Professor Bubblegum Bruce Frey's alter ego spins catchy hits - SPENCER 'DEBUT' Exhibit reveals collection's depth - Kansas Alumni magazine
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SPENCER ‘DEBUT’ Exhibit LAUGH TREK Comedian
reveals collection’s depth blazes humor trail
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 | $7
Professor
Bubblegum
Bruce Frey’s alter ego
spins catchy hits
HEARD BY THE BIRD
Providing
Talk and squawk in the news
iStock photos/Brian McEntire
“These terms
don’t exactly roll
•• - - ••
off the tongue. A
answers and
kid’s not going to
want to grow up
dreaming to be a
Steve Puppe
civilian crew.
saving lives
Space tourist is not
a good Halloween
costume.”
is the ultimate “Good Morning America” correspondent
Becky Worley: “Guys, this is a dream
—Andrew McKenzie, associate professor of linguistics, in a Houston
Chronicle story on the debate over what to call Jeff Bezos, Richard
Branson and others who flew on private spacecraft this year, the first
reward.
assignment, I tell ya.” time Americans not trained by NASA orbited Earth.
GMA host Robin Roberts: “Are you really
there? Because that looks like a movie set.
So picture-perfect.” “Norm @normmacdonald was a great
Worley: “It’s incredible, you guys. I can’t even talent, and I loved laughing with him
believe I’m standing here and it’s gotten more on SNL. *Bob Dole* will miss
beautiful as we’ve been here all morning long.” Norm Macdonald.”
@SenatorDole/Twitter
—Worley reporting live on ABC alongside Ted Grinter, ’92, on his — A tribute tweet from former
family’s beloved sunflower farm near Tonganoxie, during the live U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, ’45, after the
stand-up segment of Worley’s Sept. 9 “Rise and Shine” travel Sept. 14 death of his Saturday Night
feature. Worley’s report also included a visit with men’s basketball Live doppelganger, who made
Nationally ranked as the Best Hospital in Kansas City and in Kansas. coach Bill Self in Allen Field House and “Ted Lasso” actor Jason
Sudeikis’ parents at Sporting Kansas City’s soccer stadium, and
America laugh with his good-
natured impersonations during
pieces on the Eldridge Hotel, Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.
The University of Kansas Hospital is proud to receive national recognition, but we’re even
and, because of course, Wamego’s Oz Museum.
more proud of what we do each day to earn it. We continue to be a leader in providing
Follow us on your
“Would be a lot cooler if this
KU News
answers to the people of our community and saving lives. We do that by always challenging favorite platform:
ourselves to offer very specialized, innovative care. There can be no greater reward than this. was a pool but whatever.”
Learn more at kansashealthsystem.com. —A Twitter post by @StudentsofKU in response to the giant, blue
“KU” letters atop the Wescoe Hall roof. CentiMark, a commercial
roofing company in Lenexa, recently installed a new roof on the
building and added the rooftop logo at no extra charge. Accord-
ing to KU officials, the graphic, which measures 80 feet from top
#KUalumni to bottom, will be highly visible on Google Earth.
@KUalumni
© The University of Kansas Hospital
IN THIS ISSUE
O N L I N E E X T R AS
Videos
Statistics guru Neil Salkind
suggested mayonnaise
FA L L 2021 belongs in brownies.
We investigated.
Publisher
Heath Peterson, d’04, g’09
Digital Feature
Editor KU Alumni Association Annual Report
COV E R STO RY Jennifer Jackson Sanner, j’81
Statistics for Creative Director From the Archives
Smarties and Other
Fun Stuff 57 Susan Younger, f’91
Associate Editors
After an $8 million
renovation, the Spencer
Museum of Art unveils
Of brownies, bubble- Chris Lazzarino, j’86 transformed first-floor
gum and books for Profile: Gwen Westerman Steven Hill galleries in “The Big
people who (think they Connections to family and land inspire Minnesota’s Reveal,” issue No. 5, 2016.
don’t) have a head for new poet laureate. Assistant Editor
numbers. Heather Biele
by Steven Hill
by Chris Lazzarino Photographers
Steve Puppe, j’98
Cover illustration 4 52 Dan Storey
by Susan Younger;
photograph
by Steve Puppe
30 Lift the Chorus
Letters from our readers
Always Jayhawks
Association news and
alumni profiles
Graphic Designers
Chris Millspaugh, f’97
kansasalumni
magazine.org
7 Toni Brou, f’91
KU Voice 62 Digital Team
L ET T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R :
Making the most of 2020-’21
COVID-19’s teachable Annual Report David Johnston, j’94, g’06 Kansas Alumni welcomes letters to the editor.
moment Highlights and financial Debbi Johanning, c’98, g’19 Our address is Kansas Alumni magazine,
results through June 30 Kara Rodriguez, j’10 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100.
8 Ryan Camenzind, j’17 Email responses may be sent to the Alumni
First Glance 68 Advertising Sales
Association, kualumni@kualumni.org.
Art restoration Class Notes Please limit your comments to 350 words. Letters
Teri Harris appearing in the magazine may be edited for space and
10 90 Brett Leonard, d’09
38 44
clarity. For letters published, we’ll send a free KU gift,
Rock Chalk Review In Memory a $5 value.
Test scores are optional Contact:
in new admissions and 94 KU Alumni Association
1266 Oread Avenue
KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE (ISSN 0745-3345)
is published by the KU Alumni Association four times a year in
scholarship standards. Photo Finish February, May, August and November. $60 annual subscription
First Sight A Man Walks Into a Bar Big band sound Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 includes membership in the Alumni Association. Office of
In a new exhibition, treasures from the Spencer’s A funny thing happened on the way to the border: 26 785-864-4760 Publication: 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100.
permanent collection are ready for their close-ups. Sean Powers found his comedy voice on the Pacific Jayhawk Sports 96 800-584-2957
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Periodicals postage paid at Lawrence, KS.
