Professor Bubblegum Bruce Frey's alter ego spins catchy hits - SPENCER 'DEBUT' Exhibit reveals collection's depth - Kansas Alumni magazine (2024)

SPENCER ‘DEBUT’ Exhibit LAUGH TREK Comedian reveals collection’s depth blazes humor trail ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 | $7 Professor BubblegumBruce Frey’s alter ego spins catchy hits

HEARD BY THE BIRDProviding Talk and squawk in the news iStock photos/Brian McEntire “These terms don’t exactly roll •• - - •• off the tongue. Aanswers and kid’s not going to want to grow up dreaming to be a Steve Puppe civilian crew.saving lives Space tourist is not a good Halloween costume.”is the ultimate “Good Morning America” correspondent Becky Worley: “Guys, this is a dream —Andrew McKenzie, associate professor of linguistics, in a Houston Chronicle story on the debate over what to call Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and others who flew on private spacecraft this year, the firstreward. assignment, I tell ya.” time Americans not trained by NASA orbited Earth. GMA host Robin Roberts: “Are you really there? Because that looks like a movie set. So picture-perfect.” “Norm @normmacdonald was a great Worley: “It’s incredible, you guys. I can’t even talent, and I loved laughing with him believe I’m standing here and it’s gotten more on SNL. *Bob Dole* will miss beautiful as we’ve been here all morning long.” Norm Macdonald.” @SenatorDole/Twitter —Worley reporting live on ABC alongside Ted Grinter, ’92, on his — A tribute tweet from former family’s beloved sunflower farm near Tonganoxie, during the live U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, ’45, after the stand-up segment of Worley’s Sept. 9 “Rise and Shine” travel Sept. 14 death of his Saturday Night feature. Worley’s report also included a visit with men’s basketball Live doppelganger, who madeNationally ranked as the Best Hospital in Kansas City and in Kansas. coach Bill Self in Allen Field House and “Ted Lasso” actor Jason Sudeikis’ parents at Sporting Kansas City’s soccer stadium, and America laugh with his good- natured impersonations during pieces on the Eldridge Hotel, Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.The University of Kansas Hospital is proud to receive national recognition, but we’re even and, because of course, Wamego’s Oz Museum.more proud of what we do each day to earn it. We continue to be a leader in providing Follow us on your “Would be a lot cooler if this KU Newsanswers to the people of our community and saving lives. We do that by always challenging favorite platform:ourselves to offer very specialized, innovative care. There can be no greater reward than this. was a pool but whatever.”Learn more at kansashealthsystem.com. —A Twitter post by @StudentsofKU in response to the giant, blue “KU” letters atop the Wescoe Hall roof. CentiMark, a commercial roofing company in Lenexa, recently installed a new roof on the building and added the rooftop logo at no extra charge. Accord- ing to KU officials, the graphic, which measures 80 feet from top #KUalumni to bottom, will be highly visible on Google Earth. @KUalumni © The University of Kansas Hospital

IN THIS ISSUE O N L I N E E X T R AS Videos Statistics guru Neil Salkind suggested mayonnaise FA L L 2021 belongs in brownies. We investigated. Publisher Heath Peterson, d’04, g’09 Digital Feature Editor KU Alumni Association Annual ReportCOV E R STO RY Jennifer Jackson Sanner, j’81Statistics for Creative Director From the ArchivesSmarties and OtherFun Stuff 57 Susan Younger, f’91 Associate Editors After an $8 million renovation, the Spencer Museum of Art unveilsOf brownies, bubble- Chris Lazzarino, j’86 transformed first-floorgum and books for Profile: Gwen Westerman Steven Hill galleries in “The Bigpeople who (think they Connections to family and land inspire Minnesota’s Reveal,” issue No. 5, 2016.don’t) have a head for new poet laureate. Assistant Editornumbers. Heather Biele by Steven Hillby Chris Lazzarino Photographers Steve Puppe, j’98Cover illustration 4 52 Dan Storeyby Susan Younger;photographby Steve Puppe 30 Lift the Chorus Letters from our readers Always Jayhawks Association news and alumni profiles Graphic Designers Chris Millspaugh, f’97 kansasalumni magazine.org 7 Toni Brou, f’91 KU Voice 62 Digital Team L ET T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R : Making the most of 2020-’21 COVID-19’s teachable Annual Report David Johnston, j’94, g’06 Kansas Alumni welcomes letters to the editor. moment Highlights and financial Debbi Johanning, c’98, g’19 Our address is Kansas Alumni magazine, results through June 30 Kara Rodriguez, j’10 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100. 8 Ryan Camenzind, j’17 Email responses may be sent to the Alumni First Glance 68 Advertising Sales Association, kualumni@kualumni.org. Art restoration Class Notes Please limit your comments to 350 words. Letters Teri Harris appearing in the magazine may be edited for space and 10 90 Brett Leonard, d’09 38 44 clarity. For letters published, we’ll send a free KU gift, Rock Chalk Review In Memory a $5 value. Test scores are optional Contact: in new admissions and 94 KU Alumni Association 1266 Oread Avenue KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE (ISSN 0745-3345) is published by the KU Alumni Association four times a year in scholarship standards. Photo Finish February, May, August and November. $60 annual subscription First Sight A Man Walks Into a Bar Big band sound Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 includes membership in the Alumni Association. Office of In a new exhibition, treasures from the Spencer’s A funny thing happened on the way to the border: 26 785-864-4760 Publication: 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100. permanent collection are ready for their close-ups. Sean Powers found his comedy voice on the Pacific Jayhawk Sports 96 800-584-2957 www.kualumni.org Periodicals postage paid at Lawrence, KS. Crest Trail. Basketball tips off Hail to Old KU POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Kansas Alumni kualumni@kualumni.org Magazine, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 by Jennifer Jackson Sanner promising season with Meet Friends In Coun- © 2021 by Kansas Alumni Magazine. by Steven Hill No. 3 ranking. cil—Mount Oread’s Non-member issue price: $10 Established in 1902 as original study buddies. The Graduate Magazine Volume 119, No. 4, 20214 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 5

