from here,
GLORIOUS TO VIEW
you can see the world
This publication seeks to profile KU at a moment in time. Like any snapshot, it omits endearing things — revered traditions, cherished vistas.
Our message is simple: We think the University of Kansas has earned, and holds, a place of distinction in the state, throughout the Heartland and around the globe. We’ve been reserved about saying so. But that’s about to change.
H E R E ’ S W H Y.
H I S T O R I C C O M M I T M E N T, E N D U R I N G P R O M I S E
T
he foundation for KU’s first building was laid in 1859 but sat unfinished until 1865 while statehood
issues and border skirmishes ignited an American civil war. Soon after old North College was built, a wartime brigadier general, John Fraser, became our chancellor. His courage would be tested.
The University of Kansas lit its first kerosene lamp in 1866, and Mount Oread has served as a beacon for students ever since. The 19th-century campus plan still forms the historic core of Jayhawk Boulevard. Philanthropy has provided two-thirds of campus buildings, 85 percent of the thousand-acre campus and, in the early 1900s, a home for our medical school in Kansas City. Today, newer campuses serve Overland Park and Wichita.
As students scale the Hill and in due time march triumphantly down its grassy crown into the world, they join the chorus who have experienced the symbolic journey of higher education in a way possible almost nowhere else. Those who study here depart grateful for the privilege and inspired by KU’s nobility of purpose.
They fan out into Kansas communities, and every where else, sharing an ethic developed at Kansas — hard work, intellectual honesty and a willingness to confront the unknown.
Old North College, KU’s first building Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center, Kansas City, Kan. New pharmacy building, west campus, Lawrence Spooner Hall as seen from Old Fraser
I F T H E R E W E R E A N AT I O N A L C H A M P I O N S H I P F O R U N I V E R S I T Y C A M P U S E S , W E ’ D W I N T H AT O N E , T O O
A
s a monument to the power of higher education, and for sheer beauty, the Lawrence campus would bring
home the big trophy. We’d place it next to a rapidly expanding collection accrued by KU scholars. Every year. Nearly 30,000 bright students encounter the intellectual fire of KU’s exceptional faculty. Together, they inject into the academic community a spirit of inquiry that propels learning. Sparks f ly. And lives are transformed. Every year.
The state is transformed every year, too, when some 4,100 KU undergraduates and 2,250 master/doctoral graduates renew the supply of professionals and emerging leaders. The $225 million in recent external research funding will generate many times that amount, and one respected study estimates activity of nearly $12 for every dollar invested in Kansas higher education. The University of Kansas Hospital and the medical center contribute to the region’s economic health, of course, as do the 22 companies that have been created from KU research and discoveries. More will follow.
Though hard work awaits, our strengths make our aspirations more than wishes.
Kansas has won five national championships in basketball and five in debate.
Twenty-five percent of KU students study abroad in one of 130 programs in 70 countries
LEADERSHIP
Twenty-two companies have been created from KU research and discoveries.
S T U D E N T S T O D AY, L E A D E R S T O M O R R O W
F
reshmen file into Memorial Stadium on the eve of their first class to learn to wave the wheat and
sing the Rock Chalk Chant. It’s their first lesson in becoming a Jayhawk. Tomorrow, they will commence an intellectual journey.
There will be no shortage of academic challenges. Some 350 programs in the arts, sciences, humanities and professional schools offer seemingly endless possibilities. Many students will experience the thrill of their first symphony concert, or live theatre performance, or major art exhibition, and will discover a lifelong love.
In competitions, they will shine. Journalism students, for example, consistently report their way into national writing awards. Aerospace engineering students win international design contests. Architecture students design and build the state’s first LEED Platinum building. Science students earn national fellowships for cancer drug research, and debaters regularly argue themselves into championships. Jazz musicians are named the best college big band in the nation.
Students will leave the university equipped to become leaders in the arts, academia, industry, public service and their local communities. If history repeats, they will continue to haul in the hardware. Their fellow alumni have earned a Nobel Prize, Pulitzer prizes, MacArthur Fellowships, Oscars, Tonys, Grammys, Emmys and similar distinctions. And nearly all will remember those three little words learned on a late-summer night in the stadium.
Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.
Twenty-five students have been named Rhodes Scholars and 421 as Fulbright Scholars.
H O W D O YO U R A N K G R E AT T E A C H I N G ?
W alk into a KU classroom — pick a subject, pick a day — and you could encounter a world-famous expert who might hold one of KU’s endowed professorships. Or, you could meet one of the other 2,400 remarkable faculty members whose inf luence on students is no less quantifiable than that of their highly decorated colleagues.
