: she’d been battling ovarian cancer for eight years. She talked about it as merely an obstacle to overcome.

Last semester, fall 2014, Ramona was taking just one class.

As is plainly evident in email exchanges with her professor that semester, John Pultz, she was determined to finish the

Interim Dean Don Steeples meets with Krista Kobe to present a certificate in recognition of her mother’s devotion to her studies.

Five days later, Ramona died at the age of 52. To me

Ramona is every bit as much a hero as a soldier dying on a battlefield. Her hospital bed was her battlefield, cancer

was her enemy, and she fought valiantly to the end without complaining.

Near the end of March, I met with Ramona’s daughter

class and continue toward graduation. Her correspondence

Krista. I presented a certificate of academic achievement

with permission of her professor and her family.

to graduate, she exceeded every expectation we have for

reveals an indomitable spirit. I’m sharing a few excerpts here

9/10/2014: I am a good student and do not want to withdraw because I am closing in on getting my degree.

9/29/2014: I was admitted again to Menorah Med Center. …

I’m finally getting into the classes that I love and I’m having these issues. Please advise.

10/30/2014: I was admitted to Menorah last night. Although I’m doing better than normal. ... I’ve printed our study guide and images. I’ll do my best. I’m so sorry.

11/4/2014: I came home last night, however am very weak, dealing with a lot. I cannot make it for the test. I will be in touch for a make-up and I’ve got to figure out how to get through the rest of the semester with my progression. … I appreciate you working with me. This has been very important to me the last few years.

11/21/2014: I had my surgery and it seems to be healingh ahtough week. … I’m can finished my ist reading assingment/ righrin assignment by the ende of the seekd. … Sorry sor any increnciences Not at all the way I have anticipated. and sorry my spcllin gramer is off kilter. …thank you So mcch.

to recognize that although cancer cut short Ramona’s goal students. Her mother’s story serves as an important reminder

that education is a privilege and not just a requirement on the way to our careers.

Our students have the rich opportunity to learn not just

where they’re going but who they are. Ramona’s fight teaches

us all that we are defined not by our challenges but in how we react to them. As the former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano said on national television before cancer

claimed his life, “Don’t give up! Don’t ever give up!” Ramona never gave up.

Don Steeples

Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

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CAMPUS BRIEFS

snapshots

College expands online programming Committed to evolving online

education, the College of Liberal Arts &

the College, which will provide students a

year to expand online opportunities for

can be applied in nearly any profession or

Sciences has taken a number of steps this current and prospective students.

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

well-rounded and flexible education that post-baccalaureate study.

Students will fulfill the same general

now houses the university’s first all-

education requirements of the KU Core

program in the liberal arts and sciences.

courses taught by full-time faculty in the

digital bachelor’s degree completion

Degree-seeking students can combine previous undergraduate credit or an

associate’s degree with online KU courses

and will take rigorous and diverse

College. Most courses are taught in eightweek “minimesters.”

The College also developed a new

to complete a bachelor’s degree.

online tool for undecided and prospective

of psychology, was appointed to the

undergraduate majors offered in the

This spring, Paul Atchley, professor

new role of associate dean for online and professional education. Atchley oversees

The Department of Theatre houses a special piece of Hollywood history that makes an appearance during special events for selfies and sentimental speeches with visitors and fans. Family of KU alumnus William Inge donated his Oscar award to the department following his death in 1971. The Oscar was presented to Inge for his work “Splendor in the Grass,” which was recognized by the Academy for Best Original Story and Screenplay in 1961.

The program features courses from

development and implementation of online academic programs, known

collectively as the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Online.

students to explore the more than 40

College. The tool, Majors Marketplace, allows students to search for a specific

major or browse through degrees in a wide variety of subjects from global studies, arts and humanities to social sciences,

math and natural sciences. Students can

learn more about what it takes to complete a major, opportunities beyond the

classroom, or potential career paths.

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES ONLINE:

collegeonline.ku.edu MAJORS MARKETPLACE:

majorsmarketplace.ku.edu

Online program saves students in textbook fees In 2009, the Spanish department

developed Acceso, a program to

replace textbooks with online content, resulting in $500,000 in student

savings. Since then, more than 3,000

students studying Spanish at KU have

during class. To provide different

students long after they had forgotten

speaking world, Acceso is divided into

literacy that would remain with

how to conjugate verbs. Cutting down

on textbook costs was an added benefit.

This fall, classes using Acceso moved

used the online resource.

from a traditional classroom to a new

professor of Spanish, saw a need for a

Hall. The new room makes it easier to

Amy Rossomondo, an associate

platform like Acceso because textbooks

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weren’t offering the kind of cultural

Active Learning Classroom in Wescoe navigate and interact with the program

perspectives from around the Spanishgeographical regions. Among other

things, the materials draw from news articles that discuss social issues in

Spanish-speaking countries, clips of

native speakers from different regions

and videos that mix Spanish narration with graphics and text.

NEW LEADERS TAKE HELM OF COLLEGE’S SCHOOLS This year the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences welcomed new directors to each of its three schools: the School of the Arts, the School of Public Affairs & Administration, and the newest, the School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures. We asked each a few questions to get to know them better.

New degrees offer unique opportunities As the largest and most diverse

academic unit on campus, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences offers students

the opportunity to do nearly anything— to learn without boundaries. This year,

students have even more opportunities and pathways thanks to new degrees

developed by several departments and

Marc L. Greenberg, Director of the School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures

Reggie Robinson, Director of the School of Public Affairs & Administration

Henry Bial, Director of the School of the Arts

Known for: Work on historical linguistics, Slavic languages, and open access in scholarly communication

Known for: Leadership, administrative law, voting rights and elections, and public management

Known for: Work on theatre history, performance theory and Jewish popular culture; president of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education

Favorite spot on campus? Actually, it’s just off campus: the Terrace at the Oread Hotel has a great view of the campus.

It allows one to reflect on its beauty and complexity.

When you’re not working, what is your favorite way to spend free time?

Playing music, especially with others. (Greenberg has demonstrated his talents on the Russian seven-string guitar for Mini College and community presentations.)

Favorite spot on campus? Any of the large meeting rooms in the Kansas Union. Those rooms bring back memories of long— often past midnight—and spirited Student Senate budget meetings from my undergraduate days.

If you could meet someone famous, who would it be? The late Arthur Ashe—he was the first, and still only, AfricanAmerican man to win a tennis “Grand Slam” event. He was a leader who emerged as a courageous and articulate voice against South African apartheid. In addition, after he contracted HIV through a blood transfusion, he became a persistent and high-profile voice for AIDS awareness.

I’ve always seen Arthur Ashe as an amazing role model.

programs. Since spring 2014 the College has introduced:

»» Two accelerated bachelor’s to master’s programs, in classics and philosophy;

»» A bachelor of applied science in biotechnology;

Favorite spot on campus? I like to stand on the terrace of the Spencer Research Library and look down the Hill past the Campanile to the stadium. Besides the view, which is spectacular any time of year, it’s a quiet spot where you can really sense the history and tradition that makes KU a special place to be.

If you hadn’t become a professor, what would you be?

I would probably be scraping out an existence as an actor or writer somewhere.

»» Three graduate certificates in:

global studies, museum studies, and Russian, East European & Eurasian studies;

»» An undergraduate major in human sexuality;

»» A minor in humanities; »» A minor in Indigenous studies; »» A minor in Middle East studies; »» A minor in Spanish; »» A master’s in East Asian studies

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This spring, former Dean Danny Anderson launched a new event series titled Donuts with the Dean. Students, faculty and staff were invited to chat with the Dean while enjoying donuts and coffee provided by the Dean’s office.

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CAMPUS BRIEFS

College establishes School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures Known for offering the most foreign

languages in the region, the College of

Liberal Arts & Sciences has established a new school to build upon its depth of expertise and enhance the visibility of KU’s strength in this area.

The nearly 40 languages taught at KU

are unparalleled in the region between

the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi

River. The School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures will serve as both a destination and a portal to those interested in

expanding their linguistic abilities and

Making history as Carnegie fellow The Carnegie Corporation of New York

cultural awareness. The school brings

selected Greg Cushman, associate professor

and cultural expertise covers

one of 32 scholars in the inaugural class of

Eurasia, Europe, Latin America and

sciences and humanities.

together departments whose language broad swaths of East Asia,

South America. Reflecting its

of history and environmental studies, as

the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for social Cushman is known for his research on

standing as a leader in foreign

the human dimensions of climate change.

expertise, KU is among few universities

of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological

language and international cultural

in the U.S. with a school dedicated to such study.

SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES & CULTURES: sllc.ku.edu

His first book, “Guano and the Opening

History,” examines the environmental and cultural history of the modern world from the perspective of the Pacific Basin.

Cushman will use the fellowship

to complete a second book, “The

Anthropocene and the Age of Revolution: A People’s History of the Earth Under

STUDENT GIVES SPEECH OF A LIFETIME As a first-generation college student and a single-parent earning minimum wage, Alyssa Cole was stressed and frustrated. At the end of her rope, she decided to write a letter to the one person she thought could help, President Barack Obama.