STATEMENT OF OWNER- SHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION LIFT THE CHORUS (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)1. Publication Title KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE2. Publication No. 0745-33453. Filling Date September 29, 20214. Issue Frequency Quarterly (Feb., May, Aug., Nov.)5. No. Issues Published Annually 4 along with the photos, was out from all the “loftier” In addition, “My Son’s6. Annual Subscription Price $60 a joy. achievements on the page­— Story” by Jerri Niebaum Clark DROP US A LINE7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, Kudos to the graphic those who are now CEO, CFO, introduced me to health care Lawrence, KS 66045-31008. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General designer who chose to show president or chairperson. issues I had never been We welcome letters to Business Office of Publisher the “then-and-now” photos of Sure, my updates read more exposed to. Her bravery in the editor. The Alumni The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 the couple. Seeing that was like the others through the years, giving us her family’s story Association and the9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, enough to get me to read as I achieved higher levels was compelling, as is her University remain com- Editor, and Managing Editor the article. during my 29-year career with continuing work in the mental mitted to free speech and Publisher Heath Peterson The “More than Meets the Hallmark, culminating in Calvin Clark health field. the rights of all individuals The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, Eye” photo contest article was creative director. It’s also great to know we to express their differing Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 Editor a visual treat. Growing up in Still, I think I may be more ... Cover to cover have such brilliant KU doctors personal views, including Jennifer Jackson Sanner The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, Salina, I sometimes take for proud of my current status than Thank you so much for and researchers to be proud of those that others might find Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 granted the beauty in the any previous one. the inspiring stories and as Barney Graham and challenging or inappropri-10. Owner The Kansas University Alumni Association, 1266 Oread Avenue, humble landscape and lives Writing this after reading the photographs in the latest issue Cynthia Turner-Graham. ate. Letters appearing in Lift Lawrence, KS 66045-3100 Lots to like ... we lead. current issue has me thinking of Kansas Alumni. The articles How wonderful to know that the Chorus represent only11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of I have been receiving When I turned the page to about many memories from my really sparked my interest, and a Kansan was instrumental in the authors’ opinions, and Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities. the alumni magazine for “My Son’s Story,” I knew I had days on the Hill and the people I I read the magazine from cover creating the COVID-19 Kansas Alumni reserves the If none, check box. q None 412. Tax Status. The Purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this decades, but the current issue to read it, too. Thank you to have known. Isn’t that what the to cover. vaccine! right to edit as needed for organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes: stands out as one of the very everyone who was involved in publication is all about? Well As a Kansan now living in All in all, you and your staff clarity and as space requires. q Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months 4 q Has Changed During Preceding 12 Months best. the decision to bring this done, all. Well done. Florida, the striking photogra- did a fantastic job on this issue. Please limit responses to 35013. Publication Title KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE Admittedly, I usually flip important story into the light. –John Keeling, f ’83 phy in the article “More than I am already looking forward words, and send them to14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below September 2018 through each issue, rarely Jerri Clark’s personal essay on Kansas City Meets the Eye” by Steven Hill to the next one. kualumni@kualumni.org15. Extent and Nature of Circulation Average Actual No. reading any story in depth, but the subject of mental illness made me very nostalgic for my –Cynthia Bender, g’88 or 1266 Oread Avenue, No. Copies Copies of always checking Class Notes was gripping. It put a face on a Midwestern roots. Trinity, Florida Lawrence, KS 66045-3100. Each Issue Single During Issue Pub. for updates and, sadly, obits of topic that we hear about in the Preceding Nearest to 12 Months Filing Date people I knew. news and yet so often keep at a a. Total Number of Copies This issue, however, grabbed distance. (Net Press Run) 28,750 29,000 my interest with the compel- Sadly, I know of two fellow Nominate a colleague or classmate today!b. Paid Circulation (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid ling cover photo. KU alumni whose lives have Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 28,024 28,389 I wrongly assumed that the been greatly lessened by the (2) Mailed In-County Paid two were professional col- horrors of mental illness Help recognize outstanding clinicians, researchers, educators and leaders. Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 0 0 leagues involved with the (schizophrenia). 2022 (3) Paid Distribution Outside the leadership of the University. When I got to the 1983 University of Kansas Mails Including Sales Through Dealers & Carriers, Street Vendors To read the article and learn Class Notes, I was surprised to Counter Sales, & Other Paid of the personal story of this find myself and struck by the Medical Center Distribution Outside USPS 0 0 (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes married couple and their fact that I shared that I am ALUMNI of Mail Through the USPS 0 0 c. Total Paid Distribution 28,024 28,389 important professional work, simply “an artist.” That stood d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 0 0 (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County AWARDS Included on PS Form 3541 0 0 (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Clases Through the USPS 50 50 (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 300 300 e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 350 350 f. Total Print Distribution 28,374 28,739 g. Copies Not Distributed 376 261 h. Copies Not Distributed. 98.77% 98.78%16. Publication of Statement of Ownership will be printed Accepting nominations through December 13, 2021. in the November 2021issue of this publication.17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner kumc.edu/alumniawardsI certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. Iunderstand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on thisform or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subjectto criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment and/or civil sanctions(including civil penalties). “More than Meets the Eye,” issue No. 3, 2021 6 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 7

