From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
Kansas Economic Policy Conference to explore policies for economic resilience
LAWRENCE — The 2022 Kansas Economic Policy Conference will bring together state legislators, Kansas community leaders, policymakers and subject matter experts to consider timely and relevant questions about how to build a more resilient state economy. The event, organized by the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas, will take place Oct. 27 at the Burge Union and will be livestreamed.
2022-23 class of KU Law Dean’s Fellows to mentor first-year law students
LAWRENCE — Fifteen students from the University of Kansas School of Law have been chosen to be Dean’s Fellows for the 2022-23 academic year, including Kansans from Hays, Lawrence, Lenexa, Manhattan, Olathe, Overland Park, Pittsburg and Wichita. The Dean’s Fellows are a group of second- and third-year law students selected to mentor first-year peers.
Full stories below.
————————————————————————
Contact: Carrie Caine, Institute for Policy & Social Research, 785-864-9102, [email protected]
Kansas Economic Policy Conference to explore policies for economic resilience
LAWRENCE — The 2022 Kansas Economic Policy Conference will explore “Building a Resilient Kansas Economy.” Taking place Oct. 27 at the Burge Union on the University of Kansas Lawrence campus with a livestreaming option, the conference brings together community leaders, policymakers and subject matter experts to consider timely and relevant questions.
“This year’s conference focuses on economic resilience,” said Donna Ginther, director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research, the conference organizer. “Now that we’re moving past the pandemic, as a state our focus should shift to making investments that position us for growth and prosperity in the next decade. The conference is designed to highlight the challenges and opportunities facing the state as we build a resilient Kansas economy.”
Following the economic and social shocks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the wake of increasingly frequent natural disasters such as the ongoing drought, communities are adjusting to new conditions and planning for an uncertain future. Some Kansas communities have responded to change with innovative and effective initiatives to build diverse, resilient local economies.
In light of these challenges, the conference will feature speakers close to these communities and these changes. During morning keynote speeches, Ginther, who is also KU’s Roy A. Roberts and Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics, will outline the current state of the state economy. Julie Lorenz, Kansas secretary of transportation, will discuss investments in infrastructure that will serve the state into the future.
One morning conversation will feature a discussion of local perspectives on economic resilience. Trisha Purdon, director of the Office of Rural Prosperity for the Kansas Department of Commerce; Lisse Regehr, president and CEO of Thrive Allen County; and Ernestor De La Rosa, assistant city manager/legislative affairs for the city of Dodge City, will share strategies from their work. A second morning conversation will address industry and infrastructure for a resilient Kansas. That conversation will include Jade Piros de Carvalho, director of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development and mayor of Hutchinson; Josh Svaty, owner and operator of Free State Farms; and Belinda Sturm, Ross McKinney Faculty Fellow, professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering, and principal investigator of the NSF EPSCoR-funded ARISE project.
In the afternoon, state legislators will address policy for a resilient Kansas. That conversation will feature:
1. State Sen. Dinah Sykes, Kansas District 21
2. State Rep. Jim Kelly, Kansas District 11
3. State Rep. Rui Xu, House District 25
4. State Rep. Dave Baker, House District 68
Jim McLean, Kansas News Service, and Deb Miller, KU Public Management Center, will moderate the conversations.
Registration for in-person or online attendance is available through the conference website. KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research is organizing the event. All attendees are welcome. Contact [email protected] with questions or information about accommodations.
-30-
————————————————————————
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.
Tweets by KUnews
————————————————————————
Contact: Sarah Pickel, School of Law, 785-864-5648, [email protected], @kulawschool
2022-23 class of KU Law Dean’s Fellows to mentor first-year law students
LAWRENCE — Fifteen students from the University of Kansas School of Law have been chosen to be Dean’s Fellows for the 2022-23 academic year.
The Dean’s Fellows are a group of second- and third-year law students selected to mentor first-year peers. Fellows offer academic support and guidance, serving as resources for students navigating the transition to law school. Fellows are selected through an application and interview process that considers their academic performance, campus and community involvement, and rapport with classmates.
“We are so excited to usher in a new group of Dean’s Fellows for the 2022-23 academic year. As Dean’s Fellows, we are here to guide 1Ls through the social and academic rigors presented in the first year of law school,” said Sarah Schmitz, co-head Dean’s Fellow. “This group of Dean’s Fellows exemplifies what it means to be selfless leaders, humble mentors and genuine friends within Green Hall.”
The 2022-23 Dean’s Fellows are listed below.
Jadyn Atteberry is a third-year law student from Olathe. She attended Kansas State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics and data science. In addition to the Dean’s Fellows, Atteberry is a staff editor for Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy and a member of Women in Law.
Jacob Barefield is a third-year law student from Augusta, Georgia. He attended Georgia Southern University, where he studied political science. He has experience as a law clerk in Georgia and Texas. Outside of Dean’s Fellows, he is also in Moot Court, the International Law Society and the Jewish Law Society.
Ellie Beck is a second-year law student from Olathe. They attended KU, where they studied Spanish as well as women, gender & sexuality studies. Beck is a staff editor on the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy. In their first year, they were a board member for OutLAWS & Allies and served as the sergeant-at-arms for the American Civil Liberties Union of KU.
Sam Crowley is a second-year law student from Hays. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and minored in national security studies and criminal justice as a member of the University Honors Program. Outside of Dean’s Fellows, he is a staff editor for the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy, a student attorney in the Project for Innocence and the treasurer for the KU Law Military and Veterans Society.
Kat Girod is a third-year law student from Overland Park. Before law school, she worked for Olathe Public Schools. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a certificate in the study and practice of leadership at the University of Colorado. At KU Law, she participates in Moot Court and the Business and Tax Law Society as well as Dean’s Fellows.