“Writing to him was basically a last resort,” Cole said. “If anyone could help me it would be him… at least I can make him aware of the issues single parents are facing when they are trying to get their education and take care of their families as well.”

A few years later, Cole received a phone call from the White House. They had kept her letter and during his January visit to Lawrence, they wanted her to introduce the President of the United States.

Working with some of her professors and mentors, Cole prepared a few words based on what she wrote in her original letter. Prior to her speech, Cole had the opportunity to meet with President Obama. He asked about her field of study and some of the research she’d been working on. As a history major with a minor in African & African-American studies, Cole discussed her work on African-American women in the Vietnam War and the challenge of her research, since no books have been written on the history of African-American women in the military.

“He told me I need to be the one to write that book,” Cole said. “That was encouraging. That someone cares about the research you’re doing.”

After graduation in May, Cole plans to take the President’s advice and continue her research through the African-American studies master’s program at KU.

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Human Domination.” The book will

explore the historical causes and human

values that have brought scientists to the

point of debating whether to declare a new

epoch, the Anthropocene. The name of this epoch implies that human influence has

been so significant that it has ushered in a new period of planetary history.

New biotechnology program expands career options The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

added a Bachelor of Applied Science in

Biotechnology at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park to increase career

opportunities in biotechnology areas that directly serve local, state, national and global communities.

Students contribute research to State Department policy project Ten students conducted research

projects this year as part of the

Diplomacy Labs pilot project. The State Department selected KU and 13 other

universities to participate in the shared policy analysis project. John Kennedy,

how a country’s regime type could influence its economic growth. In

looking at data, she determined that

democracies more easily recover from economic downturns.

Nikki Richardson, another senior in the

Kansas City is home to 200 life-

science companies, including 90 contract research organizations that encompass a

wide range of research and development services. In the Monthly Labor Review report, jobs in life, physical and social

science occupations are expected to grow to 190,000 nationally, projecting a 15 percent increase by 2020.

The new biotechnology program is

associate professor of political science

class, focused on the health consequences

KU’s first bachelor of applied science

& International Studies, led one of the

FGC. Richardson’s main recommendation

biology, biochemistry and clinical

and director of the Center for Global class sections and said this research

has been crucial as leaders grapple with where to invest resources.

Senior Allison McKinnon researched

of the practice of female genital cutting, or is for the State Department to use more

data that indexes health indicators because many people don’t know that the practice can lead to chronic health problems.

degree and bridges the gap between

laboratory sciences, preparing graduates for the ever-evolving life-sciences field.

snapshots

Spanish department introduces minor A highly anticipated minor in

Spanish was approved this fall,

providing a new pathway for students to complement their degrees with skills in foreign language.

The study of Spanish language and

literature expands opportunities in a variety of career paths for students,

to take a combination of language, culture and literature courses. The department has also developed a new required

course that provides an overview of the

field of study to prepare students for the

expectations and opportunities that come with the degree.

The minor was developed in response

from public service to medicine.

to student demand. The department

spoken languages in the world and is

each year, and student senators passed a

Spanish is one of the most widely

the official language of 20 countries.

Students in the minor will be required

receives 60 to 80 inquiries about a minor

resolution in 2012 in support of a Spanish minor at KU.

For the past four semesters, more than 50 visual art students, faculty and staff have been working on a commissioned piece for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The sculpture, “An Abounding Asset: A Diligent Reserve,” went on permanent display Nov. 15 as the Reserve celebrated its 100th anniversary.

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CAMPUS BRIEFS

HONORS PROGRAM IS FAMILIAR TERRITORY FOR DIRECTOR

Film satirizes racial oppression In the face of Jim Crow-era violence

and intimidation, many African-

Americans living in southern states

headed to northern cities, hoping to

find new homes free from oppression.

In the new film directed by

professor of film & media studies

Kevin Willmott, “Destination: Planet Negro!,” they leave Earth entirely, devising a plan to populate Mars.

“The idea of African-Americans

trying to find a new homeland has Bryan Young and his son, Cal. Bryan Young is director of the Honors program and his son is a member of the program.

Bryan Young had never expected to follow so closely in his father’s footsteps.

When Young was a student in the University Honors Program nearly 25 years ago, his father, J. Michael Young, was the director. Flash forward a couple decades and Young finds himself in a nearly identical situation, as director with his son, Cal, in the Honors program.

Although it sounds like something out of a movie script, this repeat of history was not plotted.

“You couldn’t predict it. You couldn’t plan it,” Young said. “I’ve always had such high esteem for the director position and never saw myself filling those shoes.”

However, now that he is filling those shoes, he’s found that both his personal and familial connections to the program make him extraordinarily committed to steering KU’s premiere program for talented undergraduates.

“Having that history and connection to the Honors program makes it all the more meaningful for me to come to work and try to create those incredible experiences I had as an undergraduate student,” he said.

As an Honors program alumnus, Young wants to emphasize with students that earning their degree is more than a pathway to a job and is a time to grow academically and personally. He hopes to encourage them to look beyond degree requirements to find classes that will be enriching over their lifetime.

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For example, Young was an engineering student as a KU undergraduate. Engineering classes laid the foundation for his professional career as an academic; however, his Honors philosophy course stands out as one of his most influential educational experiences.

“Philosophy 161 was the course that taught me to think critically, write precisely and think coherently about complicated subjects. I had to be able to put together logical arguments that would withstand the scrutiny of Professor Roosevelt Porter,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t see the direct connection until 10, 15 years out in the workforce for how valuable a particular course was, but that one really stretched me in a lot of ways.”

Young’s prime objective is to preserve and build upon the legacy his father played a hand in building for the Honors program. Young’s predecessor, Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, shared a memo with him that his father had written, addressing the challenges facing the program in the mid-90s. Young said that many of those challenges are still present today. The difference that was striking for Young was that the staff now is more than double what his father led as director.

That pushes Young to focus on the opportunities more than the challenges.

“I took that as a challenge to me and the program. We’re in the position to do a lot for our students,” he said.

been a big discussion in history,”

Willmott said. “For example, there was talk of turning the state of Oklahoma into a black state at one point.”

In the film, a three-person crew of

African-Americans rocketing off to

Mars is “taking that concept to the next level,” said Willmott, adding that the

film is a comedy/satire. The film had its New York City premiere at the Socially Relevant Film Festival in March. It will also be released theatrically and on DVD later this year.

snapshots

KU professor Clarence Lang, right, leads a panel discussion on the reaction to the police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

Lectures bring College to community Expanding the Jayhawk experience beyond current students, the College of Liberal

Arts & Sciences hosted three community lectures this year.

»» “Facing Ferguson: Historical, Legal and Political Contexts” was held in October at the Lawrence Public Library. Associate professor of African & African-American studies

and American studies Clarence Lang, led a panel discussion following the death of Michael Brown, a young man shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri. The panel

focused on how research and historical factors affect issues of race, inequality, the criminal justice system and peaceful protest.

»» “Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Parmigiano: Building Blocks of Italian Cooking” was held in December at the Lawrence Public Library. Jan Kozma, professor emerita of

College students, faculty and staff shared their incredible adventures this year through the #JourneyingJayhawk social media campaign. Jayhawks found themselves all over the globe; from archeological digs in Israel to the African School of Physics in Dakar and major European landmarks like the Pantheon, Eiffel Tower and canals of Venice.

Italian, shared recipes, samples and anecdotes. For example, where some of the most

highly regarded prosciutto is produced, few pigs are deemed worthy. Kozma said the selection process is so exclusive it is like being accepted to attend Harvard.

»» “Use it or Lose it: Role of ‘Mental Gymnastics’ in Aging and Dementia” was held

in March at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. In the age of technology at our fingertips, brain games and brain training are frequently promoted as

interventions to slow cognitive decline and reduce risk of developing dementia.

Gerontology expert and professor of psychology Susan Kemper offered guidance through the growing landscape of so-called “mental gymnastics.”

Update to requirements shortens path to double degrees Recent changes in general education

had been known as the “100-hour rule.”

seeking a second degree in liberal arts

increasing student options for pursuing

on students who want to pursue a degree

successful candidates for graduation from

general education curriculum, KU Core,

as a degree in the College. Previously,

requirements at KU have been aimed at multiple interests at once. The new

significantly reduced the number of

general education hours required for an

undergraduate degree. Now, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has updated its

graduation requirements to eliminate what

The change will have the most impact

in one of KU’s professional schools as well a degree from the College required 100 credit hours to be completed in liberal

arts and sciences, often resulting in excess hours for professional school students

and sciences. Now students will be

the College if they fulfill the KU Core,

major-specific requirements, electives and degree-specific requirements (bachelor of arts versus bachelor of science, for example). The change applies to all students starting summer 2015.

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CAMPUS BRIEFS

College recruits five more foundation professors to KU The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has continued to lead KU’s efforts to recruit top faculty members to the state’s

flagship university. Five new Foundation Distinguished Professors will join the faculty of the College next year. In all, the

College is home to seven of the eight foundation professors named so far at KU. With support from the state, KU will hire 12 such professors in total.