KU VOICESteve Puppe and be open to intellectual uncertainty. I know my students live in a culture driven by social media bluster and clever memes, but I want them to learn how to recognize and make a well-substantiated argument based on the best available evidence. To develop those skills, as is a historian’s wont, I ask my students to look to the past to prepare themselves for the future. During the early months of the pandemic, for example, we read essays crafted in two distinct eras by two starkly different American thinkers: conservative philoso- pher Russell Kirk’s “The Essence of Conservatism” (1957) and President Theodore Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism,” the address he gave in 1910 at the dedica- tion of the John Brown memorial in Osawatomie. How do these two Ameri- A Kansas City TV news reporter often based on their political leanings. cans, I asked my students, envision good recently contacted me to discuss teaching Consequently, discussing the issue with citizenship? How do they justify their at the University in the midst of students remains tricky. As a professor, I claims to their respective audiences? How COVID-19. She began the interview by feel strongly that it is not my business to do they establish their authority to make asking how I explained the unprecedented push an ideological or political position on such claims? To what extent do their essays nature and impact of the pandemic to my students. At the same time, as we reflect the times in which they lived? By my students. professors like to say, COVID has examining these and other readings and Now, I’m a historian, and we historians presented the University community a by answering such questions, students can are generally of the Ecclesiastes school of useful “teachable moment.” develop the habits of mind that just might thought: “There is no new thing under the The battles over how to respond to enable them to see through the carny sun.” Unprecedented? If you want to talk COVID open the classroom door to some shenanigans of too many of today’s public about a pandemic, try the Black Death, of the most vexing questions of our time. figures and withstand the dark rabbit holes which killed millions of Europeans during In the morass of social media, cable TV of internet “research.” the Middle Ages; the waves of smallpox and the near-endless recesses of the Teaching at KU in the Age of the epidemics that devastated American internet, how do we know which informa- Pandemic has offered both students and Indians from the 17th to the 19th tion is trustworthy? What is and what instructors unexpected opportunities for centuries; and, of course, the 1918-’19 should be the basis of expertise and intense educational exploration. COVID influenza pandemic, which first became cultural authority in America’s democratic and the fraught political battles that have evident at Fort Riley and killed at least society? How should we balance individu- swirled around it have forced us all to 675,000 Americans (in a total U.S. al freedom with the public good? And, confront the meaning of leadership in our population of just over 100 million). from a vantage point of institutional democracy, the utility of evidence in the Nonetheless, the reporter had a point. self-interest, what does or should educa- search for truth, the acceptable balance We have responded to COVID differ- tion at KU, one of only 131 Carnegie between conflicting values and interests ently from how Americans reacted to most Research 1 universities in the United and much more. At KU, many of us have previous public health crises. Almost from States, contribute to the search for truth in done our best—even amid so much the beginning, the pandemic became a a world where so many, regardless of their COVID-related sorrow and uncertainty— fiercely partisan political issue. Americans training or analytic sophistication, feel to use our classrooms to grapple with the quickly came to have radically divergent called upon “to do their own research” on enduring questions the pandemic has understandings of what could and should all matter of issues, even the most technical placed in such tight focus. be done to manage the illness, and those and scientifically complex? —David Farber divides have only deepened over time. None of these questions, obviously, have Farber is the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished KU students, I soon learned, likewise simple answers. That’s part of the learning Professor of History. held widely different views on COVID— experience at KU: embrace complexity ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 9

FIRST GLANCE Native Hosts, a five-panel series by Edgar Heap of Birds, f ’76, (Cheyenne, Arapaho) on Oct. 14 returned with proper ceremony to the Spencer Museum of Art after vandals defaced four of the panels and the fifth was stolen. KU’s First Nations Student Association, University leaders and about 100 community members rededicated Native Hosts, which acknowledges tribes that historically or currently inhabit the region and serves as this year’s KU Common Work of Art. Professor Robert Warrior (Osage) described Native Hosts as an invitation to pause and consider the struggles of Indigenous peoples and acknowledge those who came before. Photograph by Ryan Waggoner10 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 11

ROCK CHALK REVIEW Steve Puppe academic career in high school versus how they did on a Saturday morning.” Fall 2021 Enrollment Though standardized test scores are no longer required, Lisa Pinamonti Kress, director of KU Admissions, still encour- ages students to take at least one of the n 27,685 on all campuses exams, reminding them that the score may (+ 66 students, or .2 %) be helpful for placement into courses or 23,598 Lawrence/Edwards Campus for scholarship purposes. But she admits that not having to continually chase a high n score is a relief for many students and their families. “I know students are certainly (-6 students from fall 2019) excited about not having to retake the test,” says Kress, g’98. “If they have the GPA, they have the confidence of know- n 4,119 new freshmen ing they’re getting in. Some students are (+290 students or 7.6%, 6 fewer than pre-pandemic super-successful at GPA and they take the test and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not the score Fall 2019) I want,’ and they kind of feel pressured to keep taking it.” But with KU’s new test-optional policy, students are required n 3.66 freshman average high school to report only their GPA and, if they want, GPA (highest on record) STUDENTS prevented many students from taking the exams. their test score. “If you meet the require- 84.8% one-year retention rate “It forced institutions to do what a lot of schools ments you’re admitted within 48 hours,” New admissions were looking into anyhow—decreasing emphasis on standardized test scores.” Kress continues. “If you don’t, we review your application and it takes another seven n standards Over the past year, several university systems in to 10 days to hear back. I think it eases up for Fall 2020 freshmen (3rd-highest on record) the United States, including those in California, the stress of retaking that test.” First-year students no longer needThe new policyhelps ensure that to report ACT or SAT scores