Featured news at KU


Our top featured stories

A photo illustration of a thermometer hitting high temperatures against the backdrop of a city.
An ethnographic study of one of the most marginalized communities in Seoul, South Korea, found residents have developed a mindset that every day is a disaster when dealing with extreme heat and climate events.

Other featured news

Fraser Hall

KU professor of anthropology receives prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to work on 2nd book

Jennifer Raff, KU associate professor of anthropology, was recently awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on the history of human populations through sequencing the genomes of contemporary peoples and their ancestors.
"Indigenizing Archeology" book cover

New book gathers insights, methods from rising generation of Indigenous archaeologists

A new book co-edited by a University of Kansas scholar, titled “Indigenizing Archaeology: Putting Theory into Practice," collects experiences and know-how of younger Indigenous archaeologists.
Icarium team members at event with oversized contest "checks."

Icorium Engineering Company earns top-5 finish at 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition

Icorium Engineering Company, a sustainable engineering startup and spin-out company from KU, recently placed fifth overall and won more than $180,000 in investments and nondilutive cash and in-kind prizes at the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University in Houston.
A reconstructed view of the Basilica of Aphrodisias shows Diocletian’s Edict of Maximum Prices.

Extensive project, new book reveal monument to inflation in Roman times

Philip Stinson, associate professor of classics at the University of Kansas, has detailed a 50-year project translating Emperor Diocletian’s edict of maximum prices to “curb the rampant greed of retailers.” Stinson helped provide an architectural reconstruction of the full decree, which lists the prices allowed for a comprehensive array of goods and services.

Research



Three KU faculty members — Kristin Bowman-James, Donna Ginther and Bala Subramaniam — have been elected as 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science fellows, a distinct honor within the scientific community.
In a new study, Alexander Platt analyzes the Supreme Court case of SEC v. Jarkesy and argues regardless of the high court's decision, the agency will not have its enforcement powers stripped and could patch its approach.
Chinese flag with vaccine needles sitting on top of it.
In a new study, John James Kennedy, a professor of political science at the University of Kansas, examines the influence of international collaboration and vaccine developments.

Kansas Communities



The Kansas Geological Survey-produced map shows the type and age of rock layers found at or near the surface in the north-central Kansas county. The map identifies deposits of rocks and other materials of economic importance for building roads and construction projects.
The KGS, based at the University of Kansas, and the Division of Water Resources of the Kansas Department of Agriculture measure water levels in about 1,400 wells every year to monitor the health of the High Plains aquifer and other aquifers in western and south-central Kansas.
Jerry Moran making presentation at KU Law School with KU Law signage on screen behind him.
The University of Kansas School of Law is set to receive $1.6 million in federal funding for the establishment of a free legal aid clinic dedicated to serving veterans. With an estimated 194,000 veterans in Kansas, the clinic would be the first of its kind in the state.

Economic Development



An upcoming cybersecurity conference will bring together experts in the field from industry, workforce and research to KU. FBI Director Christopher Wray will be the first keynote speaker at 8:35 a.m.
KU's Institute for Sustainable Engineering has a new name —Wonderful Institute for Sustainable Engineering-KU (WISE-KU). The naming builds on the university’s deep relationship with The Wonderful Company, a global agricultural company co-founded and led by Stewart and Lynda Resnick.
Pair of scientists working in lab; supervised smiling children working with cookie cutters; individuals sitting in creek bed taking samples on partly cloudy day; medical professionals talking to seated patient with blood pressure cuff on her arm.
Research expenditures spanning all KU campuses increased to $368.6 million in 2023, capping nearly a decade of steady expansion. Last year alone, externally funded research at KU supported the salaries of 4,372 people, and the university spent $78.9 million in 97 Kansas counties on research-related goods and services, according to a report from the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science.

Student experience and achievement



Dirt Works Studio, an academic design-build studio at the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design, has designed and is currently building Phoenix House, a small, solar-powered house designed to assist members of the Lawrence community in transitioning from houselessness to a secure home.
KU Debate Team members Graham Revare, junior from Shawnee, and William Soper, senior from Bucyrus, took second place in the country at the 78th National Debate Tournament, held from April 4 to 9 at Emory University in Atlanta.
At Kansas Capitol, Ric Steele, AVP for Graduate Studies; Seyed Mohsen Fatemi, Merve Akin-Tas, Natalie Lind, Susan Koerner, Annie Chuning, Kara Hageman, Luke Parker, Cassie Sutton.
Annie Chuning, Kara Hageman, Natalie Lind and Luke Parker were each honored for their exceptional research and presentations at an event that assembles the top graduate student researchers in the state of Kansas. Their work delved into topics including the effects of food insecurity on rural Kansans' health and solutions to orthopedic joint infections.

Campus news



School of Engineering alumni Zack Holland and Brian McClendon will receive the school’s highest award in a ceremony set for 6 p.m. May 2. The Distinguished Engineering Service Award (DESA) is given each year to individuals who have maintained close association with the school and have made outstanding contributions to the engineering profession and to society.
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas will host a public event with the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., cousin and childhood best friend of Emmett Till, in conjunction with the traveling exhibition “Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See.” The event will take place at 6 p.m. April 24 at the Spencer Museum. Seating is limited; free tickets are required.
Armitage Center entrance
The KU Field Station will open its core research area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 27 for its first public Visitors’ Day in more than 20 years. Members of the public will be welcomed behind the scenes to tour restricted-access research areas.

Latest news

Detail from 1800s map of Havana’s outskirts showing the distribution of drinkable water to public fountains and private residences provided by the Ferdinand VII aqueduct.

Study shows long-standing links among disease, race, class, infrastructure

Links – both real and imagined – between race and disease are far older than the COVID-19 pandemic. A University of Kansas researcher says her new study of a 19th-century Cuban aqueduct project during a cholera outbreak demonstrates this.
Fraser Hall

KU professor of anthropology receives prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to work on 2nd book

Jennifer Raff, KU associate professor of anthropology, was recently awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on the history of human populations through sequencing the genomes of contemporary peoples and their ancestors.
Armitage Center entrance

KU Field Station marks 75th anniversary with Visitors’ Day April 27

The KU Field Station will open its core research area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 27 for its first public Visitors’ Day in more than 20 years. Members of the public will be welcomed behind the scenes to tour restricted-access research areas.
At Kansas Capitol, Ric Steele, AVP for Graduate Studies; Seyed Mohsen Fatemi, Merve Akin-Tas, Natalie Lind, Susan Koerner, Annie Chuning, Kara Hageman, Luke Parker, Cassie Sutton.

Jayhawks recognized for research at 2024 Capitol Graduate Research Summit

Annie Chuning, Kara Hageman, Natalie Lind and Luke Parker were each honored for their exceptional research and presentations at an event that assembles the top graduate student researchers in the state of Kansas. Their work delved into topics including the effects of food insecurity on rural Kansans' health and solutions to orthopedic joint infections.