» » Victor Agadjanian, currently an E.E. Guillot International

Distinguished Professor at the T.

join the Department of History,

multifaceted research focuses on

visiting assistant professor.

America. With Agadjanian, she

where she had once served as a

Denny Sanford School of Social and

»» James Bever, professor of biology

University, is an expert in migration

the Department of Ecology &

Family Dynamics at Arizona State

and population health, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, the former

Soviet Union and Latin America. He

is founding director of ASU’s Center for Population Dynamics. He will

join the Department of Sociology.

» » Beth Bailey, currently professor of history at Temple University, specializes in the history of

relations between the U.S. military

and American society as well as the history of gender and sexuality. At Temple, she has served as acting

director of the Center for the Study

of Force and Diplomacy. Bailey will

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at Indiana University, will join Evolutionary Biology and the Kansas Biological Survey. He

is considered a world leader in

microbiology, especially plant-soil

microbial interactions, which offer important clues to understanding

the effects of global climate change.

» » Cecilia Menjívar, currently a distinguished professor and

associate director for faculty

development in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and

Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, is a leading scholar

of international migration. Her

U.S.-bound migration from Central will establish at KU a center for

migration and immigration studies.

She will join the Department of Sociology.

» » Dennis O’Rourke, professor of

anthropology at the University

of Utah, is considered one of the foremost experts in the United

States for the use of ancient DNA to reconstruct human settlement

in the Americas. He is considered

a pioneer in improving the method to eliminate contamination of ancient samples with modern

DNA. O’Rourke is a KU alumnus and will join the Department of Anthropology.

MEET KU’S FOUNDATION DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORS: foundation.ku.edu

Professor drives creation of data center A National Science Foundation

proposal driven by KU has resulted in

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Donna Ginther, professor of economics,

the creation of a new Kansas City-based

on behalf of a consortium that includes

provide access to the nation’s highest-

the Kauffman Foundation, the University

Census research data center that will

Dean Danny Anderson and a group of students who serve on the Dean’s Student Advisory Council had special seating for the campus speech by President Obama. The President spoke on themes from his State of the Union address in the Anschutz Sports Pavilion to thousands of students, faculty, staff and community members.

The NSF proposal was headed by

quality data for analysis of the U.S. economy and policy issues.

The Research Data Center (RDC) will

the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, of Missouri-Kansas City and the

University of Missouri-Columbia.

The new research data center will

be located at the Federal Reserve Bank of

benefit researchers in various fields,

to restricted U.S. Census and health

demography, urban and regional

Kansas City and provide secure access

statistics. Once complete, the new RDC

will be one of just 24 centers nationally.

including economics, entrepreneurship, development, statistics, health care and public policy.

BRETT PRUITT

Student wins national book collecting contest Katya Soll’s passion for books and research on

South America’s legacy of dictatorship in contemporary theater earned her the top award in the National

Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. Soll, a Spanish

doctoral candidate, traveled to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. to accept the award. The award comes with a $2,500 prize for Soll and an additional $1,000 prize for KU Libraries.

A good chunk of Soll’s collection was gathered

during the 11 weeks she spent in South America. While

there, Soll was able to see plays and buy books that aren’t found in the United States. In just 77 days, Soll saw 60

theater performances in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

She returned to the United States with a suitcase full of books, ticket stubs and programs. The books and

plays are being used for Soll’s research into how theater has been an important tool for citizens to protest,

process and recover from years of dictatorship in South America’s Southern Cone.

Clockwise from top left: Brennon Madrid, Andrew Hammes and Daniel Xaysongkham

ONLY BRAVE MEN DANCE Despite different reasons and varying years of experience, the three male dance majors in the department this year agree that between the often revealing and tight outfits, the pressure of expressing part of yourself in front of an audience, and always being the minority, it truly does take the brave—and strong—to dance.

Two of the male dancers understand bravery of a different kind as well. Andrew Hammes is a former member of the U.S. Air Force, and Daniel Xaysongkham is a former U.S. Marine. Both feel that the courage and intensity necessary for active military duty is easily applied to dance.

Brennon Madrid, the third and final male dancer, agrees with Hammes and Xaysongkham, “It takes strength to get into touch with your ar tistic side and be able to explore your body in movement while still making it look natural and masculine.”

Each of these men plans to continue dancing well past his time at KU, either with professional companies, becoming a choreographer or opening his own studio. Regardless of where their futures take them, it is clear to see that their passion, bravery and strength will serve them well.

Applied Behavioral Science celebrates 50 years on campus In 1964, scholars at KU had a vision to establish

a program addressing practical solutions to some of society’s toughest behavioral problems. The

Department of Applied Behavioral Science was

born, and on its 50th anniversary, the community

reflected on its illustrious history. Originally called the Department of Human Development & Family Life, the department recognized this important

milestone through a weekend reunion of alumni, faculty and friends of the program.

Since its founding half a century ago, the

department has pioneered translating research

into practice and founded the industry’s leading

publication, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

The department continues to be a leader in

research funding and has garnered more than $10 million in awards, providing opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate research.

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RESEARCH ROUNDUP

College Research in Review Team completes Antarctic research expedition

Excavating a bank on Tuttle Creek

prominent black journalist, poet and

and the Big Blue River was part of

Antarctica as a barren, cold environment,

Chicago and Hawaii. But he was born in

undergraduate and graduate students

— a forest that now permineralized can

University in Wichita and Kansas State

past and how plants today may react to

is now Kansas State University.

Although most people think of

activist spent much of his career in

200 million years ago it was a lush forest

Arkansas City and attended both Friends

yield clues to the climate change of the

Agricultural College in Manhattan, which

current climate change.

headed by College scientists traveled

Families benefit from expanded communication

at understanding floral changes during

refrain, but research shows that being able

Mountains of Antarctica. The group was

just as important for young adults.

An international research team

to Antarctica as part of a project aimed

the Jurassic period in the Transantarctic on the ground for about one month.

As part of the expedition, Edith Taylor

“Call your mother” may be the familiar

to text, email and “Facebook” dad may be Jennifer Schon, a doctoral student

in communication studies, found adult

KU’s ODYSSEY Project, which gives archeological field experience.

Additionally, ODYSSEY team members have made the only other discovery of

these founding people inhabiting Kansas or Nebraska when they discovered a

stratified site at Kanorado, which is near Goodland on the Colorado border.

Vampires aren’t just ‘Twilight’ sexy or ‘Dracula’ old Despite the images

children’s relationship satisfaction with

depicted in the popular

to help further our understanding of how

of communication tools, such as cell

always been portrayed as young and

climate change and volcanic disruptions.

sites, they use to communicate.

understand how current climate change

technologies. They don’t see the point in

and Tom Taylor, professors of ecology &

evolutionary biology, conducted research plants responded to previous periods of These findings help researchers

their parents is influenced by the number phones, email, and social networking “A lot of parents might resist new

“Twilight” series, vampires haven’t

sexy in literature. Nor were they always in the mold of Dracula, an old, Eastern European man.

In her new book, Giselle Liza Anatol,

may affect high latitude plants.

them, or they seem like a lot of trouble,”

associate professor of English, examines

Project explores black writers with Kansas ties

it might take some work and learning, it

African diasporic folk traditions and

Just as Langston Hughes talked of

Schon said. “But this study shows while would be worth it in the end if you are

trying to have a good relationship with

his childhood in Lawrence as an artistic

your adult child.”

similar geographic lens through which

Searching for region’s earliest inhabitants

influence, poet Kevin Young can claim a his contemporary poetry flows — as he grew up in Topeka.

As part of Black History Month,

History of Black Writing (HBW), in

conjunction with KU Libraries, hosted the Black Literary Suite: Black Writers with a Kansas Connection.

Much of the research focused on

A team led by Distinguished

Professor Rolfe Mandel excavated a site

in Pottawatomie County seeking to find

artifacts tied to the founding populations of the Americas.

The team is awaiting the results

of dating of sediment samples. If the

images of vampirism in Caribbean and in contemporary fiction specifically

the figure of the “soucouyant” who, in

Caribbean tradition, is an elderly woman that sheds her skin at night and flies around sucking blood from victims.

Anatol’s initial project was to look

at what generated the fear of vampires

in Caribbean culture. However, because of her own experience of hearing these folktales as she was growing up, she

wanted to explore the implications of

gender, age and race in vampire stories.

Tracing relevant folklore, Anatol said

identifying authors with Kansas ties, plus

sediments are confirmed to be more than

the “soucouyant” figure was typically used

ties that aren’t widely acknowledged.

to a discovery of the earliest evidence of

also to fortify certain perceptions about

are somewhat clear, for other writers

and the Central Great Plains.

new information about authors and state

13,500 years old, it would open the door

While Young’s ties to the Sunflower State

people inhabiting this part of the state

the distinction took some more digging.

10

For example, Frank Marshall Davis, a

to encourage children to be obedient but

the role of women and older people in the Caribbean and in the U.S. Deep South.

IGNACIO ESCAPA

Above: The research team learned about glacier travel which includes how to walk on ice and snow and how to use crampons and ice axes. Right: ODYSSEY team members on an excavation site.

