University of Kansas

The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU) is an institution of higher learning in Lawrence, Kansas. The main campus resides atop Mount Oread. The University was founded in 1865 by the citizens of Lawrence under a charter from the Kansas Legislature. It also received assistance from former Kansas Governor Charles Robinson and his wife Sara, who donated 40 acres of Mount Oread land, and philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence, who made sizable monetary donations. (See Jayhawks for additional KU sports information.)

 

The KU main campus is still mostly atop Mt. Oread. The University's Medical Center and Hospital is located in Kansas City, Kansas. The KU Edwards Campus is located in Overland Park, Kansas in the Kansas City metro area. There are also educational/research sites in Parsons, Topeka and a branch of the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita.

In the spring of 2007, enrollment at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses was 25,106 students; an additional 2,769 students were enrolled at the KU Medical Center for a total enrollment of 27,875 students across the three campuses. The Lawrence campus and KU Medical Center combined employ 2,201 faculty members.

KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Beach Center on Disability, the Lied Center of Kansas, and radio stations KANU and KJHK. Kansas Public Radio station KANU was one of the first public radio stations in the nation. KJHK, the campus radio has roots back to 1952 and is completely run by students. The university is host to several notable museums including the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, the Anthropological Research and Cultural Collections, and the Spencer Museum of Art. The University is one of 60 members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

Academics
The University is a large state sponsored university. In addition to a large liberal arts college, it has schools of Allied Health, Architecture and Urban Design, Business, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Journalism and Mass Communication, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Welfare. The study of academic sociology originated at the university, in 1890.

The most recent edition of Peterson's Guide to Competitive College calls KU "one of America's premier universities." For more than a decade, The Fiske Guide to Colleges has awarded KU a four-star rating for academics, social life, and overall quality of university life.

In 2007, U.S. News & World Report ranked KU as tied for 88th place in its ranking of the Best National Universities. In 2006, the Report ranked Kansas as tied for 45th place in Public Universities. The Report surveys over 1,400 institutions of higher education in the United States. USN&WR currently ranks KU's Public Administration School as the best in the nation.

Law School
The University of Kansas School of Law, in Lawrence, Kansas, is the top law school in the state according to the 2007 U.S. News & World Report, which ranked the school 66th overall in its rankings of the best law schools. Classes are held in Green Hall, which is named after former dean James Green.

Medical Center
The University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, Kansas, treats over 19,000 patients per year. KU Med, as it is commonly known, houses the university's medical school as well as degree programs in audiology, dietetics, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacology, public health, speech-language pathology, and many other health-related fields. As of the Spring 2007 semester, there were 2,769 students enrolled at KU Med. KU Med also offers third and fourth year students an opportunity to do rotations at the Wichita campus.

Edwards Campus
KU's Edwards Campus is in Overland Park, Kansas. Established in 1993, its goal is to provide adults with the opportunity to complete college degrees. About 2,100 students attend the Edwards Campus, with an average age of 32. Programs available at the Edwards Campus include developmental psychology, public administration, social work, systems analysis, engineering management and design.

Early History of the University of Kansas
Frank W. Blackmar (1912)
The University of Kansas formally opened its doors to students in Sept., 1866, but the history of the institution commenced in 1855, when the first legislature made provision for a Kansas University, the buildings of which were to be erected when Congress or some kind friend would give money for their construction.

In 1856 Amos A. Lawrence of Boston, in whose honor the town of Lawrence was named, made plans for a college on the north end of Mount Oread, the hill west of the town, and gave notes and stocks amounting to $12,696.14 for the foundation of his proposed "Free State College." This money was to he held in trust, Charles Robinson and S. C. Pomeroy having been appointed trustees, and the income therefrom was "to be used for the advancement of religious and intellectual education of the young in Kansas Territory." An imperfect deed to the property, which is that part of the campus where North College now stands, caused a cessation in the plans of Mr. Lawrence.

