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Shirley LeFever and President Muma hand Khalid Raza an honorary degree at the WSU fall 2021 Commencement.

Dec. 9, 2021 -- Khalid Raza has never forgotten his Shocker roots. Now the chief executive officer of Graphiant, a next-generation networking technology company based in San Francisco, Raza’s first independent start-up began in 1992 when he was working as a graduate assistant at Wichita State University.

Madeline Shonka (left) created an app called CoVstat to help patients with chronic illnesses. Devon Creasman (right) created ICT Box which brings local artisan goods to your doorstep.

November 29, 2021 – Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship (CEI) has granted two students the Women for Women's Innovation Award — one who wants to use an app to help those with chronic illnesses, the other who wants to support local businesses by creating Wichita artisan gift boxes.

Shocker Nation graphic

Sept. 30, 2021 -- Enrollment for fall 2021 at Wichita State University and WSU Tech is showing strong growth despite a decline in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of thousands of local jobs.

NASA's Tim Fisher

June 23, 2021 - In 1977, a Wichitan watched Star Wars at the Mall theater on East Harry. He returned again and again that summer to watch the lightsaber battles, Jedi Knights and X-wing starfighters. “I’m an original Star Wars guy,” Tim Fisher said. “I was just mesmerized. It sparked that ‘What is possible? What can we do?’” Decades later, Fisher is one of the people helping answer those questions for the United States and the entire world in space. He is chief engineer for NASA’s Gateway program, part of the agency’s quest to return to the Moon and explore Mars.

Janet Federico

April 30, 2021 – Twelve years following receiving her Master’s in Business Administration, Janet Federico moved from Washington, D.C. to Wichita to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Wichita State after rediscovering herself as an author, speaker and illustrator later her career.

Two Wichita State students using a tablet.

April 12, 2021 – After months of hard work from Wichita State faculty members Carrie Dickison and Maria Sclafani, the Open Alternative Textbook committee approved English 102 for Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) course designation. Starting in fall 2021, Wichita State students will no longer have to buy textbooks for English 102.

Michael Golomb

March 25, 2021 -- The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University has launched its Entrepreneur in Residence program and named Michael Golomb, founder and CEO of FanVestor, as its newest resident. This distinction will last through the spring 2021 semester. Each Entrepreneur in Residence will provide essential collaboration and outside industry knowledge to Barton School students, faculty and the Wichita community.

Brittany Wojciechowski

March 24, 2021 — Brittany Wojciechowski, a Wichita State University Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering, has been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF), which is worth more than $120,000.

Erin Jacobson and Gavin Dick

March 1, 2021 — Seniors from the Maize Virtual Preparatory School and Mother of Divine Grace Distance Learning School have been chosen for the Professor Fran Jabara Scholarship in Entrepreneurship at Wichita State University.

February 23, 2021 — Seniors from the Maize Virtual Preparatory School and Mother of Divine Grace Distance Learning School have been chosen for the Professor Fran Jabara Scholarship in Entrepreneurship at Wichita State University.

Angelique Banh and Michele Valadez

Feb. 23, 2021 — Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship (CEI) has granted two students the Women for Women's Innovation Award — one who wants to create an app to help drivers in the event of a car crash, the other who wants to open a boutique for sustainable clothing.

Dr. Rémi A. Chou

Feb. 3, 2021 — Dr. Rémi A. Chou, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has been awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the most prestigious award granted by the NSF to early career researchers. Chou's grant – worth $519,000 over five years – will support his work in bringing more robust security to wirelessly transmitted data.

Woman and man at compute

Dec. 10, 2020 -- The Kansas Board of Regents has approved the creation of the newest department at Wichita State University’s College of Engineering – the School of Computing. Dean Dennis Livesay called the establishment of the new school a significant marker of the university’s commitment to producing digital-skilled workforce needed by industry.

Ara with solar panels.

November 23, 2020 - In February, Evergy invested in three initiatives that added valuable assets to the engineering program. One of those initiatives was the installation of solar panels on the roof of the John Bardo Center.

Lily Guillen

Nov. 3, 2020 — Lily Guillen, a graduate student in studio art, is one of thousands of first-generation students at Wichita State University. She will be taking over the university’s Instagram account on Wednesday, Nov. 4, to share her experiences as a first-gen student.