Crest Trail. Basketball tips off Hail to Old KU POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Kansas Alumni
kualumni@kualumni.org Magazine, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100
by Jennifer Jackson Sanner promising season with Meet Friends In Coun- © 2021 by Kansas Alumni Magazine.
by Steven Hill No. 3 ranking. cil—Mount Oread’s Non-member issue price: $10
Established in 1902 as
original study buddies. The Graduate Magazine
Volume 119, No. 4, 2021
4 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 5
STATEMENT OF OWNER-
SHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND
CIRCULATION
LIFT THE CHORUS
(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)
1. Publication Title KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE
2. Publication No. 0745-3345
3. Filling Date September 29, 2021
4. Issue Frequency Quarterly (Feb., May, Aug., Nov.)
5. No. Issues Published Annually 4 along with the photos, was out from all the “loftier” In addition, “My Son’s
6. Annual Subscription Price $60 a joy. achievements on the page— Story” by Jerri Niebaum Clark DROP US A LINE
7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication
The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, Kudos to the graphic those who are now CEO, CFO, introduced me to health care
Lawrence, KS 66045-3100
8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General
designer who chose to show president or chairperson. issues I had never been We welcome letters to
Business Office of Publisher the “then-and-now” photos of Sure, my updates read more exposed to. Her bravery in the editor. The Alumni
The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue,
Lawrence, KS 66045-3100
the couple. Seeing that was like the others through the years, giving us her family’s story Association and the
9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, enough to get me to read as I achieved higher levels was compelling, as is her University remain com-
Editor, and Managing Editor the article. during my 29-year career with continuing work in the mental mitted to free speech and
Publisher
Heath Peterson The “More than Meets the Hallmark, culminating in Calvin Clark health field. the rights of all individuals
The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue,
Eye” photo contest article was creative director. It’s also great to know we to express their differing
Lawrence, KS 66045-3100
Editor a visual treat. Growing up in Still, I think I may be more ... Cover to cover have such brilliant KU doctors personal views, including
Jennifer Jackson Sanner
The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, Salina, I sometimes take for proud of my current status than Thank you so much for and researchers to be proud of those that others might find
Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 granted the beauty in the any previous one. the inspiring stories and as Barney Graham and challenging or inappropri-
10. Owner
The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, humble landscape and lives Writing this after reading the photographs in the latest issue Cynthia Turner-Graham. ate. Letters appearing in Lift
Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 Lots to like ... we lead. current issue has me thinking of Kansas Alumni. The articles How wonderful to know that the Chorus represent only
11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders
Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of I have been receiving When I turned the page to about many memories from my really sparked my interest, and a Kansan was instrumental in the authors’ opinions, and
Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities. the alumni magazine for “My Son’s Story,” I knew I had days on the Hill and the people I I read the magazine from cover creating the COVID-19 Kansas Alumni reserves the
If none, check box. q None
4
12. Tax Status. The Purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this
decades, but the current issue to read it, too. Thank you to have known. Isn’t that what the to cover. vaccine! right to edit as needed for
organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes: stands out as one of the very everyone who was involved in publication is all about? Well As a Kansan now living in All in all, you and your staff clarity and as space requires.
q Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months
4
q Has Changed During Preceding 12 Months best. the decision to bring this done, all. Well done. Florida, the striking photogra- did a fantastic job on this issue. Please limit responses to 350
13. Publication Title KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE Admittedly, I usually flip important story into the light. –John Keeling, f ’83 phy in the article “More than I am already looking forward words, and send them to
14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below September 2018 through each issue, rarely Jerri Clark’s personal essay on Kansas City Meets the Eye” by Steven Hill to the next one. kualumni@kualumni.org
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation
Average Actual No.
reading any story in depth, but the subject of mental illness made me very nostalgic for my –Cynthia Bender, g’88 or 1266 Oread Avenue,
No. Copies Copies of always checking Class Notes was gripping. It put a face on a Midwestern roots. Trinity, Florida Lawrence, KS 66045-3100.
Each Issue Single
During Issue Pub. for updates and, sadly, obits of topic that we hear about in the
Preceding Nearest to
12 Months Filing Date
people I knew. news and yet so often keep at a
a. Total Number of Copies This issue, however, grabbed distance.
(Net Press Run) 28,750 29,000
my interest with the compel- Sadly, I know of two fellow
Nominate a colleague or classmate today!
b. Paid Circulation
(1) Mailed Outside-County Paid ling cover photo. KU alumni whose lives have
Subscriptions Stated on PS
Form 3541 28,024 28,389 I wrongly assumed that the been greatly lessened by the
(2) Mailed In-County Paid two were professional col- horrors of mental illness Help recognize outstanding clinicians, researchers, educators and leaders.
Subscriptions Stated on PS
Form 3541 0 0 leagues involved with the (schizophrenia).
2022
(3) Paid Distribution Outside the
leadership of the University. When I got to the 1983
University of Kansas
Mails Including Sales Through
Dealers & Carriers, Street Vendors To read the article and learn Class Notes, I was surprised to
Counter Sales, & Other Paid
of the personal story of this find myself and struck by the
Medical Center
Distribution Outside USPS 0 0
(4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes married couple and their fact that I shared that I am
ALUMNI
of Mail Through the USPS 0 0
c. Total Paid Distribution 28,024 28,389 important professional work, simply “an artist.” That stood
d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
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Copies Included on PS Form 3541 0 0
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AWARDS
Included on PS Form 3541 0 0
(3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed
at Other Clases Through the USPS 50 50
(4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
Outside the Mail 300 300
e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 350 350
f. Total Print Distribution 28,374 28,739
g. Copies Not Distributed 376 261
h. Copies Not Distributed. 98.77% 98.78%
16. Publication of Statement of Ownership will be printed
Accepting nominations through December 13, 2021.
in the November 2021issue of this publication.
