From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
KU announces ExCEL Award winners, concludes 111th Homecoming
LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas students were named winners of the 2023 Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Awards, presented by Konica Minolta. Libby Frost of WaKeeney and Thanh Tan Nguyen of Phu Yen, Vietnam, were recognized during the KU-Oklahoma football game Oct. 28 in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which concluded a week of activities for KU’s 111th Homecoming celebration.
KU School of Music dean candidates to present visions for school
LAWRENCE — Three candidates will hold public presentations this month in a bid to become the next dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas. The name of each candidate will be announced one to two business days before their respective campus visit. Paul Popiel, current interim dean and professor of music at KU, will give the first presentation, which will take place 11 a.m.-noon Nov. 6 in Swarthout Recital Hall.
Graduate students to compete in 3-minute thesis competition
LAWRENCE — Entrepreneurs often have an “elevator pitch,” a concise speech to explain their business in 30-60 seconds. Research can be more complicated, so a group of University of Kansas graduate students will get a full 180 seconds to explain their projects in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition this month. Approximately 23 students will participate in the 3MT preliminary heats beginning at 2 p.m. Nov. 7, and finals will take place at 2 p.m. Nov. 14. The public is invited to attend.
KU to host inaugural First-Generation Student Conference
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will join institutions across the country by participating in the National First-Generation College Celebration (FGCC) on Nov. 8. The inaugural First-Generation Student Conference will provide an opportunity for making connections, discovering community and developing skills for students, faculty and staff. This full-day event is one of many activities taking place throughout the weeklong KU celebration of first-generation college students.
Full stories below.
————————————————————————
Contact: Paige Freeman, KU Alumni Association, 785-864-0953, [email protected]
KU announces ExCEL Award winners, concludes 111th Homecoming
LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas students were named winners of the 2023 Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Awards, presented by Konica Minolta. Libby Frost of WaKeeney and Thanh Tan Nguyen of Phu Yen, Vietnam, were recognized during the KU-Oklahoma football game Oct. 28 in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which concluded a week of activities for KU’s 111th Homecoming celebration.
Frost, a senior in business administration on the pre-med track, is president of the KU Panhellenic Association and vice president of marketing for her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi.
Nguyen, a senior in business analytics and supply chain management, is executive director of Student Union Activities and president of the board for KU Memorial Corp. He is active in the University Honors Program and led the Homecoming Steering Committee as executive director.
ExCEL Award nominees were selected based on their leadership, communication skills, involvement at KU and in the Lawrence community, academic scholarship and ability to work with a variety of students and organizations. The ExCEL Award was first given in 1991.
The KU Alumni Association also honored Yash Prajapati, a junior in applied mathematics and interdisciplinary computing in economics from Gujarat, India, with the Jennifer Alderdice Homecoming Award, which recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding loyalty and dedication to the university. Prajapati is a student ambassador for the Office of Admissions and a research assistant for the Center for Design Research. Alderdice, of Lawrence, led student programs for the Alumni Association from 1999 to 2009 and earned her master’s degree in education from KU in 1999.
Other 2023 Homecoming award and competition winners:
Rich and Judy Billings Spirit of 1912 Award
Kansas City artist Megh Knappenberger is a 2004 graduate of the School of Fine Arts. During Homecoming week, she unveiled 11 commissioned paintings for the recently renovated Adams Alumni Center.
Student organization overall competition winners
Large group:
· First place: Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Chi Omega
· Second place: Sigma Kappa, Delta Tau Delta, and Triangle
· Third place: Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Tau Omega
Student organization individual event competition winners
Jayhawk Jingles
Large group:
· First place: Alpha Delta Pi and Zeta Beta Tau
· Second place: Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Chi Omega
· Third place: Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Tau Omega
Chalk ’n’ Rock
Large group:
· First place: Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Tau Omega
· Second place: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Kappa Tau
· Third place: Alpha Delta Pi and Zeta Beta Tau
Sign competition
Large group:
· First place: Sigma Kappa, Delta Tau Delta and Triangle
· Second place: Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Chi Omega
· Third place: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Kappa Tau
KU’s Homecoming was sponsored by Central Bank of the Midwest, Konica Minolta, KU Bookstore, Pepsi Zero Sugar and StoneHill Hotel.