Fan editors are artists, not disgruntled viewers When discussing the merits of film

and cultures everywhere in the world

are undertaking fulfillments of doomsday

however, is a hot spot for these processes.

of its operations through the sale of

converge and diverge; Chinese Inner Asia,

fan edits, the conversation needs to move

The many individual languages of Inner

doctoral student in film & media studies.

and unknown — provide insights about

beyond Jar Jar Binks, says Joshua Wille, a

Asia — which are mostly unwritten

The creature was symbolic of the flaws

speakers’ conceptual organization of the

prophecies. ISIS has been funding part

easily transported antiquities. However, objects that are too large to transport

are destroyed in order to demonstrate

devotion and commitment to bring about

critics saw in “Stars Wars Episode I: The

physical and abstract world.

editor re-edited the movie, removing many

several previously separate projects of

was once ancient Mesopotamia, and to

“The Phantom Edit,” brought the concept of

a book to analyze how grammars and

the birth of Islam. Hoopes believes the

Phantom Menace,” so much so that a fan

Dwyer is working to bring together

of Jar Jar Binks’ antics. The result, known as

her academic career in Central Asia into

fan editing into the mainstream.

cultures converge in this language contact

depth looks at fan editing, Wille argues

is so striking in Inner Asia, sometimes

characterized as a reactionary work by a

subsystems, resist converging. Dwyer is

part of a creative process reshaping how

as with the changes themselves. For

to complement, not replace, the original

appear resistant to the Tibetan case-

the film, others are intended to cast the

languages have adopted many other

In his essay, one of the first in-

zone. Alongside the convergence that

an end-of-the-world scenario.

ISIS is seeking to control all of what

wipe out all traces of its history prior to first step is worldwide condemnation

of this destruction, containing ISIS and

preventing its ideology from spreading.

“The Phantom Edit” has been wrongly

languages and cultures, or some of their

disgruntled fan. For Wille, fan edits are

as fascinated by this resistance to change

audiences view films and are intended

example, Turkic and Mongolic languages

Easy-to-walk communities can blunt cognitive decline

work. While some fan edits aim to improve

marking system, even though these

that “heart healthy is brain healthy.” The

film in a new genre. Examples include

features of Tibetan grammar.

motivate walking can stave off cognitive

transforming “Scream” to resemble

the Italian horror genre, and creating a

Examining ISIS artifact destruction

films “The Wrestler” and “Black Swan.”

or ISIS, posted an online video of its

Professor studies disappearing languages

destroying priceless thousand-year-

turning “Jaws” into a grindhouse movie,

mashup of director Darren Aronofsky’s

Arienne Dwyer, professor of

linguistic anthropology and co-director

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,

militants ransacking a museum and old artifacts, drawing ire from the international community.

John Hoopes, professor of

of the Institute for Digital Research

anthropology, said ISIS represents a

research on how languages disappear

who believe we are in the “end times” and

in the Humanities, is conducting

group of radical religious fundamentalists

Political and economic sanctions against ISIS would be next.

New study results bolster the adage

investigation shows neighborhoods that decline in older adults.

Amber Watts, assistant professor of

clinical psychology, judged walkability on various factors using geographic

information systems — essentially maps that measure and analyze spatial data.

Watts said easy-to-walk communities

resulted in better outcomes both for

physical health—such as lower body mass

and blood pressure—and cognition (such as better memory) in the 25 people with mild Alzheimer’s disease and 39 older adults

without cognitive impairment she tracked.

and new languages emerge. Languages

11

RESEARCH ROUNDUP

who detected the Higgs boson using

the Large Hadron Collider. But Bean, a

professor of physics & astronomy, has a long-running passion for engaging the

public with science. Now, her scholarly

expertise and eagerness to carry science to society at-large has led the U.S.

Department of State to name her as a In the above engraving, executed by Sébastien Leclerc, François-Timoléon de Choisy is portrayed at right. Source: http://www.pleinchant.fr/

Jefferson Science Fellow, to contribute to

History’s greatest crossdresser may be fictional

State Department’s Office of Faith Based

One of the oldest firsthand accounts of

a cross-dresser should be reclassified from

Specifically, she is working with the

and Community Initiatives, a post she enthusiastically sought.

In her new role, Bean works with

historical memoir to fantasy, Paul Scott,

global communities of faith that are

casts doubt on the memoirs of François-

is committed to fostering communication,

associate professor of French, argues. Scott Timoléon de Choisy, an abbot, historian and nobleman who wrote about living

under several female guises in 17th century

engaged with environmental issues. She respect and alliance between scientists and religious communities.

But Scott questions how there could

Conservation of Philippine tarsier gets boost from the College

dressing among contemporary writers.

lemur. Meet the Philippine

beyond belief, such as when he dresses

Rafe Brown, associate professor of

France. The manuscript was published as

a memoir after his death and scholars have largely accepted the account as true.

be no other mention of Choisy’s cross-

Other accounts in Choisy’s memoir are

flamboyantly as a female in front of the cardinal archbishop of Paris and the

royal family. Additionally, Scott found

anachronisms in Choisy’s description of fashion, locations and paintings.

After looking at the original

manuscript, Scott said it is clear that

Choisy intended for the memoir to be

read as fiction. Even so, the memoir is

important to history, Scott said. Choisy’s eccentricity allowed him to express

radical ideas that would have normally

It’s not a monkey. It’s not a

tarsier: a tiny, adorable primate.

ecology & evolutionary biology, said the tarsier (tar-SEER) has become the

“flagship” iconic species for promoting environmental stewardship in the

Philippines, a nation suffering from largescale destruction of natural habitat.

Because of threats to the tarsier,

conservation efforts are mounting for the

animal, but have been thwarted by a lack of

research. In short, to save the tarsier, experts need to know much more about the species.

Today, research by Brown and

been censored or dangerous.

colleagues will shed new light on

Physics researcher advising U.S. Department of State

researchers have verified the presence of

Alice Bean is best known for her work

as a high-energy experimental particle

physicist. In 2012, she was a member of

the international consortium of scientists

12

and learn from foreign policy processes.

the animal’s genetic diversity. KU

a new variety of tarsier, one heretofore only suspected to exist. Brown and Filipino colleagues have called for

the establishment of separate tarsier

sanctuaries and protection programs.

Civil Rights Era undercuts contemporary racial issues The historical events depicted in the

award-winning film “Selma” and other civil rights milestones marking 50th

anniversaries continue to garner media

attention. In his new book, Clarence Lang, associate professor of African &

African-American studies, argues that the legacy of the 1960s has hindered

how present-day social and economic

challenges are viewed in contemporary black America.

Lang attests that the deaths of

unarmed African-American men such as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown,

and Eric Garner reflect decades of mass incarceration, which has led to the

criminalization of African-American

communities and youth. Additionally,

Lang argues that activists need to change how they respond to social injustice.

“The issues are not the same as they

were in the 1960s; therefore, neither can the response be the same,” Lang said.

Gender linked to compromise, political gridlock During the political gridlock that led to

the 2013 federal government shutdown, the leading voices for compromise were the handful of female U.S. senators – which

isn’t surprising according to a new study

co-authored by researcher Patrick Miller, assistant professor of political science.

The researchers found that men in

survey and experimental data were more likely than women to avoid cross-party political discussion, to judge political

arguments based solely on what party is advancing them, and to form strong political opinions about the opposite party’s positions without actually

listening to the other side’s reasoning.

MORE RESEARCH ONLINE:

college.ku.edu./about/news/research

NEW FACULTY MEMBERS IN THE COLLEGE Rafael Acosta (Department of Spanish & Portuguese, assistant professor) – Acosta specializes in Mexican literature, Latino literature in the U.S., postcolonial theory, cultural studies and creative writing.

Tamara Baker (Department of Psychology, associate professor) – Baker researches health disparities and health outcomes in pain management among older adults from diverse race and ethnic populations.

Jane Barnette (Department of Theatre, assistant professor) – Barnette specializes in adaption for the stage, dramaturgy, connections between railroad/train culture and theatre culture, role-play as teaching methodology, and directing/ devising site-specific and/or immersive theatre.

Catherine Batza (Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, associate professor) – Batza specializes in the history of sexuality, politics and public health.

Christopher Beard (Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology/Biodiversity Institute, Foundation Distinguished Professor/senior curator) – Beard researches evolutionary origins of primates, determining the fundamental biogeographic principles that govern how organisms achieve and maintain their geographic distributions.

Michael Blum (Department of Geology, Ritchie Distinguished Professor) – Blum researches fluvial and coastal sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy of continental and shallowmarine successions, evolution of continental drainage and sediment routing to the oceans, and global to regional sea-level changes.

Joseph Brewer (Environmental Studies Program, assistant professor) – Brewer researches natural resources management and energy sovereignty for American Indian tribes and Alaskan natives, Indian land tenure, and how local/regional indigenous knowledge informs state/ federal natural resource management offices.

Samuel Brody (Department of Religious Studies, assistant professor) – Brody specializes in theopolitics/political theology, German-Jewish thought, Judaism, Christianity, Islam in conflict and conversation, comparative scriptural hermeneutics, and religion in comics, sci-fi and fantasy.