17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner
kumc.edu/alumniawards
I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I
understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this
form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject
to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment and/or civil sanctions
(including civil penalties). “More than Meets the Eye,” issue No. 3, 2021
6 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 7
KU VOICE
Steve Puppe
and be open to intellectual uncertainty. I
know my students live in a culture driven
by social media bluster and clever memes,
but I want them to learn how to recognize
and make a well-substantiated argument
based on the best available evidence.
To develop those skills, as is a historian’s
wont, I ask my students to look to the past
to prepare themselves for the future.
During the early months of the pandemic,
for example, we read essays crafted in two
distinct eras by two starkly different
American thinkers: conservative philoso-
pher Russell Kirk’s “The Essence of
Conservatism” (1957) and President
Theodore Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism,”
the address he gave in 1910 at the dedica-
tion of the John Brown memorial in
Osawatomie. How do these two Ameri-
A Kansas City TV news reporter often based on their political leanings. cans, I asked my students, envision good
recently contacted me to discuss teaching Consequently, discussing the issue with citizenship? How do they justify their
at the University in the midst of students remains tricky. As a professor, I claims to their respective audiences? How
COVID-19. She began the interview by feel strongly that it is not my business to do they establish their authority to make
asking how I explained the unprecedented push an ideological or political position on such claims? To what extent do their essays
nature and impact of the pandemic to my students. At the same time, as we reflect the times in which they lived? By
my students. professors like to say, COVID has examining these and other readings and
Now, I’m a historian, and we historians presented the University community a by answering such questions, students can
are generally of the Ecclesiastes school of useful “teachable moment.” develop the habits of mind that just might
thought: “There is no new thing under the The battles over how to respond to enable them to see through the carny
sun.” Unprecedented? If you want to talk COVID open the classroom door to some shenanigans of too many of today’s public
about a pandemic, try the Black Death, of the most vexing questions of our time. figures and withstand the dark rabbit holes
which killed millions of Europeans during In the morass of social media, cable TV of internet “research.”
the Middle Ages; the waves of smallpox and the near-endless recesses of the Teaching at KU in the Age of the
epidemics that devastated American internet, how do we know which informa- Pandemic has offered both students and
Indians from the 17th to the 19th tion is trustworthy? What is and what instructors unexpected opportunities for
centuries; and, of course, the 1918-’19 should be the basis of expertise and intense educational exploration. COVID
influenza pandemic, which first became cultural authority in America’s democratic and the fraught political battles that have
evident at Fort Riley and killed at least society? How should we balance individu- swirled around it have forced us all to
675,000 Americans (in a total U.S. al freedom with the public good? And, confront the meaning of leadership in our
population of just over 100 million). from a vantage point of institutional democracy, the utility of evidence in the
Nonetheless, the reporter had a point. self-interest, what does or should educa- search for truth, the acceptable balance
We have responded to COVID differ- tion at KU, one of only 131 Carnegie between conflicting values and interests
ently from how Americans reacted to most Research 1 universities in the United and much more. At KU, many of us have
previous public health crises. Almost from States, contribute to the search for truth in done our best—even amid so much
the beginning, the pandemic became a a world where so many, regardless of their COVID-related sorrow and uncertainty—
fiercely partisan political issue. Americans training or analytic sophistication, feel to use our classrooms to grapple with the
quickly came to have radically divergent called upon “to do their own research” on enduring questions the pandemic has
understandings of what could and should all matter of issues, even the most technical placed in such tight focus.
be done to manage the illness, and those and scientifically complex? —David Farber
divides have only deepened over time. None of these questions, obviously, have Farber is the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished
KU students, I soon learned, likewise simple answers. That’s part of the learning Professor of History.
held widely different views on COVID— experience at KU: embrace complexity
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 9
FIRST GLANCE
Native Hosts, a five-panel series by Edgar Heap of Birds,
f ’76, (Cheyenne, Arapaho) on Oct. 14 returned with proper
ceremony to the Spencer Museum of Art after vandals defaced four
of the panels and the fifth was stolen. KU’s First Nations Student
Association, University leaders and about 100 community
members rededicated Native Hosts, which acknowledges tribes
that historically or currently inhabit the region and serves as this
year’s KU Common Work of Art. Professor Robert Warrior
(Osage) described Native Hosts as an invitation to pause and
consider the struggles of Indigenous peoples and acknowledge
those who came before.
Photograph by Ryan Waggoner
10 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 11
ROCK CHALK REVIEW
Steve Puppe
academic career in high school versus how
they did on a Saturday morning.” Fall 2021 Enrollment
Though standardized test scores are no
longer required, Lisa Pinamonti Kress,
director of KU Admissions, still encour-
ages students to take at least one of the
n 27,685 on all campuses
exams, reminding them that the score may (+ 66 students, or .2 %)
be helpful for placement into courses or
23,598 Lawrence/Edwards Campus
for scholarship purposes. But she admits
that not having to continually chase a high n
score is a relief for many students and their
families. “I know students are certainly (-6 students from fall 2019)
excited about not having to retake the
test,” says Kress, g’98. “If they have the
GPA, they have the confidence of know-
n 4,119 new freshmen
ing they’re getting in. Some students are (+290 students or 7.6%, 6 fewer than pre-pandemic
super-successful at GPA and they take the
test and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not the score Fall 2019)
I want,’ and they kind of feel pressured
to keep taking it.” But with KU’s new
test-optional policy, students are required
n 3.66 freshman average high school
to report only their GPA and, if they want, GPA (highest on record)
STUDENTS prevented many students from taking the exams. their test score. “If you meet the require-
84.8% one-year retention rate
“It forced institutions to do what a lot of schools ments you’re admitted within 48 hours,”
New admissions were looking into anyhow—decreasing emphasis on
standardized test scores.”
Kress continues. “If you don’t, we review
your application and it takes another seven
n
standards Over the past year, several university systems in to 10 days to hear back. I think it eases up for Fall 2020 freshmen (3rd-highest on record)
the United States, including those in California, the stress of retaking that test.”