Oregon, Colorado and Illinois, have moved to test-optional standards for admissions, allowing Melvin, who for years has advocated that GPA is the best predictor of student n 6,681minority students students to choose whether they submit ACT or success in higher education, hopes the new (24.1% of total KU population, largest on record)the University’s The Kansas Board of Regents has approved SAT scores. Some institutions have gone a step standards ultimately will boost student 1,584 veterans, active-duty andadmissions new admissions standards for the University that further and become test-blind, meaning that even enrollment and retention. “Our admis- no longer require incoming freshmen to submit if students submit exam scores, those scores aren’t sions requirements aren’t designed to keep nprocess is as fair standardized test scores. First-year students will considered in the application process. KU’s test- people out,” he says. “That’s never whatand equitable now be assured admission to KU if they have: optional pathway allows the University to remain we’re about. Our admissions requirements military-connected (dependent)as possible, competitive in attracting out-of-state students. were designed to say, ‘Can we predict students (+.4%)regardless of • a 3.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale, or “The market shifted, and one of the things we success in college? Can we predict successa student’s • a 2.0 GPA plus an ACT score of at least 21 talk about at KU all the time is, ‘How can we main- at KU?’ That’s what we’re about. (or an SAT score of at least 1,060). tain that we are in equilibrium with the market?’” “Over the next year or two, we are clear-background. Melvin says. “That really was a driver.” ly going to start looking at how are these Steve Puppe These changes take effect in spring 2022 and are The new policy also helps ensure that the Uni- students doing in terms of their academic similar to test-optional pathways at other Kansas versity’s admissions process is as fair and equitable performance, their academic progress universities, including K-State, Wichita State and as possible, regardless of a student’s background. In from term to term, their success rate with Emporia State. The KU application deadline for recent years, Melvin explains, high school students certain courses, their retention rates. freshman scholarships is Dec. 1 for new students have often taken the ACT or SAT multiple times There becomes a whole opportunity for an planning to enroll for the fall 2022 semester. and even enlisted coaching services to obtain higher assessment to say, ‘Are those variables that According to Matt Melvin, vice provost for scores—critical advantages for some but not all we’re collecting predictive of success?’ And enrollment management, COVID-19 helped drive students. By eliminating the test requirement and I think that’s going to be the next round of the revision of KU’s admissions criteria. “The pan- putting greater emphasis on GPA and the academic research that we do.” demic forced our hands, and it forced the hands of intensity of a student’s high school curriculum, “It —Heather Biele most schools across the country,” he says, explaining levels the playing field a bit,” he says. “It looks at that the widespread closure of standardized test sites the success of a student over the course of their12 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 13

ROCK CHALK REVIEW Steve Puppe response to behavioral health crises, updates to shown over the years, I was kind of shocked—and policies on officer conduct and the formation of an very honored.” oversight board [“Public Safety changes planned,” In addition to her sun sculptures, Brou also issue No. 3, 2021]. Mosley also stresses the impor- creates ceramics, paints silk scarves, and does tance of recruiting a diverse staff of qualified law graphic design, including for Kansas Alumni. See enforcement officers—more closely representative more of her work at tonibrou.com. of the University community itself—and priori- Making art is a meditative activity that has helped tizing accountability and transparency, an increas- her cope with personal loss, and she often hears ingly important issue following the recent deaths from people who say her suns do the same for them.“I came here of George Floyd and other Black men and women “When I was first widowed, I had three littlewith the idea during police encounters. boys, and holidays were really difficult,” Brou says.of building and “It’s just a matter of making sure we’re doing the “We had family friends who always made sure we right thing,” he says. “Most police departments are weren’t alone. At one holiday dinner, a really kindmaintaining our doing it and should be. I know we’re ahead of the lady told me a story about her dad. He worked inrelationships curve; we’re doing those things. We’re a leader by Colorado on the railroad and would get up in the continuing what we’ve been doing.” middle of these brutal winters early in the morningwith everyone Mosley, who recently served as president of the to go to work, and he’d always say, ‘Well, spring’sout there.” Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, also looks forward to working with local law enforcement Kendra Hatfield—Chief Nelson Mosley agencies, which KU relies upon during games and Toni Brou’s digital collage, other University events, and getting involved with “Sun Over Sunflowers,” the greater Lawrence community. But for now, brightens the month of CAMPUS thought, ‘I want to do that.’ So that was my motiva- KU students, faculty and staff get his immediate May in Follow the Suns, a tion from then on.” attention. 2022 calendar featuring Open-door policy In 1987, Mosley joined the Wichita Police Department and was promoted to deputy police “I have an open-door policy,” he says. “If I’m here, you can stop in and talk to me about any number of art from the popular news program “CBS Sunday Accountability, transparency are chief in 2009. Along the way, he served as captain things. Morning.” priorities for KU’s new police chief of the Crimes Against Persons Bureau and led the “This is your police department.” unit that responded when the city’s notorious serial —Heather Biele killer BTK resurfaced in 2004. He retired in 2016, Nelson Mosley, the University’s new chief of after nearly two years as Wichita’s interim police police and director of KU Public Safety Office, has chief, but the break was short-lived. “After getting N E WS B R I E F led departments both large and small in his nearly through my list of chores and things that needed Sun salutation Courtesy Toni Brou 35-year career in law enforcement. So, then, what attention around the house—and that went rather attracted him to the Jayhawk community? “Well, quickly—I made a decision,” Mosley, then 50 years After losing both her father and husband 20 number one, I’m a KU fan,” he says with a grin, old, says. “I’m ready to get back to work.” years ago prompted Toni Brou to adapt the motto “and I have been for a while.” When the