Marco Caricato (Department of Chemistry, assistant professor) – Caricato researches molecular quantum mechanics, electronic structure theory, and excited states and electronic transitions.

Patrizio Ceccagnoli (Department of French & Italian, assistant professor) – Ceccagnoli specializes in futurism and European modernism, late style in Italian literature and cinema, the theoretical notion of fetishism and the practice of personification in modern Italian literature and culture.

Josephine Chandler (Department of Molecular Biosciences, assistant professor) – Chandler researches cell-cell communication systems in quorum sensing bacteria.

Devon Dear (Department of History, assistant professor) – Dear specializes in the history of the late imperial China and inner Asia including social and economic histories of trade, exchange and production.

Elizabeth Esch (Department of American Studies, assistant professor) – Esch’s work addresses the dynamic relationships between domestic and foreign policies in U.S. history exploring themes of capitalism as both national and transnational, militarism, and production and labor.

Kelsie Forbush (Department of Psychology, assistant professor) – Forbush researches eating disorders and obesity.

Angela Gist (Department of Communication Studies, assistant professor) – Gist specializes in social mobility, social class, social identity, stigma and organizational culture.

Mary Hill (Department of Geology, professor) – Hill specializes in using hydrologic and environment data, computer modeling, and uncertainty assessment to inform resource management and public policy.

Lesa Hoffman (Department of SpeechLanguage-Hearing/Life Span Institute, associate professor/associate scientist) – Hoffman specializes in quantitative psychology, cognitive psychology and human development.

Ariel Linden (Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, assistant professor) – Linden specializes in aesthetic and political stakes of German-language satire in the 20th century through Viennese satirist Karl Kraus.

Corey Maley (Department of Philosophy, associate professor) – Maley specializes in the philosophy of computation and mind, philosophy of science and moral psychology.

Rachel McDonald (Department of Psychology, assistant professor) – McDonald examines social psychological influences on sustainable behavior and responses to climate change.

Noah McLean (Department of Geology, assistant professor) – McLean researches earth and planetary sciences, focusing on measuring the tempo and duration of earth system processes.

Heba Mostafa (The Kress Foundation Department of Art History, assistant professor) – Mostafa specializes in early Islamic architecture and urbanism with a focus on the palace, mosque and shrine in Islam.

Sandra Olsen (Department of Museum Studies/Biodiversity Institute, professor/senior curator) – Olsen specializes in old world archaeology, horse domestication and the horse in human cultures, bone artifact manufacture and use, and the application of advanced imaging techniques to Saudi Arabian rock art.

Magali Rabasa (Department of Spanish & Portuguese, assistant professor) – Rabasa specializes in Latin American cultural studies, transnational feminist theory, ethnography, subaltern and postcolonial studies, and communication and media studies.

Christopher Ramey (Department of Psychology, assistant professor) – Ramey specializes in high-order cognition, spanning the cognitive and brain sciences.

Daniel Reuman (Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology/Kansas Biological Survey, associate professor/associate scientist) – Reuman researches quantitative population and community ecology, statistical and computational methods in ecology, climate-change and other human impacts on ecosystems.

Reginald Robinson (School of Public Affairs & Administration, professor and director) – Robinson is past president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents and currently serves as chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which advises the President regarding youth justice policy and funding.

David Roediger (departments of American Studies and History, Foundation Distinguished Professor) – Roediger specializes in AfricanAmerican history, history of labor, literature and history, radicalism in the U.S., and the history of race.

Armin Schulz (Department of Philosophy, assistant professor) – Schulz specializes in the philosophy of science, the mind and social science.

Joanna Slusky (Department of Molecular Biosciences/Center for Bioinformatics, assistant professor) – Slusky specializes in membrane protein folding using computational and experimental methodologies.

Terry Soo (Department of Mathematics, assistant professor) – Soo specializes in probability and ergodic theory.

Pamela Sullivan (Department of Geography, assistant professor) – Sullivan specializes in ecohydrology, hydrogeology, catchment hydrology, biogeochemistry, and isotope geochemistry.

13

BUILDING BR I G HT ER FUTURES Researchers pursue remedies to enhance well-being

Researchers in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have high expectations for their work: to improve lives across the globe. Students and faculty have developed novel solutions and projects to make an impact both close to home and thousands of miles away. From studying native plants in Kansas with potential for cancer treatment to tracking the spread of disease on other continents, their work is making a difference across the spectrum of well-being.

CELLULAR RECEPTION A tiny “lab on a chip” in development at KU could transform the early diagnosis of some cancers.

Yong Zeng, assistant professor of chemistry, and Andrew Godwin, deputy director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center, are creating a byte-sized biomedical testing device that could lead to less invasive, earlier detection and boost patients’ survival rates.

This microchip-sized testing device screens the fluid-filled particles that are released from cells for cancer. The screens can be used in cancer detection instead of more invasive and costly biopsy procedures.

“We can just use those nanoparticles — exosomes — to study the molecular makeup of those tumors to identify if this is a really invasive or aggressive tumor or if it’s dormant and we still have time to treat it,” Zeng says.

“This will help us plan the treatment — to find the right dosage or the right timing to improve the efficacy of cancer therapy.”

Initially, the researchers and their team used the device in the detection of lung cancer, but Godwin sees the potential for it in the detection of ovarian cancer.

The researchers plan to develop new lab-on-a-chip devices for different types of cancer so that specific tests can be developed.

COGNITIVE IMPROVEMENTS Ryan Limbocker has set his sights on a big goal: easing the suffering caused by neurodegenerative diseases.

His ambition, honed in both the classroom and the lab, earned him the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the prestigious award given to undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Limbocker, a senior chemistry major from Overland Park, Kansas, was one of 283 students in the nation to receive the scholarship, which covers up to $7,500 annually in undergraduate school expenses.

After earning his undergraduate degree, Limbocker will pursue a doctorate degree to continue studying neurodegeneration, focusing on post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, Huntington’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

15

A TASTE OF MEDICINE Kelly Kindscher went foraging last spring. He trudged down country roads in central Kansas, dug in ditches — and bagged 20 pounds of wild tomatillos. He brought them home and used them to cultivate new plants.

Kansans sometimes call these plants ground cherries. They are related to the tomatillos often used in cooking. But he’s not making salsa—he’s fighting cancer.

Kindscher, senior scientist in KU’s environmental studies program, along with Barbara Timmermann, distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry, is studying the molecular properties of the Physalis longifolia, a type of tomatillo native to Kansas. The project is still in the research phase within Timmermann’s chemistry lab, but the team is close to finding validation that tomatillos could be used to reduce side effects from chemotherapy and improve a patient’s quality of life.

“We were delighted — the screen showed that they are very high in antioxidants,” Kindscher says. “The hope is that this would lead to a product on the market — either a natural product or pharmaceutical product — that would be useful for treating cancer.”

Tomatillos, below, and Acacia trees, right, may hold answers in tackling diseases.

16

FROM THE GROUND UP Mycetoma, a mysterious illness largely unknown in developed nations, has wreaked havoc on the health of farmers, herdsmen, children and others in close contact with the land in tropical and subtropical regions.

It’s thought the disease is contracted by coming into contact with a microorganism that lives in the soil or on a thorn from an Acacia tree. The challenge is pinning down whether certain combinations of soil types and Acacia tree distribution affect the risk of contracting mycetoma.

KU research has made headway toward finding answers. Graduate student Abdallah Samy’s work on mycetoma could eventually help health workers to suppress the disease, which is not well-understood but can have devastating effects on people.

Samy, a Fulbright scholar and doctoral student in ecology & evolutionary biology, compared known cases of mycetoma with Acacia tree distribution in the Sudan. Using a technique dubbed “ecological niche modeling,” the mapping suggests a higher risk in an east-west belt in central Sudan. Samy won the Young Investigator Award at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, where he met billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

WORKING OUT BUGS Insects transmit many of the world’s most infectious diseases, but there has been a decline in the expertise needed to recognize species of insects most likely to transmit illness to people.

A KU-based team of scientists, computer programmers, public health officials and artists is working to enable mobile phones to link up to computers that automatically identify species of disease-carrying insects.

Town Peterson, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology and senior curator with KU’s Biodiversity Institute, is leading the Virtual Vector Project, which already has built an ingenious prototype to recognize species of triatomine bugs — or “kissing bugs” — that spread Chagas disease, endemic in much of rural Mexico, Central America and South America.

Because only some triatomine species spread the infection, it’s vital for public health workers to know which species they encounter. Peterson said identification of insect species would change infestation countermeasures, because each species behaves differently.

For the application to be successful, precise photography is key. Kansas City-based artist Jarrett Mellenbruch designed a miniature, portable photo studio that includes lighting, an iPod cradle and small stand for the insect being photographed. The Virtual Vector Project’s researchers intend to make the plans for the box available online so that anyone with a 3-D printer could generate one.

EBOLA INTERVENTION As the Ebola virus has spread through West Africa, some areas have seen faster recovery from the outbreak than others. A partnership between KU researchers and World Health Organization staff in Africa is using case studies to better understand what has worked in those areas of Liberia where the spread of Ebola has waned.