First-year students no longer need
The new policy
helps ensure that
to report ACT or SAT scores
Oregon, Colorado and Illinois, have moved to
test-optional standards for admissions, allowing
Melvin, who for years has advocated
that GPA is the best predictor of student
n 6,681minority students
students to choose whether they submit ACT or success in higher education, hopes the new (24.1% of total KU population, largest on record)
the University’s The Kansas Board of Regents has approved SAT scores. Some institutions have gone a step standards ultimately will boost student
1,584 veterans, active-duty and
admissions new admissions standards for the University that further and become test-blind, meaning that even enrollment and retention. “Our admis-
no longer require incoming freshmen to submit if students submit exam scores, those scores aren’t sions requirements aren’t designed to keep n
process is as fair
standardized test scores. First-year students will considered in the application process. KU’s test- people out,” he says. “That’s never what
and equitable now be assured admission to KU if they have: optional pathway allows the University to remain we’re about. Our admissions requirements military-connected (dependent)
as possible, competitive in attracting out-of-state students. were designed to say, ‘Can we predict students (+.4%)
regardless of • a 3.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale, or “The market shifted, and one of the things we success in college? Can we predict success
a student’s • a 2.0 GPA plus an ACT score of at least 21 talk about at KU all the time is, ‘How can we main- at KU?’ That’s what we’re about.
(or an SAT score of at least 1,060). tain that we are in equilibrium with the market?’” “Over the next year or two, we are clear-
background. Melvin says. “That really was a driver.” ly going to start looking at how are these
Steve Puppe
These changes take effect in spring 2022 and are The new policy also helps ensure that the Uni- students doing in terms of their academic
similar to test-optional pathways at other Kansas versity’s admissions process is as fair and equitable performance, their academic progress
universities, including K-State, Wichita State and as possible, regardless of a student’s background. In from term to term, their success rate with
Emporia State. The KU application deadline for recent years, Melvin explains, high school students certain courses, their retention rates.
freshman scholarships is Dec. 1 for new students have often taken the ACT or SAT multiple times There becomes a whole opportunity for an
planning to enroll for the fall 2022 semester. and even enlisted coaching services to obtain higher assessment to say, ‘Are those variables that
According to Matt Melvin, vice provost for scores—critical advantages for some but not all we’re collecting predictive of success?’ And
enrollment management, COVID-19 helped drive students. By eliminating the test requirement and I think that’s going to be the next round of
the revision of KU’s admissions criteria. “The pan- putting greater emphasis on GPA and the academic research that we do.”
demic forced our hands, and it forced the hands of intensity of a student’s high school curriculum, “It —Heather Biele
most schools across the country,” he says, explaining levels the playing field a bit,” he says. “It looks at
that the widespread closure of standardized test sites the success of a student over the course of their
12 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 13
ROCK CHALK REVIEW
Steve Puppe
response to behavioral health crises, updates to shown over the years, I was kind of shocked—and
policies on officer conduct and the formation of an very honored.”
oversight board [“Public Safety changes planned,” In addition to her sun sculptures, Brou also
issue No. 3, 2021]. Mosley also stresses the impor- creates ceramics, paints silk scarves, and does
tance of recruiting a diverse staff of qualified law graphic design, including for Kansas Alumni. See
enforcement officers—more closely representative more of her work at tonibrou.com.
of the University community itself—and priori- Making art is a meditative activity that has helped
tizing accountability and transparency, an increas- her cope with personal loss, and she often hears
ingly important issue following the recent deaths from people who say her suns do the same for them.
“I came here of George Floyd and other Black men and women “When I was first widowed, I had three little
with the idea during police encounters. boys, and holidays were really difficult,” Brou says.
of building and “It’s just a matter of making sure we’re doing the “We had family friends who always made sure we
right thing,” he says. “Most police departments are weren’t alone. At one holiday dinner, a really kind
maintaining our doing it and should be. I know we’re ahead of the lady told me a story about her dad. He worked in
relationships curve; we’re doing those things. We’re a leader by Colorado on the railroad and would get up in the
continuing what we’ve been doing.” middle of these brutal winters early in the morning
with everyone Mosley, who recently served as president of the to go to work, and he’d always say, ‘Well, spring’s
out there.” Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, also looks
forward to working with local law enforcement
Kendra Hatfield
—Chief Nelson Mosley agencies, which KU relies upon during games and Toni Brou’s digital collage,
other University events, and getting involved with “Sun Over Sunflowers,”
the greater Lawrence community. But for now, brightens the month of
CAMPUS thought, ‘I want to do that.’ So that was my motiva- KU students, faculty and staff get his immediate May in Follow the Suns, a
tion from then on.” attention. 2022 calendar featuring
Open-door policy In 1987, Mosley joined the Wichita Police
Department and was promoted to deputy police
“I have an open-door policy,” he says. “If I’m here,
you can stop in and talk to me about any number of
art from the popular news
program “CBS Sunday
Accountability, transparency are chief in 2009. Along the way, he served as captain things. Morning.”
priorities for KU’s new police chief of the Crimes Against Persons Bureau and led the “This is your police department.”
unit that responded when the city’s notorious serial —Heather Biele
killer BTK resurfaced in 2004. He retired in 2016,
Nelson Mosley, the University’s new chief of after nearly two years as Wichita’s interim police
police and director of KU Public Safety Office, has chief, but the break was short-lived. “After getting N E WS B R I E F
led departments both large and small in his nearly through my list of chores and things that needed Sun salutation
Courtesy Toni Brou
35-year career in law enforcement. So, then, what attention around the house—and that went rather
attracted him to the Jayhawk community? “Well, quickly—I made a decision,” Mosley, then 50 years After losing both her father and husband 20
number one, I’m a KU fan,” he says with a grin, old, says. “I’m ready to get back to work.” years ago prompted Toni Brou to adapt the motto
“and I have been for a while.” When the chief of police position opened in “The sun always rises,” the visual artist began craft-
But for Mosley, who in September replaced 2016 in Rose Hill, a suburb southeast of Wichita ing smiling sun artworks that draw inspiration from
retired KU Chief of Police Chris Keary, c’83, where he and his family lived, Mosley jumped at the her father’s love of making art from found objects in
it’s more about continuing the good work of his chance. The change of pace was welcome, and he his Dodge City workshop.