chief of police position opened in “The sun always rises,” the visual artist began craft- But for Mosley, who in September replaced 2016 in Rose Hill, a suburb southeast of Wichita ing smiling sun artworks that draw inspiration from retired KU Chief of Police Chris Keary, c’83, where he and his family lived, Mosley jumped at the her father’s love of making art from found objects in it’s more about continuing the good work of his chance. The change of pace was welcome, and he his Dodge City workshop. friend and predecessor and promoting community embraced the opportunity to get out and interact Since 2011, two dozen of Brou’s suns—which policing by strengthening relationships with KU with community members, something that didn’t she sculpts and affixes to hubcaps before paint- students, faculty and staff. “Just like anything, we come easily as chief in a much larger metropolis. ing—have been featured on the long-running CBS can always make things better,” he says. Now, five years later, Mosley enjoys a similar expe- News program “Sunday Morning.” Now her digital Mosley grew up in Felton, Delaware, a town with rience on Mount Oread. “I came here with the idea collage “Sun Over Sunflowers,” which combines her just over 1,400 residents, and moved to Kansas after of building and maintaining our relationships with sculpture “Spring’s A Comin’” and her photograph completing basic training at Lackland Air Force everyone out there,” he says. of Grinter’s Sunflower Farm, is featured in the Base in San Antonio. Throughout his military In his first few months, Mosley has focused on show’s first calendar, Follow the Suns, a 2022 day-to- a comin.’ I knew she was trying to tell me things service, he remained committed to a career in law the 12 recommendations created last fall by the day calendar published by Simon & Schuster. would get better. enforcement. “I always wanted to be a police officer, 27-member Chancellor’s Task Force on Commu- “The current sun curator at the show has been at “So now that I’ve kind of come through—hope- since I was little,” he says. “I had two uncles who nity-Responsive Public Safety. The recommended her position for 20 years and during that time hand- fully—the worst of things, I like to encourage were state policemen, and I remember they had changes, all of which Chancellor Doug Girod picked 9,000-plus suns,” says Brou, f ’91. “When other people. It’s really worth a lot to know that it’s the high boots. I used to help take them off and I approved this year, include improvements to KU’s I heard my sun was one of 12 chosen out of 9,000 helping someone else.”14 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 15

ROCK CHALK REVIEW Rylie Koester (4) visited KU Sept. 17 with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, transform non-food biological resources such as C A L E N DA R c’76, l’82, to meet some of the researchers and grasses and crop leftovers into plastic products— H I G H L I G H TS students involved in NSF-funded research at the which in turn will advance economic growth for University. farmers. Second, the team will improve processes For full listings of events, “This award highlights the key role Kansas plays for breaking down used plastic into elements to visit the links below. in advanced manufacturing and how they contin- create new plastic. ue to innovate in critical areas such as renewable The KU grant was one of nine the NSF an- Lied Center plastics that will benefit the entire nation,” Panchan- nounced in September to fund collaborative Dec. 5 Vespers athan said. projects that target national priorities. Kansas and“This award The project will strive to reduce the environ- Delaware both participate in the NSF EPSCoR, Dec. 10 Ashley Davishighlights Winter Solstice with mental toll of discarded plastics in two ways. First, which stands for Established Program to Stimulate special guest Cormac Dethe key role researchers will develop sustainable methods to Competitive Research. For 40 years, the initiative BarraKansas plays has strengthened studies in science, technology and engineering in about half of all U.S. states. Dec. 17 “Summer: Thein advanced Since 2006, KU has received 11 EPSCoR awards Donna Summer Musical”manufacturing totaling more than $72.4 million. Jan. 18 Jazz at Lincolnand how they Over the past decade, 26 KU faculty members, Center Orchestra withcontinue to including eight women, have received NSF career Wynton Marsalis awards.innovate in In fiscal year 2021, the NSF awarded $23.1 Jan. 23 Russian Nationalcritical areas million to KU for projects that include 37 principal Ballet: “Swan Lake”such as renew- investigators across 17 research centers and lied.ku.eduable plastics that departments. Spencer Museum of Artwill benefit the “Debut,” through fallentire nation” RESEARCH 2022 Project to create safer plastics spencerart.ku.edu—SethuramanPanchanathan Murphy Hall NSF director, Sen. Moran announce grant during campus visit Dec. 3 Chamber Music Ensembles Three KU professors will help lead research to improve the manufacturing and recycling of Dec. 7 Rock Chalk plastics as part of a four-year, $4 million grant from Singers the National Science Foundation (NSF). music.ku.edu “We’re excited to advance technologies that will University Theatre help society transition to a more sustainable plastic economy,” said lead investigator Bala Subramaniam, Dec. 3-5, 7-9 “The Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor of Chem- Devils Between Us” ical & Petroleum Engineering and director of the theatredance.ku.edu Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC). Humanities Lecture Subramaniam’s KU colleagues on the project are Series Alan Allgeier, associate professor of chemical & Dec. 7 Simone Marchesi petroleum engineering and CEBC deputy director, OPPOSITE, l to r: NSF Director TOP, l to r: Panchanathan, Moran and graduate student Victor Sharma hallcenter.ku.edu and Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Sethuraman Panchanathan’s also heard from Alan Allgeier, associate professor of chemical and Professor of Economics and director of KU’s momentous visit to KU was years petroleum engineering and part of the team that will help create more Academic Calendar Institute for Policy & Social Research. Completing in the making. Panchanathan and sustainable plastics with the new NSF grant. Nov. 24-28 the leadership team are Timothy Dawsey, executive U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran met with Ana Thanksgiving break director of the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Engineering at the University of Delaware. Rita C. Morais, assistant professor of ABOVE, l to r: Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Pittsburg State University, and Raul Lobo, Claire News of the grant was delivered personally by chemical and petroleum engineering, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and his students presented the Dec. 10 Stop Day D. LeClaire Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan, who to learn about her research. Shiflett Research Group’s work. Dec. 13-17 Finals week16 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 17