In 1858 the Presbyterian church of the United States of America, believing that the funds of Mr. Lawrence could be secured to help it, took steps to establish a school on Mount Oread. The Kansas directors were Richard Cordley, Charles Robinson, John M. Coe, Charles E. Miner, C. W. Hutchison, James A. Faley and C. L. Edwards. In 1859 the legislature granted a charter to this institution under the name of "The Lawrence University," a board of 22 trustees was appointed, and in Jan., 1859, the city of Lawrence gave to these trustees a quit claim deed to the present North College campus, "on condition that said university is permanently located at Lawrence, Kan., Ter.; that a brick building not less than 36 feet in width and 60 feet in length and two stories high, be erected and completed within one year from date, and that a school be commenced within six months from this date, and that, failing to comply with the above conditions, said Lawrence University shall forfeit all right to said lot of ground, and it shall again become the property of the city of Lawrence."

In an effort to meet the conditions of the deed a preparatory school was opened in the basement of the Unitarian church. This was discontinued in three months because there were no pupils. However, the Presbyterians continued with their building until winter. The following year, 1860, was one of hard times, so their project was abandoned until more money could be raised. They spent $1,623.50.

The Congregationalists had appeared on the scene meantime, with the idea of building a "monumental college, commemorating the triumph of liberty over slavery in Kansas." Mr. Lawrence through his trustees agreed to give the college his fund if it was to be under Congregational jurisdiction. The breaking out of the war put an end to the plans of the Congregationalists temporarily, and when they later established their school it was in Topeka.

In 1861 the Episcopal church became interested in education in Lawrence. Under its auspices a new board of trustees took out incorporation papers for "The Lawrence University of Kansas." The Presbyterians gave up their claims to the Episcopalians, who later surrendered theirs to the state.

Tracing the history of the University of Kansas as shown by the territorial and state laws, it is seen that the first constitution, adopted in 1855, contained the following provisions: "The general assembly may take measures for the establishment of a university with such branches as the public convenience may hereafter demand, for the promotion of literature, the arts, sciences, medical and agricultural instruction." The free-state legislature, which met at Topeka in 1857, enacted a law "For establishing a state university at Lawrence." In the Lecompton constitution, framed in 1857, is found "That 72 sections or two entire townships shall be designated by the president of the United States, which shall be reserved for the use of a seminary of learning, and appropriated by the legislature of said state solely to the use of said seminary."

The Leavenworth constitution of 1858 provided that, "as the means of the state will admit, educational institutions of a higher grade shall be established by the law, so as to form a complete system of public instruction, embracing the primary, normal, preparatory collegiate and university departments."

The Wyandotte constitution of 1859 reads, "Provision shall be made by law for the establishment, at some eligible and central point, of a state university for the promotion of literature and the arts and sciences, including a normal and agricultural department. All funds arising from the sale or rents of lands granted by the United States to the state for the support of a state university and all other grants, donations and bequests, either by the state, or by individuals, for such purposes, shall remain a perpetual fund to be called the 'university fund,' the interest of which shall be appropriated to the support of a state university."

When Kansas was admitted to the Union in 1861 the Wyandotte constitution was adopted as the Kansas constitution, and Congress set apart and reserved for the use and support of a state university 72 sections of land to be selected by the governor.

It was supposed by many that Lawrence would be chosen as the place for the university, especially after the capital was located at Topeka, but the advantages of having a college near by, appealed to other towns and when the time arrived for selecting a site, there were several contestants, chief among which were Lawrence, Emporia and Manhattan. Manhattan received the agricultural school and withdrew from the race. Between the remaining competitors there was a hard fight, Lawrence winning by one vote cast by the chairman of the legislature. To secure the university, the city of Lawrence had promised to donate 40 acres of ground adjacent to the city, to be used as a campus, and an endowment of $15,000.