friend and predecessor and promoting community embraced the opportunity to get out and interact Since 2011, two dozen of Brou’s suns—which
policing by strengthening relationships with KU with community members, something that didn’t she sculpts and affixes to hubcaps before paint-
students, faculty and staff. “Just like anything, we come easily as chief in a much larger metropolis. ing—have been featured on the long-running CBS
can always make things better,” he says. Now, five years later, Mosley enjoys a similar expe- News program “Sunday Morning.” Now her digital
Mosley grew up in Felton, Delaware, a town with rience on Mount Oread. “I came here with the idea collage “Sun Over Sunflowers,” which combines her
just over 1,400 residents, and moved to Kansas after of building and maintaining our relationships with sculpture “Spring’s A Comin’” and her photograph
completing basic training at Lackland Air Force everyone out there,” he says. of Grinter’s Sunflower Farm, is featured in the
Base in San Antonio. Throughout his military In his first few months, Mosley has focused on show’s first calendar, Follow the Suns, a 2022 day-to- a comin.’ I knew she was trying to tell me things
service, he remained committed to a career in law the 12 recommendations created last fall by the day calendar published by Simon & Schuster. would get better.
enforcement. “I always wanted to be a police officer, 27-member Chancellor’s Task Force on Commu- “The current sun curator at the show has been at “So now that I’ve kind of come through—hope-
since I was little,” he says. “I had two uncles who nity-Responsive Public Safety. The recommended her position for 20 years and during that time hand- fully—the worst of things, I like to encourage
were state policemen, and I remember they had changes, all of which Chancellor Doug Girod picked 9,000-plus suns,” says Brou, f ’91. “When other people. It’s really worth a lot to know that it’s
the high boots. I used to help take them off and I approved this year, include improvements to KU’s I heard my sun was one of 12 chosen out of 9,000 helping someone else.”
14 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 15
ROCK CHALK REVIEW
Rylie Koester (4)
visited KU Sept. 17 with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, transform non-food biological resources such as C A L E N DA R
c’76, l’82, to meet some of the researchers and grasses and crop leftovers into plastic products— H I G H L I G H TS
students involved in NSF-funded research at the which in turn will advance economic growth for
University. farmers. Second, the team will improve processes For full listings of events,
“This award highlights the key role Kansas plays for breaking down used plastic into elements to visit the links below.
in advanced manufacturing and how they contin- create new plastic.
ue to innovate in critical areas such as renewable The KU grant was one of nine the NSF an- Lied Center
plastics that will benefit the entire nation,” Panchan- nounced in September to fund collaborative Dec. 5 Vespers
athan said. projects that target national priorities. Kansas and
“This award The project will strive to reduce the environ- Delaware both participate in the NSF EPSCoR, Dec. 10 Ashley Davis
highlights Winter Solstice with
mental toll of discarded plastics in two ways. First, which stands for Established Program to Stimulate
special guest Cormac De
the key role researchers will develop sustainable methods to Competitive Research. For 40 years, the initiative
Barra
Kansas plays has strengthened studies in science, technology and
engineering in about half of all U.S. states. Dec. 17 “Summer: The
in advanced Since 2006, KU has received 11 EPSCoR awards Donna Summer Musical”
manufacturing totaling more than $72.4 million. Jan. 18 Jazz at Lincoln
and how they Over the past decade, 26 KU faculty members, Center Orchestra with
continue to including eight women, have received NSF career Wynton Marsalis
awards.
innovate in In fiscal year 2021, the NSF awarded $23.1 Jan. 23 Russian National
critical areas million to KU for projects that include 37 principal Ballet: “Swan Lake”
such as renew- investigators across 17 research centers and lied.ku.edu
able plastics that departments.
Spencer Museum of Art
will benefit the “Debut,” through fall
entire nation” RESEARCH 2022
Project to create safer plastics
spencerart.ku.edu
—Sethuraman
Panchanathan Murphy Hall
NSF director, Sen. Moran announce grant during campus visit Dec. 3 Chamber Music
Ensembles
Three KU professors will help lead research
to improve the manufacturing and recycling of Dec. 7 Rock Chalk
plastics as part of a four-year, $4 million grant from Singers
the National Science Foundation (NSF). music.ku.edu
“We’re excited to advance technologies that will University Theatre
help society transition to a more sustainable plastic
economy,” said lead investigator Bala Subramaniam, Dec. 3-5, 7-9 “The
Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor of Chem- Devils Between Us”
ical & Petroleum Engineering and director of the theatredance.ku.edu
Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis
(CEBC). Humanities Lecture
Subramaniam’s KU colleagues on the project are Series
Alan Allgeier, associate professor of chemical & Dec. 7 Simone Marchesi
petroleum engineering and CEBC deputy director, OPPOSITE, l to r: NSF Director TOP, l to r: Panchanathan, Moran and graduate student Victor Sharma
hallcenter.ku.edu
and Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Sethuraman Panchanathan’s also heard from Alan Allgeier, associate professor of chemical and
Professor of Economics and director of KU’s momentous visit to KU was years petroleum engineering and part of the team that will help create more Academic Calendar
Institute for Policy & Social Research. Completing in the making. Panchanathan and sustainable plastics with the new NSF grant.