Whether outstanding teachers or accomplished researchers, or both, our professors bring a collective commitment to the highest academic standards. Many work closely with the talented graduate students who are becoming our next generation of scholars. Already, these students are conducting research ranging from human liver regeneration to building an un-crewed airplane for use in Antarctica. Seriously.
Graduate programs heavily inf luence a university’s reputation. Though many achievements defy measurement, a few rankings support our immodest praise of the faculty: The School of Medicine and the School of Law both have received top-five rankings for value or social mission. The School of Pharmacy ranks first for its residency program. Graduate programs in city management and special education both take first place in the nation. Fifty graduate programs are nationally ranked, in fact; 13 in the top 10. And we’re number nine in the world for the rate of new patents issued.
Because of great teaching, accolades accrue.
Fif ty KU graduate programs are nationally ranked, 13 in the top 10.
STRENGTH
The University stands at number nine in the world for the rate of new patents issued.
ANY QUESTIONS?
I
n confronting the great challenges of our time, researchers at KU respond with innovation.
They identify new questions. And every one brings us closer to an answer. Some researchers work at the micro level; others prefer the macro view. Neither can escape those pesky questions.
Some linger long: How do we prevent, treat and cure diseases such as cancer and diabetes? What are the human and natural causes and consequences of climate change? How can we harness the sun? How can we integrate engineering techniques to address global issues?
Some hit closer to home: How can we protect supplies of drinking water? How healthy are our lakes? How can we generate economic growth? How do we assure medical treatment for rural Kansans? Can medicinal plants produce new drugs? Can we be leaders in information technology?
And finally, one, we trust, will never need to be asked: Who will educate the next generation of artists and musicians?
At the University of Kansas, we’re on it.
The University of Kansas has played a major role in 40 percent of all marketed cancer drugs in the past half centur y.
I N N O VAT I O N
KU is pursuing cancer center designation from the National Cancer Institute.
D E L I B E R AT E I N Q U I R Y
N
early a century ago, a KU discovery launched the commercial helium industry. Today, we work on areas
such as drug development, biomedical devices, energy and the environment. Committed to research-based economic development, we are also among an elite group of universities focused on translating laboratory discoveries into treatments and cures. The National Institutes of Health has awarded this distinction and a $20 million grant to KU, one of only 29 institutions nationwide.
In fact, KU’s research agenda addresses nearly everything under the sun. We conduct research on every continent, and we have been recognized for discovering one of the top 10 new species three years in a row. Discovery in the social sciences, the humanities and the arts is just as far-reaching — our faculty are helping overhaul how reading is taught in the United States, for example. Ultimately, all our inquiries are intended to enhance human life.
Only a few research disciplines are shown here. Hundreds more could have been.
From the heart of America, our reach is universal.
KU’s School of Pharmacy stands at number two in the nation in National Institutes of Health grants and contracts.
Investigators are testing ways to convert non-food crops and agricultural leftovers into bio-derived chemicals that would replace petro-based chemicals.
Kansas Geological Survey scientists are studying the lifespan of the High Plains Aquifer. [Map highlight, Finney County, Kansas.]
Researchers confront neurological disorders such as autism and epilepsy, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, brain and spinal traumas.
KU’s Biodiversity Institute is one of the world’s most comprehensive biodiversity research resources.
SOLUTION
Two National Science Foundation research centers are led by KU engineering faculty.
A MEASURE OF TREASURE
T
he University of Kansas Hospital’s commitment to providing world-class patient care continues to receive
acclaim. It has made US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals lists every year since 2007, most recently for six specialties ranked in the nation’s top 50: Cancer; Cardiology and Heart Surgery; Ear, Nose and Throat; Gastroenterology; Nephrology; and Pulmonology.
The hospital provides comprehensive patient care for The University of Kansas Cancer Center at the main campus and 11 outpatient locations, including the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion.
Nursing has received the highest possible credential with Magnet redesignation. Physicians treat more than 26,000 inpatients annually, some with the most challenging and rare conditions, yet mortality rates and patient satisfaction scores are among the nation’s best for academic medical centers.
Clearly, the hospital’s profound benefits make it a treasured jewel.
In Lawrence, outstanding museums and performance venues house programs, collections and events [near right]. Less visible gems include dozens of institutes and centers of excellence. Each contributes to a rich potential tapestry of experience.
The Center for Advanced Heart Care at The University of Kansas Hospital carries high national rankings and provides the region’s finest comprehensive care.
For their service to the public, we also treasure: Dole Institute of Politics Hall Center for the Humanities
On the following pages, we display a tiny fraction of the smaller jewels
Lied Center of Kansas
in the university’s collection.