KU is home to a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre, one of the only such centers focused on community health in North America. Faculty and students in applied behavioral science and the KU Medical Center’s public health program make up the team researching Ebola.

Using case studies will help the researchers and their colleagues in Africa determine which activities and interventions have been most effective.

“In a disaster environment, it is very difficult to make sense of what is going on, and to what effect,” said Stephen Fawcett, Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor and the center’s director. “Learning from this collaborative project can help guide WHO’s response in continuing and future disease outbreaks.”

Some species of triatomine bugs, aka the “kissing bugs,” are known for spreading Chagas disease.

ATOMIC COMPATIBILITY An innovative, atomically thin substance developed by physicists at KU that interlocks much like Lego bricks could be used in nextgeneration solar cells and flexible electronics.

Combining layers of atomically thin material is a thorny task that has flummoxed researchers for years.

“A big challenge of this approach is that, most materials don’t connect together because of their different atomic arrangements at the interface — the arrangement of the atoms cannot follow the two different sets of rules at the same time,” said Hsin-Ying Chiu, assistant professor of physics & astronomy. “This is like playing with Legos of different sizes made by different manufacturers.”

The research team of Chiu, graduate students and Hui Zhao, associate professor of physics & astronomy, developed a solution for this problem.

Unlike conventional materials formed by atoms that are strongly bound in all directions, the new material features two layers where each atomic sheet is composed of atoms bound strongly with their neighbors. But the two atomic sheets are themselves only weakly linked to each other by the so-called van der Waals force, the same attractive phenomenon between molecules that allows geckos to stick to walls and ceilings.

EVERYDAY ROUTINES Everyday activities like going to the doctor or getting a haircut can terrify some children with autism. Take 2-year-old Mark’s first trip to the barber, for example: He screamed and cried. And his dad had to restrain him.

But Mark’s mom, KU senior Kristin Miller, had an idea — she would seek a KU Undergraduate Research Award to develop ways for children with developmental disabilities like Mark to learn how to accept routine health care treatment, such as going to the dentist or even getting a buzz cut. The research involved creating and evaluating techniques using repetition and familiarization to increase her son’s compliance with routines.

Miller, an applied behavioral science and communication studies major, assessed the treatment in a behavioral laboratory and at actual health care appointments.

Kristin Miller has researched how to make routine appointments less traumatic for children like her son, Mark, who has autism.

18

LEARNING IS LISTENING Volunteers — not physicians or other health care professionals — are usually the first responders for those who are contemplating suicide. In his upcoming documentary, “The Listeners,” KU filmmaker Bob Hurst focuses on the power of empathy, interviewing college-age trained volunteers at a statewide suicide prevention hotline. Hurst, associate professor of film & media studies, also examines how we could reshape public policy to improve prevention services.

In fall 2013 the filmmakers followed 13 new volunteers through an intensive 11-week training at the Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence. Their experience as trainees and volunteers, and the story of Headquarters and other centers like it, is at the heart of the story. The film looks at recent history of suicide prevention in the U.S.; assesses how success and failure of prevention are measured; and shows how public attitudes and medical and psychological ideas set our expectations for effective prevention. The filmmakers are aiming for a fall release.

INSTRUMENT OF CHANGE KU professors are among a group of researchers working to improve a new instrument that enables those with severe motion disabilities to play improvisational music.

Known as Adaptive Use Musical Instruments (AUMI), the technology uses cameras in laptops, tablets and smart phones to track movement and gestures. The AUMI software, developed by well-known composer Pauline Oliveros, maps a grid onto the screen, so if the user’s movement crosses a certain section, a musical note or sound is played. The motion can be as subtle as a raised eyebrow.

Sherrie Tucker, an American studies professor who specializes in improvisation, brought the research opportunity to KU. She pulled together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, from the Departments of Dance, Theatre, and American Studies, and the School of Music.

KU is one of six universities in the United States and Canada that participates in the AUMI Research Consortium.

The group, known as the AUMI-KU InterArts and supported by the Hall Center for Humanities, has held educational workshops to introduce the instrument to those in music therapy and special education. They also have used the AUMI in classes and held jam sessions with Independence Inc., a local independent living resource center for people with disabilities.

A documentary from KU filmmaker Bob Hurst focuses on volunteers at a suicide prevention hotline.

19

ALUMNI // distinguished alumni

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI Distinguished Alumni of the College combine personal passion with the flexibility of their degree to build careers that are both fulfilling and challenging. These creative and impressive alumni showcase the breadth of possibilities available to liberal arts and sciences graduates.

EDGAR HEAP OF BIRDS “Art is a compulsion. I think most artists have that knack or that compulsion to draw, and I think that’s the key element. To succeed at it, it’s something you have to do to keep your balance.”

Growing up in an underprivileged area of Wichita, it never occurred to Heap of Birds that professional artist was a career option. Luckily, for the art world, it was. Heap of Birds, B.F.A. (‘76), is widely considered the pioneer of conceptual Native American art in the United States.

Heap of Birds works in a variety of media: from large scale drawings and acrylic paintings to glass, and porcelain enamel on steel. He has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and galleries in Australia, South Africa, China, Indonesia and France. The meaning behind Heap of Birds’ work is about educating the public on indigenous peoples and to see contemporary indigenous people as individuals.

WILLIAM FISHER “The ability to work hard and discipline yourself opens up all kinds of opportunities in the university.”

Initially, Fisher was intent on a biochemistry major as an undergraduate at Southern Illinois University. That is, until a professor said he didn’t think Fisher was cut out for chemistry and suggested geology instead. That piece of advice has led to a 54-year career in which Fisher has contributed broadly and frequently to the field. Fisher graduated in 1960 with a master’s and doctorate in geology from KU. To name just a few of his accomplishments, he and colleagues introduced what is now a standard concept for oil and gas exploration; he led the establishment of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas; and he has served as an advisor in numerous posts and panels.

S H A RO N L E E “The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences was kind of like stepping into a big hall with lots of open doorways. I could walk down the hall and peek into some of the rooms and decide which ones I really wanted to enter. It was important to have all that flexibility because I was growing so much with all of the other experiences in my life.”

20

During her undergraduate years, Lee was a student during a period of great unrest in both our university and nation’s history. Protests on issues like the Vietnam War and racism were common and in the spring of 1970 the Memorial Union was burned. The lasting impact from these experiences for Lee was a desire to help people and be of service throughout her career.

Lee, B.A. (‘71) in psychology, M.D. (‘82), is known for making health care accessible to patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Her clinic was the first in the Kansas City area to treat patients with HIV and continues to evolve to meet community needs. Her efforts have begun to change the landscape of Wyandotte County, providing access to important health and well-being services that wouldn’t otherwise be available.

classroom guests // ALUMNI

CLASSROOM GUESTS HELP STUDENTS ENVISION CAREERS Liberal arts and sciences graduates go on to successful and sometimes unconventional careers. To help students visualize their own career paths, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences hosts visiting experts and alumni on campus.

“These connections to professionals provide a network of support for our graduates as they negotiate their career paths,” said Michelle Heffner Hayes, chair and professor of dance.

The dance department regularly hosts guest artists. This year, artists visited from cities across the nation including Philadelphia and New York City.

“Having a guest choreographer gives us a chance to see what’s happening elsewhere in the dance world and allows us to really expand our knowledge and vocabulary of dance,” dance major Julie Ferrell said.

Distinguished alumnae also returned to the Hill this year including Rosemarie Truglio, senior executive at “Sesame Street,” and Sarah Deer, a MacArthur Fellow.

Truglio taught two classes and presented a public lecture on challenges faced in education and childhood development.

Deer, an advocate for tribal law reform, presented the annual “February Sisters” lecture hosted by the Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. She also met with students in a “Women and Violence” class who had already read some of her work.

“It was really important to be able to put an actual person with an article that we read in class,” psychology major Courtney Crouch said. “Sarah is passionate about her tribe and the rights of Native Americans. It was inspiring to meet someone who has dedicated her life to a cause that is so worthy of change.”

Clockwise from top left: Rosemarie Truglio, senior executive at Sesame Street, spoke with students in two different classes during her “Professor for a Day” campus visit; Alumna and MacArthur Fellow Sarah Deer presented the annual “February Sisters” lecture; Rodney Hill, visiting artist from Rennie Harris Puremovement in Philadelphia, taught a hip-hop class as part of the dance department visiting artist series.

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ALUMNI

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Sarah Deer, College alumna, was given a MacArthur Fellow “Genius” grant for work done to protect Native American women from gender violence.

Madeline Wilcox became KU’s first female Field Artillery officer in 2014.

GRANT ENCOURAGES CREATIVE GENIUS

ALUMNA IS FIRST FEMALE COMBAT ARMS OFFICER

Graduate combats violence against native women through tribal law reform

Following military policy change, Jayhawk is commissioned to Field Artillery branch

Chaos. That’s how Sarah Deer, College alumna and MacArthur ‘genius’ grant winner, describes her typical day.

Deer, B.A. (’96) in women’s studies and philosophy; J.D. (’99), is now a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota and an advocate for tribal law reform concerning violence against women.

The MacArthur Fellowship is an unrestricted stipend that Deer says will allow her to be more creative in her ongoing work.