Nov. 24-28
the leadership team are Timothy Dawsey, executive U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran met with Ana
Thanksgiving break
director of the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Engineering at the University of Delaware. Rita C. Morais, assistant professor of ABOVE, l to r: Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor of
Pittsburg State University, and Raul Lobo, Claire News of the grant was delivered personally by chemical and petroleum engineering, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and his students presented the Dec. 10 Stop Day
D. LeClaire Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan, who to learn about her research. Shiflett Research Group’s work. Dec. 13-17 Finals week
16 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 17
ROCK CHALK REVIEW
Steven Voss
“In recent decades we’ve
realized that climate change
is an existential threat, in
the last year and a half we’ve
realized that pandemics are
an existential threat, and
what I’m also trying to get
the American people to
realize is that bigotry is an
existential threat,” Kendi
said. Many forms of bigotry
(racism, sexism, classism,
ableism, homophobia, antisemitism) “are causing
humans to see different groups as not human like
them, that they’re the problem, they’re the threat.
Certainly the scale of the division now is something
that I think we should be concerned about, but not
The Kansas Biological only the scale of the division, the scale of the denial.
Survey in July changed … There’s mass denial about climate change, there’s
N E WS B R I E F
its name to the Kansas mass denial about the threat of pandemics and
Biological Survey & Self lecture features Kendi there’s mass denial about a persistence of bigotry,
Center for Ecological despite all the inequality that persists between many
Research to better reflect The best-selling author of How to Be An of these groups.”
its mission and scope, Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, visited campus Oct. 7 The Andrew Mellon Professor in the Humanities
which includes research for the annual Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium at Boston University and founding director of the
in terrestrial, aquatic, Lecture, joining Professor of Film Kevin Willmott BU Center for Antiracist Research, Kendi is the
remote sensing and in a wide-ranging discussion on race in American youngest person to win a National Book Award,
analytical subjects, as politics, history and culture. for his 2016 cultural history Stamped from the
well as management of Asked what the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol says Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas
the KU Field Station. about the scale of division now, Kendi noted that in America. The week before visiting KU he was
“This re-designation aims the bid to overturn election results through violence awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship. His
to more clearly convey is both a result of the campaign to misinform Amer- symposium appearance was sponsored by the
our prominent role in icans about what constitutes the gravest existential Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship
generating basic and threat to the republic and a very stark demonstra- program; Academic Success; Diversity, Equity,
transformative ecological tion of the real threat—namely, white supremacist Inclusion & Belonging; and the Office of
knowledge to national domestic terrorism. Multicultural Affairs.
and international
audiences while main-
taining emphasis on the
important work we
conduct for the state,” Home on the Hill Dan Storey
said Director Sara Baer.
The First Nations Student Associa-
tion in mid-October celebrated what
was thought to be the first tipi outside
Strong Hall. When alumni reminded
FNSA that they also did so in 1978, the
current Jayhawks responded with joy:
“It is our strength,” they said of con-
necting with those who came before.
18 KANSAS ALUMNIROCK CHALK REVIEW
Steve Puppe
science, Wallace enlisted in the Army and served her interest in societal change while
harrowing tours as a Ranger in Vietnam; he was a a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
Congressional aide when the CIA finally took no- a time when authority figures tended
tice of the application he’d submitted before leaving to insist health care providers main-
KU. More than 25 years later, Spycraft required tain distance from social upheavals
years to pass muster at the CIA’s publication review of the era.
board, yet the agency eventually signaled its enthu- “My classmates and I stretched
siastic, hard-won support by approving a foreword the faculty, we stretched our
by former director George Tenet. education, and we stretched our
Wallace hesitates to agree that intelligence limits,” says Hartley, whose nursing
work can, at times, be characterized as fun, instead practice was in coronary and critical
describing it as an “adrenaline-producing” career care and as a clinical nurse educator.
path, a keystone to America’s founding and ongoing “During that time there was some push-
existence. back for nursing students and professional nurses
“Whenever the nation was facing a crisis, intelli- to actually be agents of change.”
gence was a vital element in resolving it, to the good
or the bad. If we got it resolved well, intelligence
played a critical role. If it didn’t get solved well, or
KU Engineering
addressed well, intelligence probably didn’t do its
BOOKS job well,” Wallace says. “The fun side of it is kind of
community, the well-organized agencies, and I parallel to the idea that spies all believe that what
‘Always on the edge’ think that presents a false picture of what the his-
tory of American intelligence is really like,” Wallace
we are doing is important. There’s a high level of
satisfaction in doing it well.
Former CIA officer illuminates yet more says of the appreciation he’s gained for the history “You’re a race car driver, in a sense. You’re right
corners of the shadow world of global espionage since leaving the CIA. “Be- on the edge, always on the edge. You’re trying to
ginning with the Revolutionary War, through the push it to the maximum. You also know that if you
Once was a time when Bob Wallace lived Civil War, World War I, and even through much of go over the maximum, you wreck the car and you
within the shadows of the secret service, forging World War II, a lot of the best intelligence work was kill yourself. When you go over, an intelligence
a long career as a CIA operations officer, includ- done by people I would call ‘citizen spies.’ There was failure frequently has severe consequences. It’s not a
ing three tours as a chief of station. Even when not a professional intelligence service. There wasn’t mistake that can be erased.”