Kaitlin Hamilton is a second-year law student from Pittsburg. She attended KU, where she studied political science and business. In addition to Dean’s Fellows, she is a student intern for the Paul E. Wilson Project for Innocence and the Post-Conviction Remedies and a member of Women in Law. She is also a law clerk outside of school.
Jackie Jeschke is a second-year law student from Lawrence. Before law school, she attended KU and studied biology. She went on to receive a master’s degree in health services administration from KU. Jeschke is a Dean’s Fellow, a staff editor for the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy and a member of Women in Law. Outside of school, Jeschke serves as a board member for the Kansas Association of Healthcare Executives.
Jade Kearney is a second-year law student from Kansas City, Missouri. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from KU. She is a member of the Shook, Hardy and Bacon Advocacy Moot Court, Black Law Students Association and Dean’s Fellows.
Hunter Kruse is a third-year law student from Overland Park. For his undergraduate degree, he attended KU and studied accounting. At KU Law, he is a member of the Dean’s Fellows, First Generation Professionals and Sports Law Society. He enjoys playing golf, basketball and exercising in his free time.
Brandon Lock is a third-year law student from Dallas. Lock earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy and political science from Southern Methodist University. In addition to being a Dean’s Fellow, he is president of the Black Law Students Association, serves as the executive ABA representative for the Student Bar Association after being elected by the student body and is an active member in many other student organizations.
Amanda McElfresh is a third-year law student from Manhattan. She received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Wichita State University. McElfresh took advantage of the KU Law Judicial Field Placement Program and spent time working for a judge in Douglas County. She is also the secretary of the Hispanic American Law Student Association, a member of Women in Law and a member of First-Generation Professionals.
Andy McLandsborough is a second-year law student from Olathe. He has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Kansas State University. He also worked for an industrial automation company for a few years before coming back to law school. In addition to Dean’s Fellows, he is a staff editor for the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy and the president of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association.
Sarah Schmitz is a third-year law student from Wichita (67226). She received her undergraduate degree from Creighton University, where she studied business, intelligence and analytics, and finance. Schmitz is also the managing editor of the Kansas Law Review, a research assistant for Michael Hoeflich, professor of law, and a member of the Women in Law and the Environmental Law Society.
Madeline Shriver is a third-year law student from Omaha, Nebraska. She attended Rockhurst University, where she studied political science, philosophy and Spanish. At KU Law, she is the vice president of Public Interest Law Society and is a member of moot court, Women in Law and Dean’s Fellows.
Connor Works is a second-year law student from Lenexa. He attended KU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. In his first year at KU Law, he participated in the Jessup Moot Court Program and was the only first-year law student on the team.
-30-
————————————————————————
KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Contact: Evan Riggs, 785-864-1085, [email protected]
Second College of Liberal Arts & Sciences executive dean candidate to present Oct. 19
LAWRENCE – The second candidate for the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) executive dean position will give a public presentation from 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Beren Petroleum Conference Center in Slawson Hall.
The presentation will be livestreamed, and the passcode is 604135.
Arash Mafi is the second of four candidates who will present their vision for the College in today’s rapidly changing landscape of higher education. The College is the largest academic unit at the university, and the executive dean will strategically and collaboratively lead the school in its scholarly and educational contributions.
Mafi currently serves as the interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of New Mexico, a position he’s held since 2021. He joined the UNM faculty as an associate professor in 2014.
Each candidate will be announced approximately two business days before their scheduled campus visit. Public presentations for each of the candidates will take place in the Beren Petroleum Conference Center in Slawson Hall on the following dates:
1. Alfred J. López: 2-3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17
2. Arash Mafi: 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19
3. Candidate 3: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25
4. Candidate 4: 2-3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28
Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to offer their impressions and observations of each candidate online through a limited-time feedback survey. Feedback on Mafi’s presentation is due by 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. A recording of his presentation will be available the morning after the presentation on the search website until the survey closes.
Each candidate will meet with Chancellor Douglas A. Girod, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, senior administrators, College chairs and directors, deans, KU Endowment, the KU Alumni Association, university governance, graduate and undergraduate students and the College dean’s office executive committee and administrative staff.
As interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of New Mexico, Mafi oversees 24 academic departments and schools, 460 faculty and 300 staff members. UNM has one of the most diverse student bodies of any flagship university in the nation and is one of only a handful of R1 Hispanic-serving institutions. He previously served for five years as the director of the Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM), an internationally renowned interdisciplinary research center at UNM. Mafi also served one year as the chair for Optical Science and Engineering at UNM.
Mafi earned a bachelor’s in physics from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, a master’s in physics and a doctorate in theoretical particle physics from The Ohio State University, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in particle physics and photonics. He worked as a senior research scientist for four years at Corning, primarily focusing on optical communications, before returning to academia as an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He joined UNM in 2014, where he is currently a full professor of physics and astronomy in addition to serving as interim dean.
Mafi is a fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics and the Optical Society. Additionally, he is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). His research has resulted in high-impact publications in several disciplines.
About the KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
The approximately 11,000 undergraduates, 1,700 graduate students, 700 faculty and 375 staff who comprise the KU CLAS share a commitment to excellence. The College provides students with a broad foundation of arts, liberal arts and sciences concepts that will expand what they know and provide new ways of thinking about challenges.
The College is home to more than 50 departments, programs and centers, as well as the School of the Arts and School of Public Affairs & Administration. Those departments, programs and centers offer more than 150 majors, minors and certificates, which prepare students with fundamental skills and knowledge that will serve them in any career.
-30-
————————————————————————
KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