“That’s one of the things the MacArthur is designed to do, to give you an unlimited opportunity to be creative,” she said.

Deer says tribal law is complicated, contradictory and difficult. However, she has been able to help make great strides in the past few years. For Deer, the impact on real cases and strong women make it worth the fight.

The legislation she has helped introduce prevents cases of abuse from falling through the cracks.

University of Kansas Army ROTC commissioned its first female Field Artillery officer in 2014 following Pentagon orders to open combat-arms branches to women in military services.

Madeline Wilcox, of Leavenwor th, was commissioned as a second lieutenant after earning a degree in political science.

“I am very excited for the start of my Army career.

Being branched in a combat arms branch, especially with being the first female to do so from KU, is something I’m proud of. But even more so, I think this shows a very good trend towards where the Army is heading in the further integration of women,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox earned high marks as a student. She graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate, top 20 percent of all graduating Army ROTC cadets across 273 programs in the nation. Wilcox also earned an overall Excellent grade at her Leadership Development and Assessment Course at Fort Lewis, Washington.

tech trek // ALUMNI

TECH TREK CONNECTS JAYHAWKS TO SILICON VALLEY Getting a job is often as much about who you know as it is what you know. For students looking to enter the technology field after graduation, the Jayhawk network has opened new doors in California’s Silicon Valley.

This January, a group of about 20 KU students made the 2,000-mile trip from Lawrence to Silicon Valley for the inaugural Tech Trek. Alumni in California’s Silicon Valley arranged exclusive tours and meetings for the students at some of the most well-known technology companies in the world, including Google, Samsung, Facebook and LinkedIn. Brad Garlinghouse, a KU alumnus who is a veteran of the tech sector, hatched the idea and offered his connections in the industry to get students in front of executives and recruiters at nine companies in three days.

“I was very fortunate and had a similar opportunity while attending Harvard Business School. I was exposed to a community and an environment that bleeds entrepreneurship—and almost like a virus, I was infected,” said Garlinghouse, B.A. (‘94) in economics. “It’s beneficial to both the students and the companies. The students get exposure to interesting companies leading the way in their fields and the companies get exposed to some of KU’s most talented students.”

Many of the meetings and tours were led by KU alumni, including several with liberal arts and sciences degrees.

Other alumni of the College taking part in the Tech Trek were Brian Drummond, a director at Linkedin, B.S. (‘82) in computer science; Marc Ketzel, a vice president at Samsung, B.G.S. (‘77) in personnel administration and political science; and Brad Murphy, a senior program manager at Cisco, B.G.S. (‘89) in theatre.

A piece of advice Drummond shared with the group was to “know your greatest accomplishment.”

“As a manager who conducts hundreds of interviews a year, Drummond explained that this particular question was the most telling about a potential candidate,” said Evan Nichols, a senior majoring in computer science in the School of Engineering.

KU alumni also helped subsidize the cost of the trip. Jayhawk generosity brought the cost down to just $250 each. Student majors were primarily in applied mathematics, architecture, computer engineering and computer science, and design.

A group of about 20 KU students visited several Silicon Valley companies in a trip coordinated by alumni.

Cody Clifton, a Ph.D. candidate in mathematics, aspires to work for a major technology company after graduation. Among the most valuable experiences on the trip, he said, was hearing firsthand from employees about organizational culture.

“The visit to Dropbox was the highlight of Tech Trek for me,” Clifton said. “A few different employees mentioned how much they had looked forward to returning to Dropbox after the recent holiday vacation because they genuinely enjoy the work they do and the people they work with. The passion for innovation and sense of community in the workplace at Dropbox reaffirmed my intent of working for a leading technology company and at the same time tailored my interest towards somewhat smaller companies than I had previously considered.”

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ALUMNI // mini college

7 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

Mini College

1 23

Mini College celebrates seven years in June 2015

Life-long learning is open to all students. Many students come to Mini College as graduates of other universities but they all leave as Jayhawks!

Campus extends far beyond Jayhawk Boulevard. Students at Mini College 2015 will have the opportunity to spend a day at the KU Field Station— ecologically significant land that covers more than 3,400 acres and promotes scientific and environmental education.

The week spent on campus for Mini College is the true college experience, complete with the option to stay in on-campus housing.

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JOIN

When the week comes to an end, students celebrate with drinks, dinner and dancing at a special graduation party complete with official Mini College diplomas.

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MINI COLLEGE 2015 June 1 – 4

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Sign up online at

minicollege.ku.edu

Registration includes all classes, light breakfasts, all lunches and two dinners.

This year interim Dean of the College and emeritus professor of geology, Don Steeples, will be teaching a class titled “Some Stupid Seismic Experiments I Have Done.”

Normally closed for lunch during the summer months, Lawrence landmark The Wagon Wheel opens to host a private meal just for Mini Collegians.

Mini College travels!

Every year, Mini Collegians expand their horizons beyond Lawrence for unique classes and new experiences. This fall, Mini College will head out on a bus tour of Kansas.

Contact Jessica Beeson or Brandon Woodard at 785-864-4815 or minicollege@ku.edu

best of the blog // GIVING

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Alumni and faculty generosity enhances opportunities for students, research

Left: With lifetime and estate gifts, Madison “Al” and Lila Self gave $106 million to the University of Kansas, more than any other donor to date.

Right: Slawson Hall in the new Earth, Energy and Environment Center will be named in honor of benefactor Don Slawson.

GIFT ADDS $58 MILLION IN STUDENT SUPPORT

NEW HALL NAMED TO HONOR DONOR

A $58 million gift from the estate of late alumni Madison “Al” and Lila Self will provide direct suppor t to benefit students. With their lifetime and estate gifts, the Selfs donated $106 million to KU, making them the most generous private donors to date in the history of the university.

The gift adds $39 million to the Self Graduate Fellowship Fund for doctoral students in STEM disciplines, business and economics; and $15 million to the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows Program. The remaining $4 million establishes a new Self Graduating Senior Fellowship Fund.

The Selfs passed away in 2013, both at the age of 91.

Modest beginnings didn’t hamper their future success.

Raised on Kansas farms, they met as KU students. In 1943, Al earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and they married that summer. In 1947, the Selfs acquired Bee Chemical Co. in Lansing, Illinois, which Al built in 37 years from a three-person operation to a company with five U.S. manufacturing sites and operations in Japan and England.

A $16 million lead gift from the family of late alumnus Don Slawson will support construction of a hall to be located in KU’s planned Earth, Energy and Environment Center. Slawson Hall will honor Don Slawson’s longstanding dedication to KU, to higher education and to the oil and gas industry.

A lifelong resident of Wichita, Don Slawson earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from KU in 1955.

At age 24, he founded Slawson Exploration, an oil and gas exploration firm that became one of the most active oil drilling operations in the United States. He also served on federal and corporate boards and councils.

He died July 7, 2014.

Slawson Hall will be part of the Earth, Energy and Environment Center, at Naismith Drive and Jayhawk Boulevard. The center’s spaces will include auditoriums, classrooms and laboratories for instruction and research in earth science and energy fields, including geology, engineering, geophysics, energy, nanotechnology, energy storage and the environment.

GIVE ONLINE AT WWW.KUENDOWMENT.ORG/COLLEGE

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GIVING

Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett is professor emeritus of psychology and former director of the University Honors Program. Steve Fawcett is Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor of applied behavioral science and director of the KU Work Group for Community Health & Development.

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John Nalbandian is a professor emeritus in the School of Public Affairs & Administration.

SUPPORTING FAMILY COLLEGE DREAMS

FINDING A HOME ON THE HILL

Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett shares her story about why she and husband, Steve Fawcett, started a scholarship.

John Nalbandian shares about giving back to the University that shaped him.

My mother was born in the spring of 1911. She had an itinerant upbringing, the little girls often piled into the car late at night to outrun the landlord and start over in a new town. The one constant in her childhood was school, at which she excelled.

Her father promised her he would send her to college. She held onto that dream until the stock market crash of 1929 and her father’s abandonment of his family ended it. She had to go to work to help support her mother and her younger sisters. Then came a family of her own and that dream was over.

She worked her whole life. Most of her career was spent as a secretary in a unit she essentially ran but where she couldn’t rise through the ranks because she lacked a degree. She made sure that was not going to happen to her children and it didn’t.

Steve’s father was born in 1909 to Irish immigrants and had a similar challenging childhood. His family couldn’t afford college and he got his only post-secondary education by sending in money to a “learn how to draw” ad in the back of a comic book. His $35 tuition eventually paid off when he became the political cartoonist for the Providence Journal World. But he always regretted not having a college education and worked to ensure his sons got one.

Being first-generation college graduates is something Steve and I are both proud of but we wish our parents had attended college too. The education we and our children received at KU transformed our lives in the ways our parents dreamed about.

When my mother died in 1997, there was a small inheritance. Steve and I made the decision to use it to establish an estate gift in our parents’ memory. With regular payroll deductions the Fawcett-McCluskey First Generation College Fund has grown over the last 17 years and each year we get a letter from a recipient. The one last year touched us the most.

