University of Kansas

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The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas) 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 (160,000 m²) of Mount Oread land, and philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence, who made sizable monetary donations.

The University's Medical Center and Hospital are located in Kansas City, Kansas. The KU Edwards Campus is 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.

Enrollment at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses was 27,875 students; an additional 2,769 students were enrolled at the KU Medical Center for a total enrollment of 30,644 students across the three campuses. The Lawrence campus and KU Medical Center combined employ 2,201 faculty members.[1][2]

KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Beach Center on Disability, 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 KU Museum of Anthropology, and the Spencer Museum of Art. The University is one of 60 members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

The chancellor of the University of Kansas is Robert Hemenway. He has served as chancellor since 1995. He has taken an active approach towards improving academics.

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 University also operates a selective Honors Program, with approximately 300 undergraduate students admitted each year, offering classes in many of these areas.

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.[3] 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.

Law School

The University of Kansas School of Law, in Lawrence, Kansas, is the top law school in the state according to the 2008 U.S. News & World Report, which ranked the school 66th overall in its rankings of the best law schools.[4] Classes are held in Green Hall at W 15th St and Burdick Dr, 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.[5] KU Med, as it is commonly known, is comprised of four basic schools: The KU School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Allied Health, and a second School of Graduate Studies. As of the Spring 2007 semester, there were 2,769 students enrolled at KU Med.[6] The Medical Center 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.[7] Programs available at the Edwards Campus include developmental psychology, public administration, social work, systems analysis, engineering management and design.

Notable faculty

Computing innovations

KU's School of Business 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.[17]

Student Activities

Athletics

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 nine NCAA National Championships: two 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 three times: 1948,1968 and 2008. They are currently coached by Mark Mangino, who was hired in 2002. The team plays at Memorial Stadium, one of the most historic NCAA football stadiums west of the Mississippi River. Memorial Stadium is currently undergoing renovation, begun in the summer of 2007, to add a $30 million dollar football practice faciltiy complete with indoor practice field and weight room along with improving the locker room facilities. Current NFL alumni include Moran Norris of the San Francisco 49ers, David McMillan of the Cleveland Browns, Charles Gordon of the Minnesota Vikings, Adrian Jones of the New York Jets, and Justin Hartwig of the Carolina Panthers. NFL Hall of Fame alumni include Gale Sayers and John Riggins among others.

The KU men's basketball team, who have fielded a team every year since 1898, are a perennial national contender currently coached by Bill Self. The team last played an NCAA National Championship game in 2003 and last won an NCAA Championship in 1988. The basketball program is currently the third winningest program 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 NBA 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. In addition, NCAA Hall of Fame 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:[18]

  • The Booth Family Hall of Athletics addition to Allen Fieldhouse;
  • Brand new offices and lounges for the women's basketball program;
  • Brand new scoreboard and batting facility for the baseball field;
  • A new $35 million football facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium;
  • The $8 million dollar 42,000 square foot Anderson Family Strength Center

Student publications

The school newspaper of the University of Kansas is The University Daily Kansan, which placed first in the Intercollegiate Writing Competition of the prestigious William Randolph Hearst Writing Foundation competition, often called "The Pulitzers of College Journalism" in 2007. 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 poems by Matthew Porubsky. [19] [20]

Distinguished alumni

Nobel laureates

Honorary alumni

Politics, government, and education

Media and the arts

Science and technology

Business

Sports

For athletes and coaches, see the relevant section in Kansas Jayhawks

  • Wilt Chamberlain, NBA hall of famer and NBA all-time leader for most points in a game with 100 points.
  • Paul Pierce NBA all-star on the Boston Celtics.
  • Raef LaFrentz, NBA player from the Portland Trailblazers
  • Kirk Hinrich, NBA player form the Chicago Bulls
  • Nick Collison, NBA player from the Seattle Supersonics also known as "Mr. USA Basketball" for representing the country in international basketball since high school
  • Gale Sayers, NFL Hall-of-Fame running back.
  • K. S. "Bud" Adams, Jr., owner of the Tennessee Titans [16]
  • Jack Del Rio, former NFL linebacker, current head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars[21](Del Rio played collegiately for the University of Southern California (USC). He earned his degree from KU while playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.)
  • John Riggins, NFL Hall-of-Fame running back.
  • Danny Manning, basketball player and coach. Two-time All-American 1988 recipient of the Naismith and Wooden Awards, Big 8 Player of the Decade for the 1980's, two-time NBA all-star
  • Billy Mills, the only US athlete ever to win an Olympic 10,000m gold medal (at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics).
  • Jim Ryun, former U.S. Congressman for Kansas District 2 (1997–2007), three-time U.S. Olympic runner and silver medalist
  • Dean Smith, former men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina and the second most winningest coach in the sport.
  • Adolph Rupp, former men's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky and the third most winningest coach in the sport.
  • Forrest "Phog" Allen, football and basketball player, head basketball coach. Won 3 national championships, the 10th winningest coach in college basketball history.

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. Its 2004-05 in-state tuition and fees of $4,737 were lower than the University of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and most other public universities.

Beginning in the 2007-2008 academic year, first-time freshman at KU will pay a fixed tuition rate for 48 months according to the Four-Year Tuition Compact [22] passed by the Kansas Board of Regents. According to the compact, tuition will be $213 per credit hour for in-state freshman and $560 for out-of-state freshmen. For students who do not take part in the compact, current per-credit-hour tuition is $194.80 for in-state undergraduates and $511.70 for out-of-state undergraduates[23]; these rates are subject to annual increases. The schools of architecture, business, engineering, fine arts, journalism, law, and pharmacy charge additional fees.[24]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. "Board of Regents Announces 2007 Spring Enrollment" (PDF) (Press release). Kansas Board of Regents. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  2. "KU at a Glance". Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  3. "US News Ranking National Universities".
  4. "US News 2008 Ranking of Law Schools".
  5. "KU Medical Center". Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  6. "KU Medical Center Enrollment".
  7. "About KU Edwards Campus". Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  8. "John Bricke, Ph.D. Curriculum Vite".
  9. "KU Distinguished Professors: Stephen A. Epstein".
  10. "African and African American Studies".
  11. "KU Distinguished Professors: Don W. Green".
  12. "Knovel Library".
  13. "James Gunn Biography".
  14. "KU: Department of Classics". Text "accessdate 2007-03-19" ignored (help)
  15. "TH&F Assoc. Professor Kevin Willmott". Text " accessdate 2007-03-19" ignored (help)
  16. "C.S.A. The Movie Website". Text "accessdate 2007-03-19" ignored (help)
  17. "Early Lynx". Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  18. King, Jason. "Hawk Market", The Kansas City Star (June 11, 2006), pp. C1, C14.
  19. 2006 Award Winner Reviews ~ Kansas Authors Club
  20. "Poet well-versed in voyeurism" ~ Lawrence.com, December 2 2006
  21. Garfield, David. "NFL success, KU degree among Del Rio's rewards," KU Alumni magazine, Issue 5, 2007, page 55.
  22. "Tuition at KU". Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  23. "2007-2008 Tuition & Fees". Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  24. "Fall 2007 Special Rates". Retrieved 2007-09-02.

Further reading

  • University of Kansas Traditions: The Jayhawk
  • Kirke Mechem, "The Mythical Jayhawk", Kansas Historical Quarterly XIII: 1 (February 1944), pp. 3–15. A tongue-in-cheek history and description of the Mythical Jayhawk.

External links

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