Category: Featured Stories

In June, Billy Berue will begin an eight-year stint as a trumpeter in The President’s Own United States Marine Band.  

The President’s Own — as it’s commonly called — was established in 1798 with a mission to perform for the president of the United States and the commandant of the Marine Corps. It was created by an act of Congress and boasts that it is America’s oldest continually active professional music organization. 

Marie Bukowski has been named the next dean of Wichita State University’s College of Fine Arts (CFA), effective July 9, 2023.

Hailing from Kent State University, where she served as the associate dean of graduate programs and faculty affairs in its College of the Arts, Bukowski comes to WSU with almost 30 years of teaching experience. Bukowski has taught many classes in the arts, including in painting, lithography and design.

Bukowski will replace Dr. Rodney Miller, who retires in June, and who served as dean of the college for 19 years. Bukowski hopes to continue upholding the legacy and goals of CFA and Wichita State while pushing the college forward.

Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Wichita State University as a Stage One winner for the 2023 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Wichita State will receive a $50,000 cash prize to build strategic partnerships that will support the launch, growth and scale of STEM- and R&D-focused small businesses.

Wichita State’s award-winning model will amplify the impact and success of Growth Accelerator Partnerships and will work to foster and facilitate a thriving national ecosystem that advances equitable investment in innovative high-growth small businesses.

The existence of life on other planets, especially Mars, is a question pondered in literature, movies and imaginations.  

Wichita State University’s Dr. Mark Schneegurt is working on that issue with the assistance of a $377,000 grant from NASA to examine the toughness of microbes isolated from spacecraft assembly facilities. 

The planned Wichita Biomedical Campus — a joint initiative by Wichita State University, WSU Tech and University of Kansas — is one step closer to its funding goal thanks to a $15 million award from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), made available through the Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) Executive Committee and State Finance Council. 

The new funding is in addition to $190 million awarded by the Kansas Legislature — one of the most significant investments ever in the Wichita region— bringing the total so far to $205 million of the $300 million needed to begin construction of the 471,000-square-foot facility. WSU, WSU Tech and KU will continue to explore all avenues of funding including federal, state, local and private funding to complete the project.

Dean Rodney Miller will retire in June following 19 years leading the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University.

During his tenure, the School of Digital Arts was created and enrollment in the college has grown to over 1,000 students. Working with the Foundation and Alumni Engagement office, the college scholarship/fellowship funds have reached $1 million in annual awards to College of Fine Arts students.

“Rodney’s forward-thinking vision for the School of Digital Arts embraced digital transformation and innovation as a means to amplify the talents and creativity of students and faculty in the College of Fine Arts,” said Dr. Shirley Lefever, provost and executive vice president of Wichita State. “WSU has benefited greatly from his leadership and vision. His legacy will impact many generations to come.”

Wichita State University’s women’s athletics prospered over the past 20 years as a series of coaching hires, facility improvements and budget upgrades lifted them into regular contention for conference titles and NCAA play.

Shocker softball is enjoying its greatest success with five NCAA regional appearances under coach Kristi Bredbenner since 2016. On Sunday, the Shockers earned their third straight regional bid and will play Nebraska at 6 p.m. Friday in Stillwater, Okla.

Senior shortstop Sydney McKinney joins the list of female student-athletes who highlight the success of the past two decades – people such as Olympic distance runner Aliphine Tuliamuk, volleyball stars such as Chelsey Feekin and Abbie Lehman and basketball’s Alex Harden.

McKinney’s leadership isn’t limited to the field. Teammates love her enthusiasm and positive outlook, as well as her devotion to coffee, pets and painting. She is a criminal justice major from Norborne, Missouri. She plans to attend law school, with an eye on working in Title IX law, after working as a graduate assistant for the softball team.

Wichita State students wanting to earn a degree in American Sign Language will be able to make progress toward that goal starting fall 2023, when WSU launches a Bachelor of Arts in American Sign Language.

Shockers will be able to tailor the Bachelor of Arts in ASL to their interests and needs by choosing one of three tracks: The Structure of Language; Language and Culture in Context; or Interpreting Methods.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) hosted grand opening ceremonies May 8 for its National Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence located on the Innovation Campus.

The National Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence will be the leader and model for training; providing the most effective investigative techniques and technical applications and the newest systems using crime gun intelligence for law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.

Wichita State’s focus on digital transformation, industry and government agency engagement and commitment to applied learning initially garnered the attention of the ATF. Through the relationship with WSU and with its presence on campus, ATF will have the opportunity to benefit from engagement with university laboratories, researchers and students through applied learning and research collaboration.

The National Center of Excellence will house a second National Correlation and Training Center for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, the only national network that allows for the 3-D imaging and comparison of ballistic evidence recovered from crime scenes.

Wichita State’s College of Health Professions and Ascension Via Christi’s Wichita hospitals announced today the creation of a strategic initiative to provide a critical pipeline of qualified health care professionals to the region.

Through the affiliation, Ascension Via Christi’s hospitals will provide office and classroom space to Wichita State’s College of Health Professions’ School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences, expanding WSU students’ close access to working health care professionals directly in the hospital setting.

Additionally, the affiliation will provide a framework for WSU and Ascension Via Christi to help fuel the pipeline of trained health care professionals entering the field and further enhance professional growth opportunities for current and future Ascension Via Christi associates and WSU students.