It was made a provision of the bill that in case Lawrence did not fulfill these promises within six months the university would go to Emporia. By an exchange of real estate with Charles Robinson, Lawrence secured the 40 acres for a campus, and through the generosity of Amos Lawrence, who donated the sum intended for the "Free-State College," it collected the $15,000 just in time to keep the university from reverting to Emporia.

On Nov. 2, 1863, the university was permanently located, and in 1864 the legislature passed a law organizing it. The charter of the University of Michigan was used as a model for the University of Kansas. The government of the institution was vested in a board of regents, to consist of a president and 12 members to be appointed by the governor, with the state superintendent of public instruction and the secretary of state as ex-officio members. Six departments were named as composing the university, viz: "The department of science, literature and the arts; the department of law; theory and practice of elementary instruction; the department of agriculture; and the normal department."

In 1873, by an act of legislature, the number of regents was reduced from 12 to 6, and these were empowered to elect a chancellor, who should be a member of the board with the power of a regent. This organization has never been changed. In Sept., 1865, work was commenced on North College, which was finished in Sept., 1866, the regents having met in July of that year and elected the first faculty of three members, to-wit: Elial J. Rice, professor of belles lettres and mental and moral science; David H. Robinson, professor of languages, and Francis H. Snow, professor of mathematics and natural science. The first session of school opened at North College on Sept. 12, 1866, with 26 young women and 29 young men registered in the preparatory school during the first term. The second year showed a marked growth in numbers, 105 young people being registered when the regents made report on Dec. 5, 1867.

Although the University of Kansas is regarded as one of the first state universities to admit women upon the same equality with the young men, that was not the intention of those who drew up its charter, which names two branches, "a male and a female branch," the latter to be taught exclusively by women, the buildings for that branch to be entirely separate from the buildings of the male branch, "and to establish and maintain said female branch the regents shall annually appropriate a sufficient amount to the funds of the university." This provision has never been put in execution.

In the beginning of the university the course of study leading to an A. B. degree occupied seven years—three years in the preparatory school and four in the college, it was hoped to abandon the preparatory department in a very short time but twenty-five years passed before it was accomplished.

The first class, of four members, graduated in 1873. The school during the first seven years had undergone many changes. Rev. R. W. Oliver, rector of the Protestant Episcopal church of Lawrence, who at the first meeting of the regents on March 21, 1865, had been elected chancellor and ex-officio president of the board of regents, resigned his position in the fall of 1867. On Dec. 4, 1867, Gen. John Fraser, president of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, was elected chancellor of the university.

He entered upon his official duties on June 17, 1868. His term of service is marked by the erection of Fraser Hall, the first building on the present university campus. This hall was ready for occupancy in Dec., 1872, although it was not completed until later. The money for its construction was raised by bonds to the amount of $100,000 voted by the citizens of Lawrence and by appropriations made by the legislature. Chancellor Fraser resigned on April 15, 1873. At that time 173 students were enrolled and 11 instructors employed.

In Nov., 1874, James Marvin, of Meadville, Pa., was elected chancellor and assumed his duties that winter. During his administration the university developed as rapidly as conditions in the state would permit. In 1876 a normal department was established and it was maintained several years with success. In 1877 and 1878 some 700 trees, now known as Marvin's grove, were set out on the campus. In Nov., 1878, the law school was opened, with James Wood Green in charge, and 13 students enrolled. Under Mr. Green's supervision the law school has grown. It numbers 215 students and occupies a building erected for its exclusive use. Green hall, as it is called, was built in 1905 and named in honor of James W. Green.

James Marvin resigned in 1883 and was succeeded by Joshua Allen Lippincott of Carlisle, Pa., whose administration lasted until 1889. During his time the legislature made larger appropriations, which strengthened the university by increasing its buildings and its courses of study. Regent W. C. Spangler was acting chancellor and F. H. Snow was president of the factulty[sic] during the years 1889-90, and in the spring of 1890 Mr. Snow was elected to the office of chancellor. At the close of the school year 1890 there were 508 students enrolled in all departments, 36 professors employed, and five buildings fully occupied.