Spencer Museum of Art Natural History Museum
Selec ted Treasures
1
4
5
2
1 Telegram from Thurgood Marshall, 1955 Telegram sent to plaintiff attorney Charles S. Scott in the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education case, ending segregation in schools [ CHARLES S. SCOTT COLLECTION, KANSAS COLLECTION, KENNETH SPENCER RESEARCH LIBRARY ]
3
2
Comanche Sole survivor of Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn; on display at the Museum of Natural History
3 James Joyce, Ulysses,
Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922
4
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1828-1882, La Pia de’ Tolommei
A first edition printed on handmade paper; one of only 100 copies signed by the author.
Oil on canvas, 41 x 47 in. Museum acquisition; on view, 19th Century Gallery
[ SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, KENNETH SPENCER RESEARCH LIBRARY ]
[ SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART ]
5
Chancellor Fraser Civil War Saber Belt [ UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, KENNETH SPENCER RESEARCH LIBRARY ]
6
9
7
8
6 Ballard Papyrus,
Thebes, Egypt, ca. 850 – 1050 BCE
7
Vosper Book of Hours, France, ca. 1470
Hand painted instructions, placed in a tomb, to ensure the soul’s rebirth; named for the donor family
Hand illustrated book of holy days and readings for daily worship hours; named in honor of a former KU librarian
[ SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. KENNETH SPENCER RESEARCH LIBRARY ]
[ SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. KENNETH SPENCER RESEARCH LIBRARY ]
10
8
Allen Fieldhouse, 1955 Home of the Jayhawks; loudest place to play basketball in America
9
– 1861 Letter from Florence Nightingale – Renaissance book on eye surgery – 1844 Report on Mesmerism [ ITEMS IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE CLENDENING HISTORY OF MEDICINE LIBRARY & MUSEUM, MEDICAL CENTER ]
10
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare Performed by KU students and faculty in its original pronunciation for the first time in North America; University Theatre productions shine bright
FA R A B O V E . T H E C A M PA I G N F O R K A N S A S .
T
he evidence speaks clearly: The University of Kansas and The University of Kansas Hospital are poised
to ascend from excellent to elite. In the coming years, we will be matched by few public institutions.
Those who love and support KU will have an opportunity to partner with us in a major comprehensive fundraising campaign, named Far Above, the first words of our Alma Mater. The campaign will touch every corner of the state. Private giving will attract talented undergraduate and graduate students with scholarships and fellowships. It will strengthen faculty, academic programs, research and patient care. It will address infrastructure and the learning environment.
Scheduled to publicly launch in 2012, the campaign will enable the university to recruit experts, energize discovery and creativity, and deliver maximum service, benefits and impact well into the 21st century. Far Above. Right where we belong.
TH E CALL O F TH E CAM PANILE
M onument to the fallen. Portal for graduates. Musical instrument. Chiming clock. Landmark. The KU campanile symbolizes our highest aspirations. These often rely on private support. Donors built the campanile itself, including the bells of the carillon.
You have the power to make a difference. You can help ensure that KU will lead in preventing and treating disease and saving lives ‌ will discover, innovate and create economic engines ... will improve student success and expand opportunities ‌ and will prepare leaders for Kansas and beyond.
Most important, with your help, we will enhance our profile as a top-tier international research university and academic medical center. The carillon bells ring as clearly as you remember. Can you hear them?
Far right: Medical Center campus, Kansas City, Kan. School of Medicine campus, Wichita Edwards campus, Overland Park, Kan.
Private funds covered the production and printing costs for this publication.
TOGETHER, WE WILL
FA R A B O V E . It’s the name of our new campaign and a reminder of our shared vision. Far Above means raising the expectations we have for ourselves, the aspirations we have for our state, and the hopes we have for our nation.
That’s the mission of the University of Kansas — to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities, and making discoveries that will change the world.
From where we are today, I see a horizon full of opportunities. We are poised to raise our excellence in teaching, to generate the sparks of creativity leading to advances and cures, and to create the partnerships that bring prosperity and well-being to communities in Kansas and beyond.
We can’t do it alone — we need your help to secure KU’s proud legacy and guarantee its successful future.
Together, we will do amazing things. Together, we will rise Far Above.
Bernadette Gray-Little Chancellor
Fa r a b o v e t h e g o l d e n v a l l e y Glorious to view Stands our noble Alma Mater To w e r i n g t o w a r d t h e b l u e Lift the chorus ever onward Crimson and the blue Hail to thee, our Alma Mater Hail to old KU.
www.ku.edu www.kuendowment.org