Lawrence, Kansas

 

KU News

Web site: www.kualumni.org
Phone: (800) KU HAWKS / (785) 864-4760

Kansas University has had a tremendous impact on the world through its graduates.

Bob Dole, KU alumnus Among those have been a jet builder, a Hall of Famer, a presidential nominee, a novelist, a photographer to the stars, an astronaut, several Olympians and Hollywood celebrities.

Alan Mulally, Gale Sayers, Robert Dole, Sara Paretsky, Greg Gorman, Joe Engle, Jim Ryun and Dee Wallace Stone all had their formative years at KU (see story).

Browse below for feature stories about many of KU's most celebrated alumni.

News Center stories:

KU alumnus travels to Israel to give kidney to 10-year-old boy
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Eric Swim was surfing on the Internet in June when he stumbled across the story of a 10-year-old Jewish boy from Israel who was in desperate need of a kidney transplant.

Engineering building christened Eaton Hall
Friday, June 20, 2003
When he came to Kansas University in the late 1950s, Robert Eaton never imagined the university would someday name a building after him. In fact, his only life goal after leaving school was to become a staff engineer at Chevrolet, a dream that came from his love of motorcycles and cars. Eaton, a native of Arkansas City, met that goal and exceeded it: He went on to be chairman of Chrysler Corp.

KU education school to honor Mills
Thursday, May 15, 2003
(Updated Thursday at 11:56 a.m.) Billy Mills, a 1964 Olympic gold medalist and Kansas University track standout, will be honored Saturday by KU's School of Education for his work with American Indian youth.

KU alumnus accepts job as fine arts dean
Thursday, May 1, 2003
A Kansas University alumnus will return to his alma mater to lead the School of Fine Arts, KU officials said Wednesday. Steve Hedden, dean of the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University, will replace Toni-Marie Montgomery, who will depart KU in June to become dean of the School of Music at Northwestern University.

Billy Mills scholarship established at KU
Monday, April 28, 2003
(Web Posted Monday at 9:49 a.m.) A scholarship for American Indians who want to become teachers has been established in the name of Billy Mills, an Olympic gold medalist and former track standout for Kansas University.

KU alumnus Vernon Smith wins Nobel in economics
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Vernon Smith, who won the Nobel Prize for economics Wednesday, says one of his first lessons in supply and demand was in Lawrence. Smith, a Kansas University student and teaching assistant from 1949 to 1952, and his friends sold their classmates beer they brewed in a co-op house on Ohio Street.

6News video: Vernon Smith, KU alumnus, wins Nobel prize for economics
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Vernon Smith graduated in 1951 with a Master's degree in economics.

KU Alumni Association honors R.A. Edwards, Cordell D. Meeks Jr., James E. Seaver with Ellsworth Medallions
Saturday, September 21, 2002
The Kansas University Alumni Association on Friday gave its highest honor to three people who worked to improve diversity at KU in the areas of disability awareness, race and the arts.

Neil LaBute, KU alumnus, explores 9-11 as basis for art
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Filmmaker and playwright Neil LaBute is ready to use the Sept. 11 attacks as the background for his works.

KU leaves impression on Bob Dole, other celebrity alumni
Saturday, August 10, 2002
By Tim Carpenter

The jet builder, Hall of Famer, presidential nominee, novelist, photographer to the stars, astronaut, Olympian, Hollywood actress - all experienced formative years at Kansas University.

KU recognizes distinguished alumni
Thursday, May 16, 2002
By Tim Carpenter

A diverse foursome — barbecue expert, diplomat, engineer and volunteer — is linked by association with Kansas University.

Gale Sayers gives back to KU
Saturday, May 4, 2002
By Chuck Woodling

When Gale Sayers stages his annual benefit golf tournament in Lawrence, he likes to have Bob Skahan in his foursome. "I haven't been able to play in all of them," said Skahan, "but this year I could, and I'm glad because I know how much Gale loves KU."