About this time the university received two very substantial and acceptable gifts. Col. John J. McCook of New York city presented a sum of money for the encouragement of athletics among the students. With this money a tract of 12 acres (six acres having been given by Mr. Robinson) was secured, graded and fenced for an athletic ground and given the name of McCook field. Mr. Snow in his report of 1891-92 spoke highly of athletic recreations and recommended a well equipped gymnasium and a competent professor of physical culture. The legislature did not feel the necessity of a gymnasium building until 1906, when the Robinson Auditorium-Gymnasium was erected.

In 1894 Spooner Library and the chancellor's residence were erected through the generosity of William B. Spooner of Boston, Mass., who bequeathed the university $91,618.03 through his nephew, Chancellor Snow.

The year 1891 witnessed the entire disappearance of the preparatory department and the reorganization of the college, with a school of arts, which had been the collegiate department, and schools of engineering, law, fine arts, and pharmacy. The steady growth of the university under the leadership of Chancellor Snow increased the demand for equipment. Blake Hall, devoted to the use of physics and electrical engineering students, was completed in 1895; shops were erected for engineering students through a gift of $21,000 tendered by George A. Fowler of Kansas City, Mo., and "The Fowler shops" were ready for use in 1899. The same year the school of medicine was established and the legislature was asked for two new buildings, a chemistry building and a natural history museum.

In the spring of 1898, when a call was made for volunteers to take part in the Spanish-American war, a hearty response was made by the students of the university. The faculty discouraged the lower classmen from going but the upper classmen were permitted to enlist without restraint, and the board of regents granted to all volunteers from the junior and senior classes, "full credit for the work of the academic year interrupted by their military service."

Mr. Snow had served the university for 24 years as a member of the faculty and 10 years as chancellor when ill health caused a cessation of duty. Mr. Spangler returned to the university as acting chancellor and remained as its active leader for two years. Mr. Snow was unable to return to his administration work as had been hoped. In 1901 he sent his resignation to the board of regents, and in April, 1902, Dr. Frank Strong was elected Dr. Snow's successor. He assumed his duties on Aug. 1.

At that time there were 50 acres in the campus, it university buildings, 9 of which were used for purposes of instruction, and an enrollment of 1,294 students in the seven schools. The nine years of Mr. Strong's administration have been years of expansion. The healthy financial condition of the state made generous appropriations possible, and the interest of the Kansas people in the head of the public educational system demanded a larger and more thorough course of study. The best high schools and academies have adjusted and improved their curriculums to meet the entrance requirements of the university.

The university owns 20 buildings, 9 of which have been completed within the period from 1902-1911. These are the natural history museum, Green hall, Eleanor Bell memorial hospital, Robinson auditorium-gymnasium, clinical laboratory, hospital, civil and mechanical engineering building, mining engineering building, power plant and laboratories, and one wing of the auditorium is nearing completion. The campus at Lawrence comprises 163.5 acres which was laid out by a landscape gardener in order that the best possible aesthetic and utilitarian results could be obtained from the land that was naturally suited for a college site. Potter lake near the west side was constructed in 1910-11 for fire protection and ornamentation.

As the enrollment has increased the course of study has been made broader and deeper in every way, new departments have organized and new avenues of knowledge developed. Among the new departments are those of education, university extension, home economics, and industrial research. The school of education was established in 1909; previously it had been a coördinate department under the college of liberal arts and sciences. The purpose of the school of education is to furnish prospective teachers, principals, superintendents, and all other persons interested in the professional aspect of education, adequate opportunities for specialization in the various phases of educational work.