ROCK CHALK REVIEW Steven Voss “In recent decades we’ve realized that climate change is an existential threat, in the last year and a half we’ve realized that pandemics are an existential threat, and what I’m also trying to get the American people to realize is that bigotry is an existential threat,” Kendi said. Many forms of bigotry (racism, sexism, classism, ableism, hom*ophobia, antisemitism) “are causing humans to see different groups as not human like them, that they’re the problem, they’re the threat. Certainly the scale of the division now is something that I think we should be concerned about, but notThe Kansas Biological only the scale of the division, the scale of the denial.Survey in July changed … There’s mass denial about climate change, there’s N E WS B R I E Fits name to the Kansas mass denial about the threat of pandemics andBiological Survey & Self lecture features Kendi there’s mass denial about a persistence of bigotry,Center for Ecological despite all the inequality that persists between manyResearch to better reflect The best-selling author of How to Be An of these groups.”its mission and scope, Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, visited campus Oct. 7 The Andrew Mellon Professor in the Humanitieswhich includes research for the annual Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium at Boston University and founding director of thein terrestrial, aquatic, Lecture, joining Professor of Film Kevin Willmott BU Center for Antiracist Research, Kendi is theremote sensing and in a wide-ranging discussion on race in American youngest person to win a National Book Award,analytical subjects, as politics, history and culture. for his 2016 cultural history Stamped from thewell as management of Asked what the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol says Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideasthe KU Field Station. about the scale of division now, Kendi noted that in America. The week before visiting KU he was“This re-designation aims the bid to overturn election results through violence awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship. Histo more clearly convey is both a result of the campaign to misinform Amer- symposium appearance was sponsored by theour prominent role in icans about what constitutes the gravest existential Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowshipgenerating basic and threat to the republic and a very stark demonstra- program; Academic Success; Diversity, Equity,transformative ecological tion of the real threat—namely, white supremacist Inclusion & Belonging; and the Office ofknowledge to national domestic terrorism. Multicultural Affairs.and internationalaudiences while main-taining emphasis on theimportant work weconduct for the state,” Home on the Hill Dan Storeysaid Director Sara Baer. The First Nations Student Associa- tion in mid-October celebrated what was thought to be the first tipi outside Strong Hall. When alumni reminded FNSA that they also did so in 1978, the current Jayhawks responded with joy: “It is our strength,” they said of con- necting with those who came before.18 KANSAS ALUMNI

ROCK CHALK REVIEW Steve Puppe science, Wallace enlisted in the Army and served her interest in societal change while harrowing tours as a Ranger in Vietnam; he was a a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Congressional aide when the CIA finally took no- a time when authority figures tended tice of the application he’d submitted before leaving to insist health care providers main- KU. More than 25 years later, Spycraft required tain distance from social upheavals years to pass muster at the CIA’s publication review of the era. board, yet the agency eventually signaled its enthu- “My classmates and I stretched siastic, hard-won support by approving a foreword the faculty, we stretched our by former director George Tenet. education, and we stretched our Wallace hesitates to agree that intelligence limits,” says Hartley, whose nursing work can, at times, be characterized as fun, instead practice was in coronary and critical describing it as an “adrenaline-producing” career care and as a clinical nurse educator. path, a keystone to America’s founding and ongoing “During that time there was some push- existence. back for nursing students and professional nurses “Whenever the nation was facing a crisis, intelli- to actually be agents of change.” gence was a vital element in resolving it, to the good or the bad. If we got it resolved well, intelligence played a critical role. If it didn’t get solved well, or KU Engineering addressed well, intelligence probably didn’t do its BOOKS job well,” Wallace says. “The fun side of it is kind of community, the well-organized agencies, and I parallel to the idea that spies all believe that what ‘Always on the edge’ think that presents a false picture of what the his- tory of American intelligence is really like,” Wallace we are doing is important. There’s a high level of satisfaction in doing it well. Former CIA officer illuminates yet more says of the appreciation he’s gained for the history “You’re a race car driver, in a sense. You’re right corners of the shadow world of global espionage since leaving the CIA. “Be- on the edge, always on the edge. You’re trying to ginning with the Revolutionary War, through the push it to the maximum. You also know that if you Once was a time when Bob Wallace lived Civil War, World War I, and even through much of go over the maximum, you wreck the car and you within the shadows of the secret service, forging World War II, a lot of the best intelligence work was kill yourself. When you go over, an intelligence a long career as a CIA operations officer, includ- done by people I would call ‘citizen spies.’ There was failure frequently has severe consequences. It’s not a ing three tours as a chief of station. Even when not a professional intelligence service. There wasn’t mistake that can be erased.” he capped his career at the CIA as director of the an organization that trained people to be intelli- —Chris Lazzarino vaunted Office of Technical Service, Wallace gence officers or spies. These individuals just kind of continued his work behind the scenes, unknown came to it on their own, and they made do.” Aerospace awards: Four aerospace engineering to all but his closest colleagues. As with the previous installments of the Spy Wallace, g’68, shed his invisibility cloak when he Sites series—all gorgeously illustrated, thoroughly N E WS B R I E F teams recently won design awards in prestigious competitions,Spy Sites of Philadelphia co-wrote Spycraft [issue No. 4, 2008], the authorita- researched and presented with hundreds of short Support for nurse educators including first place for graduate students in a regional jetBy H. Keith Melton and tive history of the CIA’s super-secret spy techs and entries illuminating people and places otherwiseRobert Wallace their brilliant