The young man is a first-generation student with Vietnamese immigrant parents. He said he often overheard his parents fighting about money and felt terribly for adding stress to their lives. His scholarship lessened their burden and will do so for generations to come. It’s a legacy we know would make our parents proud.

I joined the KU faculty in 1976. My family and I moved to Kansas from Los Angeles, our home, and we thought we would spend a few years here and then return to Southern California. I have returned, but only to visit! Lawrence became our home, and KU became our home.

Early on during a gubernatorial campaign, John Carlin, the democratic candidate, came to our door seeking our vote. I was shocked. I had never seen a candidate for public office walk door to door in L.A. I had a thought that would stick with me from then on. I said to myself, “John, you can become anything you aspire to in Kansas.” And, it turned out to be true. In 1991 while fulfilling my faculty responsibilities, I was elected to city council, serving two terms. I served as the city’s mayor as well.

What a wonderful eight years for a faculty member whose academic specialization is local government. That experience coupled with my academic work, has enabled me to consult with city councils throughout America and to give workshops and presentations internationally.

I found more than an academic home at KU. Being appreciated as well as challenged by colleagues, students and alumni has allowed me to reflect on who I am as a teacher and to mature into the person I am today. Just as years ago I said to myself that I could become anything I aspired to in Kansas, I know now in retirement that at KU I became everything I aspired to as a faculty member.

With my contributions to KUEA, I am not “giving” to KU; I am “giving back to KU.” Much of what I have become, I owe to Lawrence and to KU. I am proud to call myself a Jayhawk.

GIVE ONLINE AT WWW.KUENDOWMENT.ORG/COLLEGE

best of the blog // GIVING

Make a Difference The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is in the midst of an ambitious campaign to make a great university even better. We invite you to take pride in all that KU has achieved and join with us to build our future.

Give online at www.kuendowment.org/college Call 800-444-4201, ext 316

GIFT CELEBRATES TIES TO KU, “I DREAM OF JEANNIE”

By mail, use the envelope included in the magazine

OUR KU ENDOWMENT TEAM

A spring 2014 visit with students in the KU Department of Theatre inspired alumnus Jon Eicholtz and his wife, actress Barbara Eden, of Beverly Hills, California, to make a $300,000 gift to provide one full-ride undergraduate scholarship for a student who plans to be a professional actor.

“I had a desire to do something for the university in acknowledgement of and return for what it had done for me. KU gave me a foundation for my life,” Eicholtz said. “It also was important to me that this gift be meaningful to Barbara, and that it be a reflection of her career.”

Eicholtz earned a bachelor’s degree from KU in architectural engineering in 1962. His career in construction management and real estate development took him across the U.S. Barbara Eden is an actress and singer. She starred in the popular 1960s television series “I Dream of Jeannie.” She has starred in 25 feature films, five network TV series and 19 top-rated network made-for-television movies. She has headlined at major hotel resorts and casinos, and she continues to perform for audiences in the U.S. and abroad.

Mechele Leon, chair of the Department of Theatre, said the scholarship would be an asset in recruiting and rewarding students who not only demonstrate talent and academic achievements, but also have a proven commitment to a career as a performer.

GIVE ONLINE AT WWW.KUENDOWMENT.ORG/COLLEGE

Jenna Goodman, SENIOR DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

LaRisa Chambers, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Kelsey Barnes, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT

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OREAD ENCORE

Packing my office Danny Anderson is outgoing dean of the College.

He received his Ph.D. in Spanish from KU in 1985.

Twenty-seven years can feel like a long

And I am grateful to our graduates,

time. That’s the official count of how long I

on? What to shred? More than an office,

our alumni. They safeguard our future.

a faculty member. I actually start the count

and relationships that have shaped me.

with us. As dean of the College of Liberal

have worked at the University of Kansas as of my KU connection a bit earlier. I moved to Lawrence in 1980 to begin graduate

school. I lived at 11th and Indiana. Today that corner is a gaping hole. A developer

has torn down the old apartment building and bulldozed the hillside.

With absolute clarity, I am excited

and honored to become the president

of Trinity University. At the same time, I have temporarily lived in a parallel

emotional universe as I prepare to leave the University of Kansas.

The gaping hole at 11th and Indiana

helped me understand some of the dimensions of this universe.

Another image has helped too.

The process of packing my office

helped me understand what I’m taking with me to Trinity University.

Packing an office can seem mundane,

but it gives you time to think as you

work. I excavated layers of presentations, papers, off-prints, dossier, typescripts,

I was examining the sediments of forces One important thing that I will be

taking with me is the substance created by these forces: gratitude.

I am grateful for generations of

have enjoyed the privilege of listening to their KU stories.

Packing my office was a process

win them over. Others eagerly sought

and alumni, you have changed me,

They energized me with the desire to knowledge. They often became my

teachers. I worked to see from all my

students’ points of view, to listen to what they said. They are our hope.

I am grateful for faculty colleagues.

They recognized talents and offered me opportunities. Sometimes those

opportunities allowed me to grow in unexpected ways.

I am grateful to staff colleagues. They

are unsung heroes. Many have helped me

As students, faculty, staff, retirees,

energized me, and educated me to make

a difference in our world. I am grateful, I am honored, and I am a proud alumnus of the University of Kansas. When I

unpack my office in San Antonio, these

memories and gratitude will be welcome company. My parallel universes will

again be one in focus, energy, creativity, and commitment as I begin a new role serving Trinity University.

Twenty-seven years can feel like a long

grasp the complexity of the university, see

time. At moments, they can also seem like

know how to lead from where you are. I

with your heart.

the levers that can activate change, and have learned.

I am grateful to emeritus and retired

sifted into filing cabinets, compressed

a step backward. They have applauded

pages in journals.

Arts & Sciences between 2010 and 2015, I

of refining the substance of gratitude.

colleagues. They have shared the wisdom

into books on shelves, or condensed onto

They honor our traditions. They commune

students. Some resented required classes.

research documents, correspondence,

course materials, and my notes. They were

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What to take with me? What to pass

of seeing when a step forward may be

genuine advances. They have helped me

calibrate my understanding of the present.

the blink of an eye when you see them

A RE YOU A C LAS GRADUATE W IT H A STO RY A BOUT HOW YOUR KU EX PE R IE NCE HE LPE D GET YOU WHERE YOU ARE TO DAY? SE ND C OLUMN IDEAS TO C LA SNEWS@K U.E D U.

#HastaLuegoDanny campaign CELEBRATES DEPARTING DEAN

Three decades is a long time at KU. In that time, Danny Anderson was hired, promoted many times, married, celebrated his 50th birthday and became dean. Recently, he was named the next president of Trinity University in San Antonio. As his time as dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences came to a close, we celebrated all he’s seen and done while at KU with a tweet for each of his 27 years on faculty. Here are a few of our favorites from the #HastaLuegoDanny campaign.

KU College of LA&S @KUCollege

1988: @KUdeanAnderson was hired as an asst. prof in Spanish #HastaLuegoDanny 9:15 AM - 13 Mar 2015

1 RETWEET 5 FAVORITES

Follow

1991: Lightning strikes Hoch Auditorium and @KUdeanAnderson becomes an associate prof #HastaLuegoDanny 10:00 AM - 13 Mar 2015

2 FAVORITES Anderson was promoted again, to full professor in 2003.

1995: 10 yrs after his PhD graduation, @KUdeanAnderson wins a prestigious humanities fellowship #HastaLuegoDanny 11:00 AM - 13 Mar 2015

1 RETWEET 6 FAVORITES

2002: @KUdeanAnderson appears as a murder victim in the Mexican novel, Duelo por Miguel Pruneda #HastaLuegoDanny 11:00 AM - 13 Mar 2015

2 RETWEETS 3 FAVORITES

2005: @KUdeanAnderson steps down as chair of @KUSpanPort but his legacy lives on! Viva Danny! #HastaLuegoDanny

2010: Danny becomes Dean of the College #HastaLuegoDanny

1:30 PM - 13 Mar 2015

2:45 PM - 13 Mar 2015

2 FAVORITES

2 FAVORITES

After five years as chair of the Department of Spanish & Portugese, Anderson went on to several administrative roles, including associate dean in the College, vice provost for academic affairs and interim provost.

2014: @KUdeanAnderson & @DeanKUundergrad, raise awareness for ALS through the #IceBucketChallenge #HastaLuegoDanny 3:45 PM - 13 Mar 2015

3 FAVORITES

Anderson led several initiativ es while de an , including quick adoption of th e new university wide curriculum (K U Core), creating two ne w schools at th e university (the School of Publi c Af fairs & Administratio n and the Scho ol of Languages, Lit er atures & Cu ltures), and hiring KU ’s first Founda tion Distinguished Professor.

2015: Danny becomes President of Trinity University.

Thanks for 27 years, we’ll miss you! #HastaLuegoDanny 4:00 PM - 13 Mar 2015

2 RETWEETS 8 FAVORITES

KU COLLEGIAN

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My passion is: strengthening government and organizations to better serve people

My scholarship: gives me the time to get involved on campus and mentor other students

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Scholarships make a KU education possible for future leaders Supporting the college with your gift will benefit students for generations.

To learn more, please visit giving.farabove.org.