The policy of the university is to assemble and correlate most effectively the forces which contribute to the preparation of educational leaders. The university extension division was established for the benefit of those who are not situated so as to receive education through the formal system. The department of home economics was opened in Sept., 1910, and offers courses in foods, home administration, etc. The department of industrial research concerns itself with finding the best and most economic way of producing articles of commerce. One fellowship embraces the investigation of the properties and uses of oil, another has to do with the enameling of iron and steel, another with the baking of bread. These fellowships are maintained financially by manufacturers of special articles who desire the best methods.

The university publications number 10. They are The University of Kansas Science Bulletin; University of Kansas Studies Humanistic series; the Bulletin of the Engineering Experiments Station; the University-Geological Survey reports; the University Entomological Bulletin; The University News Bulletin; The Graduate Magazine; The Kansan, published tri-weekly by the students; The Jayhawker, and the Kansas Lawyer, also published by students. The library, which in 1866 was merely a hope, in 1911 had 75,000 volumes and 40,000 pamphlets. The corps of instructors numbers 146. In 1902 the first session of summer school was held. The first year the session was of six weeks' duration but in 1909 it was lengthened to nine weeks.

The act of the legislature establishing the university contemplated the founding of a medical school, but made no provision for carrying out the plan. In 1880 a preparatory medical course under the administration of the college of liberal arts and sciences was started, but it was not until 1899 that a school of medicine was definitely organized, when the first two years of a medical course was offered students. Through the courtesy of Simeon B. Bell, who, in memory of his wife, Eleanor Taylor Bell, gave the university money and land at Rosedale under the conditions that the hospital of the university medical school should be built there, an opportunity was offered to complete the organization of the school.

The scientific department covering the first two years of the course was established at Lawrence under Dean M. T. Sudler and the clinical department at Rosedale under the direction of Dean G. H. Hocksey. The clinical department was reorganized in the fall of 1905 by the merger of the Kansas City Medical College, founded in 1897, Medico-Chirurgical College founded in 1896, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons founded in 1894. The hospital building was erected and the department was opened in 1906. The training school for nurses in connection with the hospital was established in July of the same year.

In 1910 a controversy arose as to the re-establishment and reorganization of the medical school. It ended, however, by keeping the location at Rosedale and a reorganization of the school with Dr. W. J. Crumbine, secretary of the state board of health, as dean of the school and Mervin T. Sudler, assistant dean and professor of surgery. A new hospital was built in the summer of 1911. The enrollment in all departments in 1911 numbered about 2,400 students.

Computing innovations
KU's B-School launched interdisciplinary management science graduate studies in operations research during Fall Semester 1965. This innovative program provided the foundation for decision science applications supporting NASA Project Apollo Command Capsule Recovery Operations.
KU's academic computing department was an active participant in setting up the Internet and is the developer of the seminal Lynx text based web browser. Lynx itself provided hypertext browsing and navigation prior to Tim Berners Lee's invention of HTTP and HTML.

Student Activities
Athletics
See also University of Kansas Jayhawks
The school's sports teams, wearing crimson and royal blue, are called the Jayhawks. They participate in the NCAA's Division I (I-A for football) and in the Big 12 Conference. KU has won eleven NCAA National Championships: four in men's basketball, three in men's indoor track and field, three in men's outdoor track and field, and one in men's cross country.

KU football dates from 1890, and has played in the Orange Bowl twice: 1948 and 1968. They are currently coached by Mark Mangino, who was hired in 2002. The team plays at Memorial Stadium, one of the oldest NCAA football stadium west of the Mississippi River.

The KU men's basketball team, who have fielded a team every year since 1898, currently coached by Bill Self, is a perennial national contender, whose last national championship was in 1988. The basketball program the third winningest in college basketball history with an overall record of 1,905-781. The team plays at Allen Fieldhouse, one of the most historic basketball facilities in the NCAA. Kansas has counted among its coaches Dr. James Naismith (the inventor of basketball and only coach in Kansas history to have a losing record), Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phog Allen ("the Father of basketball coaching"), Roy Willams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and former world Champion Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown. In addition, legendary University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp played for KU's 1922 and 1923 Helms national championship teams and legendary University of North Carolina coach Dean Smith played for KU's 1952 NCAA championship team. Both Rupp and Smith played under Phog Allen.