The KU Alumni Association welcomes feedback on this year’s Homecoming festivities. For more information about Homecoming, go to kualumni.org/homecoming.
-30-
————————————————————————
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.
————————————————————————
Contact: Savannah Rattanavong, Office of the Provost, 785-864-6402, [email protected], @KUProvost
KU School of Music dean candidates to present visions for school
LAWRENCE — Three candidates will hold public presentations in a bid to become the next dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas.
Dean candidates will describe their vision for the school under their leadership. The name of each candidate will be announced one to two business days before their respective campus visit. The presentations additionally will be livestreamed through links available on the Provost’s Office website.
Paul Popiel, current interim dean and professor of music at KU, will be the first candidate to give a public presentation. His presentation will take place 11 a.m.-noon Nov. 6 in Swarthout Recital Hall. The event will be livestreamed, and the passcode is 684789.
The public presentations for the remaining candidates are scheduled for the following dates and will also take place in Swarthout Recital Hall.
· Candidate 2: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Nov. 9
· Candidate 3: 4-5 p.m. Nov. 15
Members of the KU community are encouraged to attend each candidate’s public presentation and provide feedback to the search committee. Feedback surveys will be open for two business days following the conclusion of each finalist’s visit. The survey and a recording of each candidate’s presentation will be available after their presentation on the search page until the survey closes.
Additional search information, including candidate bios and CVs, is also available on the search page as each candidate is announced.
“Any of these candidates would bring valuable leadership and expertise to the School of Music,” said Derek Kwan, executive director of the Lied Center of Kansas and co-chair of the search committee.
Mahbub Rashid, dean of the School of Architecture & Design, also serves as co-chair of the committee.
In addition to serving as the School of Music’s interim dean since January, Popiel is a conductor and professor within the school. He previously was the director of bands since 2010 and has annually led the historic Lawrence City Band and the Crossroads Wind Symphony through multiple concerts. Popiel recently completed a four-week professional conducting residency with the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra in Japan.
His previous appointments include the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Oklahoma State University.
Popiel has lectured and performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He is a contributing author to several volumes of “Teaching Music through Performance in Band” and the Alta Musica journal, as well as the editor-in-chief of The Wind Music Research Quarterly.
In 2013, Popiel was elected to the membership of the American Bandmasters Association and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Popiel earned his bachelor’s degrees in instrumental music education and trumpet performance from Truman State University, a master’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate in wind conducting from Michigan State University. He also earned a postgraduate diploma in 20th century music from the University of Bristol in England.
The dean of music will oversee the school’s strategy, academics, research and creative activities, and is responsible for fostering community engagement and service activities. The dean will ensure talent development of faculty, staff and student employees and fiscal stewardship of administrative structures and the school’s endowment. Additionally, the dean will locally and globally guide partnerships to bring an international audience to its program.
The School of Music seeks to become a model of diverse, creative and innovative approaches to the study and performance of music in the 21st century. The school brings together students and faculty in music composition, education, history, performance, therapy and theory.
WittKieffer, an executive search firm specializing in higher education, aided with the search process and development of a robust and diverse candidate pool.
-30-
————————————————————————
Subscribe to KU Today, the campus newsletter,
for additional news about the University of Kansas.
http://www.news.ku.edu
————————————————————————
Contact: David Day, Office of the Provost, 785-864-0236, [email protected], @KUProvost
Graduate students to compete in 3-minute thesis competition
LAWRENCE — Entrepreneurs often have an “elevator pitch,” a concise speech to explain their business in 30-60 seconds. Research can be more complicated, so a group of University of Kansas graduate students will get a full 180 seconds to explain their projects in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition this month.
Approximately 23 students will participate in the 3MT preliminary heats beginning at 2 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Burge Union, forums A-C. The six or seven top presenters in the preliminary round will compete in the finals at 2 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Burge Union, Forum C. All members of the KU and Lawrence communities are invited to attend the events.
KU’s competition is part of the Global 3MT, which highlights graduate student research by challenging students to explain their work concisely and effectively to an audience of nonexperts.