he capped his career at the CIA as director of the an organization that trained people to be intelli- —Chris Lazzarino
vaunted Office of Technical Service, Wallace gence officers or spies. These individuals just kind of
continued his work behind the scenes, unknown came to it on their own, and they made do.” Aerospace awards: Four aerospace engineering
to all but his closest colleagues. As with the previous installments of the Spy
Wallace, g’68, shed his invisibility cloak when he Sites series—all gorgeously illustrated, thoroughly
N E WS B R I E F teams recently won design awards in prestigious competitions,
Spy Sites of Philadelphia co-wrote Spycraft [issue No. 4, 2008], the authorita- researched and presented with hundreds of short Support for nurse educators including first place for graduate students in a regional jet
By H. Keith Melton and tive history of the CIA’s super-secret spy techs and entries illuminating people and places otherwise
Robert Wallace their brilliant inventions and espionage adventures, forgotten or even unknown to history—Wallace Baxter Springs native Christine Ness design competition offered by the American Institute of
Georgetown University his first public partnership with the internationally and Melton’s latest book tells stories that originate Hartley, n’73, g’86, and her husband, Ross, l’74, Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Press, $24.95 recognized intelligence historian H. Keith Melton. in and around one locale, yet serve the larger sweep recently made a $1.5 million gift to KU Endow-
The latest of five Wallace-Melton book collabo- of American history. ment, supporting nursing professorships at KU. The winning KU team, led by Lendon Jackson, e’21,
rations is Spy Sites of Philadelphia, which follows As they demonstrate throughout the Spy Sites To honor her rural upbringing, Hartley, an avid unveiled designs for a family of jets they dubbed the
earlier histories of espionage from the Revolution- books, the national destiny turned time and again skier who now lives in Wyoming’s Jackson Hole
ary War to the Cold War and beyond in New York on unlikely heroes risking their lives in unexpected valley, directed $1 million to establish the Hartley Skyblazers, which would be faster than current models while
City and Washington, D.C. adventures. Rural Nursing Professorship for faculty at the also reducing carbon footprints; they also include a “magic
Wallace and Melton are also co-executive “You can’t tell who the spy is,” Wallace says. “They KU School of Nursing Salina; $500,000 supports
producers of the eight-episode Netflix docuseries could come from any walk of life. The spy really can the Christine A. Hartley Centennial Professorship, carpet” conveyor belt to offload cargo for reduced labor costs.
“Spycraft,” based loosely on their book, for which be the person next door. Spy operations occur wher- currently held by University Distinguished Profes- “This is the pinnacle of aerospace design competitions
they also appeared as expert commentators and ever the spy can conduct the operation, not where sor Janet D. Pierce, at the School of Nursing at KU
helped filmmakers find former espionage officers you think it might be. Spies aren’t met just in dark Medical Center. around the world,” Professor Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, e’88,
who were free to speak on camera. corners and back rooms of bars. They’re out there in Hartley cites the influence of now-retired nursing PhD’93, told the Lawrence Journal-World.
“Since the Second World War, we have had this plain sight and you never see them.” faculty Rita Clifford, n’62, PhD’81, and Sue Pop-
established intelligence apparatus, the intelligence After earning his master’s degree in political kess-Vawter, n’69, g’72, who allowed her to explore
20 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 21Book brief
Chicago advertising executive Paige Meyer here, I wonder what they’ll see. A woman about to
loves a man who cherishes her every word and have her world knocked off its axis.
mood, and she adores her two unlikely friends-for- “I want to tell you a story,” Aunt Sissy says.
life. But, as author and Chicago advertising execu- Hammer’s confident narrative soars as Paige’s
tive Alison Hammer, ’01, reveals in the fast-paced free-spirited aunt reveals details about an unfortu-
opening of Little Pieces of Me, her second novel, nate night of passion
Paige can’t breathe. back in the late 1970s,
She’s been laid off from her job and frets over when Sissy, Paige’s
her 43rd birthday. Her supercilious mother back mother and both of
home in St. Louis grates on her last raw nerve. And, her fathers were all
churning just beneath the ripples of otherwise com- Jayhawks who social-
monplace troubles, her father’s car-crash death two ized at KU Hillel.
For sixty-five years, Midwest businesses have relied on years earlier still hurts in unexpected ways, stopping
Paige cold when she allows herself fleeting feelings
As close as she was to
the events in question,
SumnerOne to provide them with the services and of good cheer.
At this unsettled moment, Paige gives no thought
though, Sissy doesn’t
know everything—far
In September, KU’s
technology they need to work as efficiently as possible. to an email from FamilyTree.com; she had sub-
mitted a DNA kit as part of her research for a
from it—and it’s left
to Paige to illuminate,
Office of Institutional
Opportunity and
We are proud to be involved and serve the communities failed pitch on behalf of her former agency, so the
company now means nothing to her. Upon closer
with a depth of com-
passion that startles
Advancement
announced that it
of Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. inspection, even the news that FamilyTree found a
Little Pieces of Me
By Alison Hammer
even her, the true
would now be called the
parent-child match is shrugged aside. identities of her
It must be a mistake on their end—I would know if William Morrow, $27.99 uptight mother, the Office of Civil Rights
I’d ever had a child. “DNA dad” assumed & Title IX to more
From the moment Paige learns that she is the to be a predatory Lothario, and the fine father who clearly communicate
child half of the life-altering DNA match, the raised her as his own despite unmistakable differ-
We are dedicated to providing the communities that we search is on for her biological father and his place in ences in physical features. its role in investigating
reports of racial, ethnic
serve with top of the line technology and outstanding
her disjointed world. Families are complicated and, as Paige learns,
I look out the window at the apartment building parents were once young, too, and unsure of them- and sex-based discrim-
service. across the street. If someone over there is looking in selves, and the future is found only in forgiveness. ination on campus.
In addition to the
name change, the office
Lucky shot: Santiago Patino,
University of Kansas
launched a new website,
Production Print Solutions • Large Format Printers & Scanners • Managed Print Services a senior in architecture from Eureka, civilrights.ku.edu, to
Enterprise Content Management (ECM) • Managed Voice Services Missouri, was the first student to win a provide greater support
whopping $5,091—equivalent to one resources and an
Multifunction Printers & Copiers • Workgroup Printers & Scanners • Office Supplies & Furniture semester of in-state tuition—for improved reporting
uploading his COVID-19 vaccine record process for the KU
to the Watkins Health Services student community.
portal. In August, Chancellor Doug
Welcome to the one place where Girod announced an incentive program,
everything works. featuring cash awards, gift cards, parking passes, basketball tickets and more,
for students who receive and report their voluntary COVID immunizations. The
program was funded with more than $200,000 in federal money designated for
vaccines, testing and incentives.
8058 Flint St. Lenexa, KS 66214 800.325.0985 kansascity@sumnerone.com
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 23ROCK CHALK REVIEW
Mass Street & more
Courtesy of the Literary Estate of Evan Shelby Connell Jr.
trail,” the author of Hemingway at Eighteen: The
Pivotal Year That Launched an American Legend
Steve Puppe (2)
sets out to portray the “writer’s writer” who even
friends concede was essentially unknowable. He
finds Connell’s youth and adolescence “hard to
trace,” aside from the hints he later left behind in his
writing. The college years—first at Dartmouth and
then at KU, where he finished his degree in three
semesters and a summer term after serving as a Navy
pilot during World War II—are more enlightening.
