Author: Cheryl Miller

The American Institute of Architects has recognized the Youngmeyer Ranch building as a recipient of its prestigious Small Projects Award. The low-profile, off-grid facility, located in Elk County and owned by the Youngmeyer Trust, opened in the summer of 2022 and was immediately put to use by Wichita State faculty and students for applied learning and applied research opportunities.

“Our goal was to construct a facility that would support the teaching and research of field biology,” Greg Houseman, professor of biological sciences and field station director, said. “For many of our students, these field experiences are pivotal to understanding how prairies work and discovering the best ways to manage these at-risk habitats.”

Join the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for a reception honoring Andrew Hippisley, dean, from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 25 in 142 Rhatigan Student Center, Harvest Room. Remarks will be given at 3 p.m. This is a come and go event.

Dean Hippisley began his position as the 20th dean of Fairmount College on July 2, 2018, and his last day with Wichita State will be this upcoming July 2. He is taking on a new position at the University of Texas at Arlington as vice provost for academic affairs.

As compared to white drivers, a Black driver is five times as likely to be stopped by a police officer. Black citizens report being stopped more frequently for minor violations: forgetting to use their blinker, a cracked windshield, a broken taillight. These frequent stops have real, often serious implications on the mental wellbeing of Black citizens, potentially leading to anxiety and short-term PTSD.

Known as racial profiling, this phenomenon has considerable importance to scholars across the nation, including Michael Birzer, professor of criminal justice.

Chances are, you’ve mixed up a Betty Crocker cake mix, added Nestle chocolate chips to a batch of cookies or sprinkled Morton salt onto your popcorn.

But can you recall the last advertisement you’ve seen for any of these products?

The ubiquity of these household items goes unquestioned by most, but not by Lisa Parcell, Betty and Oliver Elliott associate professor for the Elliott School of Communication.

Wichita State’s public affairs program has been ranked near the top third of all graduate school programs of its kind in the United States by U.S. News & World Report for the 2024-2025 academic year. The program, housed in the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs, emerged in 99th position, moving up from 118th place last year.

Additionally, the public affairs program’s specialty area of public finance and budgeting has been ranked 27th by U.S. News, tied with the University of Central Florida and the University of Michigan.

Bill DeGrado, Toby Herfindal Presidential Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California San Francisco, will give a public lecture, “Extreme de novo protein design,” at 3:30 p.m. Monday, April 15 in 208 Hubbard Hall. He will also give a technical lecture, “Use of integrin antagonists to disrupt pathological mechanical force-dependent processes in fibrosis and severe asthma,” at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 in 224 McKinley Hall.

DeGrado is an early pioneer in the field of protein design, and coined the term de novo protein design, meaning the design of proteins from first principles. His research has led to the discovery of Brilacidin, which is now in Phase 3 clinical trials for drug-resistant Staphylococcal aureus infections, and integrin inhibitors for treating Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. The grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State Foundation and Alumni Engagement’s endowment. For more information about the lecture series, contact Dr. David Eichhorn, associate dean for faculty development and research, at 316-978-6659.

Science-minded teenagers will take over campus this weekend, testing their knowledge and skills for various STEM related events.

The Kansas Science Olympiad state tournament participants will begin arriving Friday, April 5 and will compete in several different STEM events throughout Saturday, April 6.

Faculty, staff and students can help visitors who may not be familiar with the Wichita State campus by showing landmarks and offering directions.

The Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences sponsors the Kansas Science Olympiad program. Wichita State hosts the state competition in April each year. Area middle and high school students begin preparation as soon as their classes begin in the fall and try out for a place on their school’s team. Teams may participate in more than 20 events, which include building wheeled vehicles, bridges and rubberband-powered aircraft, solving crime scenarios, or working steadily with teammates on written exams.

For Darren DeFrain, associate professor of English and director of the writing program, research is all about finding the narrative.

Take, for example, graphic novels, a subject of DeFrain’s research for some ten years.

More than 1,000 Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students earned a spot on the fall 2023 Dean’s Honor Roll.

The students, who completed at least 12 graded credit hours with a 3.5 grade point average, were celebrated at a special event March 4. Each person was recognized individually and received a certificate for their accomplishment. They will have access to photos of their department cohort next week.

“This was a joyful occasion celebrating with our students their remarkable progress so far,” said Andrew Hippisley, dean of Fairmount College. “To make it onto the dean’s honor roll means ‘full speed ahead’ toward graduating, and graduating strongly.”

Matt Howland, assistant professor of anthropology and archaeology, is using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to model how such coastal change and damage could occur. GIS is used to record, store, analyze, visualize and interpret geographic data and has become an important technological tool for archaeologists, particularly in determining changes across landscapes.