inventions and espionage adventures, forgotten or even unknown to history—Wallace Baxter Springs native Christine Ness design competition offered by the American Institute ofGeorgetown University his first public partnership with the internationally and Melton’s latest book tells stories that originate Hartley, n’73, g’86, and her husband, Ross, l’74, Aeronautics and Astronautics.Press, $24.95 recognized intelligence historian H. Keith Melton. in and around one locale, yet serve the larger sweep recently made a $1.5 million gift to KU Endow- The latest of five Wallace-Melton book collabo- of American history. ment, supporting nursing professorships at KU. The winning KU team, led by Lendon Jackson, e’21, rations is Spy Sites of Philadelphia, which follows As they demonstrate throughout the Spy Sites To honor her rural upbringing, Hartley, an avid unveiled designs for a family of jets they dubbed the earlier histories of espionage from the Revolution- books, the national destiny turned time and again skier who now lives in Wyoming’s Jackson Hole ary War to the Cold War and beyond in New York on unlikely heroes risking their lives in unexpected valley, directed $1 million to establish the Hartley Skyblazers, which would be faster than current models while City and Washington, D.C. adventures. Rural Nursing Professorship for faculty at the also reducing carbon footprints; they also include a “magic Wallace and Melton are also co-executive “You can’t tell who the spy is,” Wallace says. “They KU School of Nursing Salina; $500,000 supports producers of the eight-episode Netflix docuseries could come from any walk of life. The spy really can the Christine A. Hartley Centennial Professorship, carpet” conveyor belt to offload cargo for reduced labor costs. “Spycraft,” based loosely on their book, for which be the person next door. Spy operations occur wher- currently held by University Distinguished Profes- “This is the pinnacle of aerospace design competitions they also appeared as expert commentators and ever the spy can conduct the operation, not where sor Janet D. Pierce, at the School of Nursing at KU helped filmmakers find former espionage officers you think it might be. Spies aren’t met just in dark Medical Center. around the world,” Professor Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, e’88, who were free to speak on camera. corners and back rooms of bars. They’re out there in Hartley cites the influence of now-retired nursing PhD’93, told the Lawrence Journal-World. “Since the Second World War, we have had this plain sight and you never see them.” faculty Rita Clifford, n’62, PhD’81, and Sue Pop- established intelligence apparatus, the intelligence After earning his master’s degree in political kess-Vawter, n’69, g’72, who allowed her to explore20 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 21

Book brief Chicago advertising executive Paige Meyer here, I wonder what they’ll see. A woman about to loves a man who cherishes her every word and have her world knocked off its axis. mood, and she adores her two unlikely friends-for- “I want to tell you a story,” Aunt Sissy says. life. But, as author and Chicago advertising execu- Hammer’s confident narrative soars as Paige’s tive Alison Hammer, ’01, reveals in the fast-paced free-spirited aunt reveals details about an unfortu- opening of Little Pieces of Me, her second novel, nate night of passion Paige can’t breathe. back in the late 1970s, She’s been laid off from her job and frets over when Sissy, Paige’s her 43rd birthday. Her supercilious mother back mother and both of home in St. Louis grates on her last raw nerve. And, her fathers were all churning just beneath the ripples of otherwise com- Jayhawks who social- monplace troubles, her father’s car-crash death two ized at KU Hillel. For sixty-five years, Midwest businesses have relied on years earlier still hurts in unexpected ways, stopping Paige cold when she allows herself fleeting feelings As close as she was to the events in question, SumnerOne to provide them with the services and of good cheer. At this unsettled moment, Paige gives no thought though, Sissy doesn’t know everything—far In September, KU’s technology they need to work as efficiently as possible. to an email from FamilyTree.com; she had sub- mitted a DNA kit as part of her research for a from it—and it’s left to Paige to illuminate, Office of Institutional Opportunity and We are proud to be involved and serve the communities failed pitch on behalf of her former agency, so the company now means nothing to her. Upon closer with a depth of com- passion that startles Advancement announced that it of Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. inspection, even the news that FamilyTree found a Little Pieces of Me By Alison Hammer even her, the true would now be called the parent-child match is shrugged aside. identities of her It must be a mistake on their end—I would know if William Morrow, $27.99 uptight mother, the Office of Civil Rights I’d ever had a child. “DNA dad” assumed & Title IX to more From the moment Paige learns that she is the to be a predatory Lothario, and the fine father who clearly communicate child half of the life-altering DNA match, the raised her as his own despite unmistakable differ- We are dedicated to providing the communities that we search is on for her biological father and his place in ences in physical features. its role in investigating reports of racial, ethnic serve with top of the line technology and outstanding her disjointed world. Families are complicated and, as Paige learns, I look out the window at the apartment building parents were once young, too, and unsure of them- and sex-based discrim- service. across the street. If someone over there is looking in selves, and the future is found only in forgiveness. ination on campus. In addition to the name change, the office Lucky shot: Santiago Patino, University of Kansas launched a new website, Production Print Solutions • Large Format Printers & Scanners • Managed Print Services a senior in architecture from Eureka, civilrights.ku.edu, to Enterprise Content Management (ECM) • Managed Voice Services Missouri, was the first student to win a provide greater support whopping $5,091—equivalent to one resources and anMultifunction Printers & Copiers • Workgroup Printers & Scanners • Office Supplies & Furniture semester of in-state tuition—for improved reporting uploading his COVID-19 vaccine record process for the KU to the Watkins Health Services student community. portal. In August, Chancellor Doug Welcome to the one place where Girod announced an incentive program, everything works. featuring cash awards, gift cards, parking passes, basketball tickets and more, for students who receive and report their voluntary COVID immunizations. The program was funded with more than $200,000 in federal money designated for vaccines, testing and incentives. 8058 Flint St. Lenexa, KS 66214 800.325.0985 kansascity@sumnerone.com ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 23