In 2004, the KU Men's Bowling Team won the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships. The Women's Team placed 5th that same year.

Lew Perkins, previously at Connecticut, replaced Al Bohl as the university's athletic director in 2003. Under Perkins's administration, the department's budget has increased from $27.2 million in 2003 (10th in the conference) to $40.8 million (projected) in 2005 thanks in large part to money raised from a new priority seating policy at Allen Fieldhouse, a new $26.67 million eight-year contract with Adidas replacing an existing contract with Nike, and a new $40.2 million seven-year contract with ESPN Regional Television. The additional funds have brought improvements to the university, including:

a Hall of Athletics addition to Allen Fieldhouse;

new offices and lounges for the women's basketball program;

a new scoreboard and batting facility for the baseball field;

a proposed new $35 million football facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium.

Student publications
The school newspaper of the University of Kansas is The University Daily Kansan. The KU Department of English publishes the Coal City Review, an annual literary journal of prose, poetry, reviews and illustrations. The Review typically features the work of many writers, but periodically spotlights one author, as in the case of 2006 Nelson Poetry Book Award-winner Voyeur Poetry by Matthew Porubsky.

Distinguished alumni
Nobel laureates
Vernon Lomax Smith (M.A. in economics 1952), awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

Politics, government, and education
William H. Avery (1934), 37th Governor of Kansas (1965–1967); Kay Barnes, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1999-2007;
Carol A. Beier (BS 1981, JD 1985) Kansas Supreme Court Justice; George L. Brown (1950), First African-American elected lieutenant governor in the U.S, (1974) and first African-American elected to statewide office in Colorado; George Docking (1925), 35th Governor of Kansas (1957–1961); Robert Docking (1948), 38th Governor of Kansas (1967–1975); Bob Dole, former U.S. Senate majority leader and Senator from Kansas (1969–1996), presidential and vice-presidential nominee, WWII combat veteran; Thomas Frank, author, What's the Matter with Kansas?; John B. Gage (1907), mayor of Kansas City, Missouri (1940-1946); Robert L. Gernon (1966), Kansas Supreme Court Justice; Jane Dee Hull (1957), 24th Governor of Arizona (1997–2003) (KU and Harvard are the only universities with 2 women alumni elected governors, see also Kathleen Sebelius); Lee A. Johnson (BS 1964) Kansas Supreme Court Justice; Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker (1954), First female U.S. senator (1979-1997) elected in own right without having been preceded in office by her husband; Kenton Keith, U.S. ambassador to Qatar, 1992-1995; Ron Kuby, civil rights attorney; Lee Kyung-sook, president of Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea;
Alf Landon (1908), 26th Governor of Kansas (1933–1937) and Republican nominee in the 1936 presidential election; Delano Lewis, former National Public Radio CEO and ambassador to South Africa
Deane Waldo Malott (1921), former Chancellor of KU and 6th president of Cornell University (1951–1963); David McClain, President, University of Hawaii; John H. McClendon, an African-American scholar at Bates College; Dennis Moore, current U.S. Congressman for Kansas District 3 (1999–present); Franklin David Murphy (B.S. 1936), Chancellor of the University of Kansas and Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles; Lawton Nuss (BA 1975, JD 1982), Kansas Supreme Court Justice; William C. Perry (1922), Chief Justice Oregon Supreme Court; Eric S. Rosen, Kansas Supreme Court Justice; Kathleen Sebelius, 44th Governor of Kansas (2003–present) (KU and Harvard are the only universities with 2 women alumni elected governors, see also Jane Dee Hull); Vernon Smith, Nobel Prize laureate in economics
Deanell Reece Tacha (BA 1968), current chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2001–present)