Neil Labute, KU alumnus, must produce quicker 'Wicker Man'
Thursday, April 11, 2002
Oh, what a tangled web. It seems that Universal Picture's plans to remake the British horror film "The Wicker Man" have become interwoven with the similar designs of other cinematic craftsmen.

KU alumni Jack and Elizabeth Gualtieri make name in metalsmithing
Sunday, December 23, 2001
By Mindie Paget

Experimentation is always risky. But stakes multiply when the test materials are minuscule spheres of 22-karat gold and platinum and the catalyst is a torch.

River City Weekly video: Sara Paretsky speaks about new novel
Wednesday, December 5, 2001
Greg Hurd interviews Lawrence-born detective novelist Sara Paretsky about her lastest V.I. Warshowski novel, "Total Recall."

KU alumni Bunyan, Nordling, Stewart named Ellsworth winners
Thursday, September 13, 2001
Three Kansas University alumni will be honored later this week with Fred Ellsworth Medallions. The annual awards, given by the KU Alumni Association, recognize extraordinary service to KU.

KU alumnus, L. Joseph Bauman, recalls power of building PC
Saturday, August 11, 2001
By Mark Fagan

L. Joseph Bauman took his seat around the conference table, looked into the eyes of his fellow IBM engineers and took a deep breath. It would be another 13 months before Bauman and the 10 other members of the company's "Project Chess" team could exhale. Twenty years ago Sunday ? on Aug. 12, 1981, ? the task force unveiled its fast-track product: IBM's first personal computer.

Kansas native Joe Engle picked for Hall of Fame
Tuesday, June 19, 2001
He never reached his goal of walking on the moon, but the many other space achievements of Kansas-born astronaut Joe Engle will land him in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Eugene Goltz, KU alumnus and Pulitzer winner, dies
Sunday, April 15, 2001
Eugene Goltz, an investigative reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize at the Houston Post and shared another with reporters at the Detroit Free Press, died of cancer Tuesday at his home in Silver Spring, Md., a Washington suburb. He was 70.

KU alumnus Gary Foster still getting top-notch gigs
Sunday, April 8, 2001
By Jan Biles

Woodwinds player Gary Foster says the music industry isn't immune from an economic downturn. It's suffering from cutbacks as much as large corporations such as Boeing Co. and Procter & Gamble Co.

KU alumnus Mike Robe directs TV movie
Monday, February 12, 2001
By Jan Biles

Kansas University alumnus and movie director Mike Robe thinks reality shows like "Survivor," "Temptation Island" and "The Mole" are akin to tabloid newspapers that "get old and stale very quickly."

KU alumna Megan Denton can't resist 'Temptation'
Friday, January 19, 2001
By Joy Ludwig

A Kansas University graduate and Ottawa native has taken up residency on "Temptation Island."
Once a Crimson Girl and sorority president, Megan Denton now is one of the television island's pretty temptresses.

KU alumna Kathryn Price to be 'Mole' contestant
Friday, January 19, 2001
A Kansas University grad is among those striving to win at one of the latest reality-based TV show.

Journalism alumnus Devin Scillian pens kid's book
Saturday, August 12, 2000
Veteran broadcast journalist and Kansas University graduate Devin Scillian has covered tough assignments around the world, but he writes artful children's books, too.

KU alum Craig Stevens, who played TV's 'Peter Gunn,' dies
Saturday, May 13, 2000
Craig Stevens, the actor who played the suave private eye "Peter Gunn" in the 1950s TV series created by Blake Edwards, has died of cancer. He was 81.

KU alums Laura Kirk and Neil LaBute screen films at Cannes festival
Thursday, May 11, 2000
The Cannes Film festival on Wednesday kicked off its first edition of the 21st century by looking back 400 years, to the decadent and intrigue-filled court of Louis XIV.

Film by KU alumnus Seth Wiley takes it toll
Sunday, April 9, 2000
The film's star is Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher in the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Wheaton once worked at a computer company in Topeka.