University of Kansas

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The University of Kansas
Seal of the University of Kansas
Motto Videbo visionem hanc magnam quare non comburatur rubus (I will see this great vision in which the bush does not burn)
Established 1865
Type Public
Endowment $955 million (systemwide)[1]
Chancellor Robert Hemenway
Staff 2,201
Undergraduates 20,908
Postgraduates 6,026
Location Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Campus 1,000 acres (4 km²)
Colors Crimson and Blue
Website www.ku.edu

The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or Kansas) is an institution of higher learning located in Lawrence, Kansas. The 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.

As of the 2006-2007 academic year, the University has 29,613 students enrolled and 2,201 faculty members on staff.[2][3]

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.

KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics as well as Kansas Public Radio. 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 elected 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.

Contents

[edit] 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." The Fiske Guide to Colleges, for more than a decade has awarded KU a four-star rating for academics, social life, and overall quality of university life.

The 2006 Edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked KU as tied for 97th place in the Best National Universities category. The Report also ranked Kansas as tied for 45th place in Public Universities. The Report surveys over 1,400 institutions of higher education in the United States.

[edit] Medical Center

The University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, Kansas, treats over 19,000 patients per year.[4] 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 2006, there were 2,615 students enrolled at KU Med.[1] KU Med also offers third and fourth year students an opportunity to do rotations at the Wichita campus.

[edit] 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.[5] Programs available at the Edwards Campus include developmental psychology, public administration, social work, systems analysis, engineering management and design.

[edit] Notable staff

[edit] 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.[6]

[edit] Athletics

Main article: 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 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 twice: 1948 and 1968. They are currently coached by Mark Mangino, who was hired in 2002. The team plays at Memorial Stadium, the oldest NCAA football stadium west of the Mississippi River.

The men's basketball team, currently coached by Bill Self, is a perennial national contender, but whose last national championship was in 1988. The team plays at Allen Fieldhouse, one of the most historical basketball facilities in the NCAA. Kansas has counted among its coaches Dr. James Naismith (the inventor of basketball), 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 New York Knicks coach Larry Brown.

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:[7]

  • 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.

[edit] Distinguished alumni

[edit] Nobel laureates

[edit] Honorary alumni

[edit] Politics, government, and education

[edit] Media and the arts

[edit] Science and technology

[edit] Business

[edit] Sports

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

[edit] 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.

As of the fall 2006 semester, undergraduate tuition for Kansas residents is $183.75 per credit hour. For students who are not residents of Kansas, undergraduate tuition is $482.75 per credit hour. [17] The schools of architecture, business, engineering, fine arts, journalism, law, and pharmacy charge additional fees. [18]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "2005 NACUBO Endowment Study". National Association of College and University Business Officers.
  2. ^ Kansas Board of Regents. Board of Regents Announces 2006 Fall Enrollment. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
  3. ^ KU at a Glance. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  4. ^ KU Medical Center. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  5. ^ About KU Edwards Campus. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  6. ^ Early Lynx. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  7. ^ King, Jason. "Hawk Market", The Kansas City Star (June 11, 2006), pp. C1, C14.

[edit] 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.

[edit] External links

Official sites
General


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