ROCK CHALK REVIEW Mass Street & more Courtesy of the Literary Estate of Evan Shelby Connell Jr. trail,” the author of Hemingway at Eighteen: The Pivotal Year That Launched an American Legend Steve Puppe (2) sets out to portray the “writer’s writer” who even friends concede was essentially unknowable. He finds Connell’s youth and adolescence “hard to trace,” aside from the hints he later left behind in his writing. The college years—first at Dartmouth and then at KU, where he finished his degree in three semesters and a summer term after serving as a Navy pilot during World War II—are more enlightening. University of Kansas On the Hill he pledged Phi Kappa Psi and helped found the Bitter Bird, a campus humor magazine to which he contributed drawings and writing; studied with the painter Albert Bloch, who later became the subject of one of his first published short stories;KU’s senior class has and cut a dashing figure in his leather flight jacket.selected Jonathan Hagel, He made training flights from the naval air stationassistant teaching in Olathe, Paul reports, until one spring day when aprofessor of history, and fellow flyer, a war buddy also enrolled at KU, Coffee shop wadesSarah Jen, assistant buzzed Memorial Stadium, causing both men to into quiet watersprofessor of social lose their flight privileges. He also studied creativewelfare, as recipients of BOOKS boldly innovative indictment of the Indian Wars as writing with the novelist and editor Ray B. West, Even in a downtown district beloved for fun exemplified by Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s who became a longtime mentor and champion. and funky coffee-shop concepts, Great Blue Heron The writing lifethe 2021 HOPE Awards.Given annually through resounding defeat at the Battle of the Little Literary Alchemist shines welcome light on Outdoors is quickly—and quietly—getting noticedthe Board of Class Bighorn, Son of the Morning Star. events and milestones in the life of a writer who for its new take on two old ideas: a full-service cof-Officers to Honor Biography explores Connell’s Elsewhere, in collections of short stories, novels, shunned public attention; especially enlightening fee bar within a tidy showroom of outdoor gear.Outstanding Progressive ‘quaint mania’ essays and in nearly uncategorizable forays into are descriptions of Connell’s world travels and his Bob Marsh’s hope for Great Blue Heron Out-Educators, the long- history, philosophy, religion, art and deeply held connection to nature, which illumine doors, at 823 Mass, is to encourage “community andstanding tradition was As a writer and as a man, alchemy (Were they fiction? Poetry? his most adventurous, genre-busting books. Even connection”—without TVs or a blaring stereo—established by the Class Evan Connell could be hard to read. Nonfiction? Even publishers and more valuable, though, is the literary appraisal among water-sports enthusiasts from across the Great Blue Heron, outdoorsof 1959 and is the only Enigmatic, introverted, emotionally critics struggled to put a label on his put forth by Paul, whose 40-year tenure at the region, as well as curious newbies and even visitors and coffee shopaward given to a faculty distant and averse to the publicity work), he constantly defied expecta- Star included a stint as editor of the paper’s book looking only for a relaxing spot to read while enjoy-member by the senior chores like interviews and personal tions and challenged readers, setting section. Synthesizing a wide range of sources, ing coffee and a pastry.class. Jen and Hagel were appearances that publishers typically out on wildly esoteric journeys to including book reviews, award citations and “You don’t need an outboard motor,” Marshrecognized Oct. 23 at the require of writers, Connell, c’47, was deeply explore the things that personal notes sent to Connell by contemporaries says of the fishing and boating interests supportedKU-Oklahoma football fiercely independent, iconoclastic and interested him, with seemingly no such as John Updike and William Styron, and by Great Blue Heron. “Paddle or wade. Simplify,game in David Booth uncompromising not only in his concern for whether or not anyone adding his own incisive analysis of Connell’s so you don’t need to carry a bunch of gear in a bigKansas Memorial personal life, but also in the subjects would follow along. He simply formidable work, Paul reminds us that even basket. We’re the quiet-water outfitter.”Stadium. he chose to explore in 20 books wrote what he wanted, publishing books that did not generate the broad adoring Amid a challenging time for acquiring retail published in a half-century career. conventions be damned. readership granted his most successful titles still stock, Marsh was delighted when the owners of a Mrs. Bridge (which established his “He is undoubtedly among the added to his exalted reputation in the literary popular local fly fishing store, which had moved reputation when it appeared to Literary Alchemist: The best of recent American writers, one world. With each new project Evan Connell pushed online years ago, dropped in shortly after the shop’s widespread acclaim in 1959) and Writing Life of Evan S. who possessed an extraordinary the boundaries of literature, unshakable in his recent opening and offered to sell him their invento- Mr. Bridge (which followed in 1969) Connell range of talent and output,” former conviction that what mattered beyond all else was ry; now Great Blue Heron features flies, lures, rods are quintessential Kansas City novels By Steve Paul Kansas City Star journalist Steve this “quaint mania,” as he called the obsessive and reels alongside carefully curated outdoor gear, whose emotionally remote title University of Missouri Paul writes early on in Literary writing about topics that captured his imagination as well as a custom-built coffee bar and sparkling characters were instantly recognizable Press, $45 Alchemist, the first full-length and challenged his redoubtable intellect. In that espresso machine. to most Americans, even as the books’ biography of the Kansas City-born regard, Literary Alchemist would seem to do all its “The heron is the patient but strong wading bird, inventive structure—short, impres- Connell, who died in 2013. “Yet, subject could ask: It sends us back to his books with quietly working in the water, hunting and fishing sionistic sections that eschewed traditional plotting reflecting the characteristic cruelty of the predomi- renewed appreciation for his lifework, challenging alongside us, familiar with us but keeping and narrative drive—prodded mainstream readers nant cultural measuring apparatuses, he is also one bold readers to claim this “writer’s writer” its distance,” Marsh says. “It’s that message, of to reconsider what a novel could be. Yet his most of the least known.” for our own. patience and wading, that we keyed in on with well-known work, surprisingly, was a nonlinear, Undaunted by Connell’s “relatively sparse paper —Steven Hill Great Blue Heron.”24 KANSAS ALUMNI ISSUE 4 | FALL 2021 25