“As KU students and researchers make discoveries that change the world, they must be able to help the world understand the significance of that research,” said Jen Roberts, vice provost for academic affairs and graduate studies. “Researchers can talk to each other for hours about their work, but explaining to a general audience for just three minutes may actually be harder. The 3MT competition encourages students to build that skill.”
The competition judges, who are not experts in the research fields presented, will select a first-place winner to receive a $600 award and a second-place winner to receive $300. The audience will select a People’s Choice winner, who will receive $150. The first-place presenter will serve as KU’s representative at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools 3MT Competition in the spring.
Research topics this year include antibacterial properties of bioactive glass in bone cement; predicting drought from outer space; understanding and developing techniques to break chemical bonds in spent nuclear fuel rods; addressing the gender gap in low brass music sections and using exhaust gas recirculation to enhance internal combustion engine performance and reduce harmful nitrogen oxides.
“The 3MT competition is an amazing platform that allows you to look into the creative aspect of the complex research we conduct. It is a nice feeling to have your five-year-long thesis summarized in a way that everyone can finally get you,” said Sayuri Niyangoda, KU doctoral candidate and last year’s first-place and people’s choice winner.
The University of Queensland in Australia founded the 3MT competition in 2008, and more than 900 universities in over 85 countries currently participate.
“The competition offers a dual opportunity,” Roberts said. “Students learn to be concise and engaging in describing their research, and the audience gets a quick introduction to groundbreaking research in a variety of fields.”
For more information, contact the Office Graduate Studies at [email protected].
-30-
————————————————————————
Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”
a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.
https://kansaspublicradio.org/when-experts-attack
————————————————————————
Contact: Dalton Allen, Hawk Link, 785-864-6744, [email protected]
KU to host inaugural First-Generation Student Conference
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will join institutions across the country by participating in the National First-Generation College Celebration (FGCC) on Nov. 8.
The inaugural First-Generation Student Conference will provide an opportunity for making connections, discovering community and developing skills for students, faculty and staff. This full-day event is one of many activities taking place throughout the weeklong celebration of first-generation college students.
The 2023 theme of Breaking Barriers was chosen to shine a spotlight on a shared experience by first-generation college students. Being a first-generation college student means neither of the student’s parents or guardians has a bachelor’s degree, and graduate students are in the first generation of their family to earn a bachelor’s degree and are now earning a graduate or professional degree.
All the speakers and facilitators at this year’s conference identify as first-generation. The day’s activities include a welcome address by Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, as well as four concurrent sessions, two discussion panels, a faculty/staff plenary professional development session and a keynote from nationally renowned youth engagement speaker Carlos Ojeda Jr.
“Navigating college as a first-gen student can feel daunting and lonely,” said Dalton Allen, Hawk Link Coordinator and chair of the conference planning committee. “Our goal is to help first-gen students gain insights into their strengths and build a community to help them persist to graduation and beyond.”
There are two tracks for the conference: a full day for students and a shorter professional development block for faculty and staff.
Student sessions
Undergraduate and graduate students attending from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. will have the opportunity to choose from multiple workshops and student panels, attend a resource fair, a student-focused plenary session and enjoy a luncheon keynote. Interested students should register before Nov. 6. While all students are invited to attend, space is available for 150 students, and preference will be given to students who are first-generation and who can attend the full event.
Faculty and staff sessions
KU faculty and staff are invited to join the event from noon to 2 p.m. for a free luncheon keynote with students followed by a professional development session on engaging first-generation students. Interested faculty and staff should register before Nov. 6.
“This event demonstrates KU’s commitment to serving our first-generation students,” said Misty Chandler, assistant vice provost of academic success. “This is a powerful combination of a student learning experience and staff professional development in support and celebration of our first-gen initiatives. This is a critical strategic priority that we are approaching in partnership with others on campus, and that is what our students deserve.”
KU’s celebration of first-generation college students goes beyond the conference. Events hosted by the KU community throughout the week include a Celebration Kick Off, professional portraits for students, the Center for Educational Opportunity Programs I Am First Too Poster Reception, Tea at Three and Donut Feel Good To Be First-Gen. The week concludes with a FIRST Hawk Link Tailgate at the Nov. 11 KU football game. The full-week schedule and details can be found on Hawk Link’s website.
KU has been recognized as a First-Gen Forward Institution by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.
-30-
————————————————————————
KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
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