University of Kansas
On the Hill he pledged Phi Kappa Psi and helped
found the Bitter Bird, a campus humor magazine to
which he contributed drawings and writing; studied
with the painter Albert Bloch, who later became the
subject of one of his first published short stories;
KU’s senior class has and cut a dashing figure in his leather flight jacket.
selected Jonathan Hagel, He made training flights from the naval air station
assistant teaching in Olathe, Paul reports, until one spring day when a
professor of history, and fellow flyer, a war buddy also enrolled at KU, Coffee shop wades
Sarah Jen, assistant buzzed Memorial Stadium, causing both men to into quiet waters
professor of social lose their flight privileges. He also studied creative
welfare, as recipients of BOOKS boldly innovative indictment of the Indian Wars as writing with the novelist and editor Ray B. West, Even in a downtown district beloved for fun
exemplified by Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s who became a longtime mentor and champion. and funky coffee-shop concepts, Great Blue Heron
The writing life
the 2021 HOPE Awards.
Given annually through resounding defeat at the Battle of the Little Literary Alchemist shines welcome light on Outdoors is quickly—and quietly—getting noticed
the Board of Class Bighorn, Son of the Morning Star. events and milestones in the life of a writer who for its new take on two old ideas: a full-service cof-
Officers to Honor
Biography explores Connell’s Elsewhere, in collections of short stories, novels, shunned public attention; especially enlightening fee bar within a tidy showroom of outdoor gear.
Outstanding Progressive ‘quaint mania’ essays and in nearly uncategorizable forays into are descriptions of Connell’s world travels and his Bob Marsh’s hope for Great Blue Heron Out-
Educators, the long- history, philosophy, religion, art and deeply held connection to nature, which illumine doors, at 823 Mass, is to encourage “community and
standing tradition was As a writer and as a man, alchemy (Were they fiction? Poetry? his most adventurous, genre-busting books. Even connection”—without TVs or a blaring stereo—
established by the Class Evan Connell could be hard to read. Nonfiction? Even publishers and more valuable, though, is the literary appraisal among water-sports enthusiasts from across the Great Blue Heron, outdoors
of 1959 and is the only Enigmatic, introverted, emotionally critics struggled to put a label on his put forth by Paul, whose 40-year tenure at the region, as well as curious newbies and even visitors and coffee shop
award given to a faculty distant and averse to the publicity work), he constantly defied expecta- Star included a stint as editor of the paper’s book looking only for a relaxing spot to read while enjoy-
member by the senior chores like interviews and personal tions and challenged readers, setting section. Synthesizing a wide range of sources, ing coffee and a pastry.
class. Jen and Hagel were appearances that publishers typically out on wildly esoteric journeys to including book reviews, award citations and “You don’t need an outboard motor,” Marsh
recognized Oct. 23 at the require of writers, Connell, c’47, was deeply explore the things that personal notes sent to Connell by contemporaries says of the fishing and boating interests supported
KU-Oklahoma football fiercely independent, iconoclastic and interested him, with seemingly no such as John Updike and William Styron, and by Great Blue Heron. “Paddle or wade. Simplify,
game in David Booth uncompromising not only in his concern for whether or not anyone adding his own incisive analysis of Connell’s so you don’t need to carry a bunch of gear in a big
Kansas Memorial personal life, but also in the subjects would follow along. He simply formidable work, Paul reminds us that even basket. We’re the quiet-water outfitter.”
Stadium. he chose to explore in 20 books wrote what he wanted, publishing books that did not generate the broad adoring Amid a challenging time for acquiring retail
published in a half-century career. conventions be damned. readership granted his most successful titles still stock, Marsh was delighted when the owners of a
Mrs. Bridge (which established his “He is undoubtedly among the added to his exalted reputation in the literary popular local fly fishing store, which had moved
reputation when it appeared to Literary Alchemist: The best of recent American writers, one world. With each new project Evan Connell pushed online years ago, dropped in shortly after the shop’s
widespread acclaim in 1959) and Writing Life of Evan S. who possessed an extraordinary the boundaries of literature, unshakable in his recent opening and offered to sell him their invento-
Mr. Bridge (which followed in 1969) Connell range of talent and output,” former conviction that what mattered beyond all else was ry; now Great Blue Heron features flies, lures, rods
are quintessential Kansas City novels By Steve Paul Kansas City Star journalist Steve this “quaint mania,” as he called the obsessive and reels alongside carefully curated outdoor gear,
whose emotionally remote title University of Missouri Paul writes early on in Literary writing about topics that captured his imagination as well as a custom-built coffee bar and sparkling
characters were instantly recognizable Press, $45 Alchemist, the first full-length and challenged his redoubtable intellect. In that espresso machine.
to most Americans, even as the books’ biography of the Kansas City-born regard, Literary Alchemist would seem to do all its “The heron is the patient but strong wading bird,
inventive structure—short, impres- Connell, who died in 2013. “Yet, subject could ask: It sends us back to his books with quietly working in the water, hunting and fishing
sionistic sections that eschewed traditional plotting reflecting the characteristic cruelty of the predomi- renewed appreciation for his lifework, challenging alongside us, familiar with us but keeping
and narrative drive—prodded mainstream readers nant cultural measuring apparatuses, he is also one bold readers to claim this “writer’s writer” its distance,” Marsh says. “It’s that message, of
to reconsider what a novel could be. Yet his most of the least known.” for our own. patience and wading, that we keyed in on with
well-known work, surprisingly, was a nonlinear, Undaunted by Connell’s “relatively sparse paper —Steven Hill Great Blue Heron.”
24 KANSAS ALUMNI
ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 25You can also read