Media and the arts
Scott Bakula, actor, star of Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise; Etta Moten Barnett, actress and singer, was the first black artist to perform at the White House, and was Bess in the Broadway production of Porgy and Bess; Kara Brock - Television and film actress; Liliana V. Blum, Mexican writer; Evan S. Connell, novelist, best known for Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge; Bob Dotson, documentarian and NBC reporter, 4-time Emmy Award winner; James Gunn, Author; Moses Gunn, actor, was in the TV mini-series Roots; Ann Hamilton (BFA 1979), sculptor, installation artist and 1993 MacArthur Fellow recipient; Kevin Harlan, broadcaster for CBS and TNT sports; Herk Harvey, Academy Award-winning director of over 400 industrial and educational short films as well as cult feature film Carnival of Souls; Kevin Helliker, Chicago bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting; William Inge, a Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winning author/playwright; Don Johnson, actor, co-star of Miami Vice; Kij Johnson, Author; Rebecca Kolls, former gardening expert on ABC's Good Morning America and HGTV; Bill Kurtis, television journalist and producer best known as the host of numerous A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files; Neil LaBute, filmmaker/screenwriter, wrote and directed the award-winning In the Company of Men, nominated for Palme D'Or for Nurse Betty; Stanley Lombardo, Classicist; Rob Neyer, baseball author and columnist for ESPN.com; Sara Paretsky, novelist, best known for her frequent protagonist, V.I. Warshawski; Mandy Patinkin, Emmy and Tony Award winning actor and singer (Yentl, The Princess Bride; TV's Chicago Hope); Artur Pizarro, concert pianist; Maurice Prather, motion picture and still photographer and film director; Rob Riggle, comedian, The Daily Show correspondent and former Saturday Night Live cast member; Paul Rudd, actor from TV's Friends, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Clueless, The Cider House Rules, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy; William Stafford (BA 1937), poet and pacifist, winner of the National Book Award for Travelling Through the Dark; Dee Wallace-Stone, actress (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Howling); William Allen White, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.

Science and technology
Paul R. Ehrlich (MA/PhD 1957), entomologist, population researcher and author of The Population Bomb, and 1990 MacArthur Fellow recipient; Joe Engle (BS 1955), former NASA astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force colonel;
Ronald E. Evans (BS 1956), former NASA astronaut and a retired U.S. Navy captain; Steve Hawley (BA 1973), current NASA director and former astronaut; Wes Jackson (MA 1960), environmental historian and founder of the Land Institute, a 1992 MacArthur Fellow recipient; Bill James, noted Baseball sabermatrician and author of The Bill James Baseball Abstract in 1971; Charles D. Michener, Entomologist; Douglas B. Shane, director of flight operations for SpaceShipOne, which made the first privately-funded human spaceflight; Walter Sutton, pioneer of cellular biology and genetics, physician, inventor; Clyde Tombaugh, astronomer, discoverer of the dwarf planet Pluto;

Business
Philip Anschutz, billionaire, founder of Qwest; Linda Z. Cook (1980), executive director of Shell Gas & Power, part of Royal Dutch Shell; David Dillon, Chairman and CEO, Kroger Co.; Robert Kleist, founder and CEO of Printronix
Delano E. Lewis (1960), former CEO for National Public Radio, U.S. ambassador to South Africa (1999–2001); Lou Montulli, programmer, co-founder of Netscape; Alan Mulally (BS/MS), President and CEO of Ford Motor Company; Christopher A. Sinclair (1971), former CEO of Pepsi-Cola, Co.

Sports

See the KU Sports Page

Tuition and costs
The University of Kansas is repeatedly listed as one of the best buys in higher education by such publications as Kiplinger’s, the Fiske Guide to Colleges, Kaplan’s and the Princeton Review. Tuition at KU is 13 percent below the national average, according to the College Board, and the University remains a best buy in the region.

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