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WSU Foundation

Power in the pivot

…’14 expected that, by now, she’d be working in an advertising agency or marketing firm, not at all foreseeing a career as an entrepreneur, youth advocate and community educator taking shape. But, the communications alum will tell you, there is power in the pivot. Atkins-Woods enrolled at Wichita State after graduating from high school but, upon…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/marquetta-atkins-woods/

WSU Foundation

Introducing our 2025 Alumni Award recipients

Since 1955, the WSU Alumni Awards have been a beloved Shocker tradition honoring the individuals that constitute Shocker Nation and whose outstanding contributions, service and character make our university, and their communities, a better place. We are thrilled to continue this tradition and announce the peer-nominated 2025 Alumni Award recipients. Dan…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/2025-alumni-awards/

WSU Foundation

Trish Gandu and Sydney Matheis join the WSUFAE

Trish Gandu Join us in welcoming Trish Gandu to the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement. A familiar face on campus, Trish has spent 20 years in various positions at Wichita State, serving most recently as the director of marketing and advertising in the Wichita State University Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing. At the WSUFAE, she steps into …

https://foundation.wichita.edu/trish-gandu-sydney-matheis-join-the-wsufae/

WSU Foundation

Study abroad experience creates path for alum’s career

By Lily Parker ’23/25 When Alex Limon ’24 embarked on a study-abroad experience to Osaka, Japan, during his junior year at Wichita State, he had no way of knowing what a life-changing excursion it would be, one that would continue to open doors for him after graduation. In fact, at first, it was a rather intimidating venture. “When you study abroad, there…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/limon-study-abroad-experience/

WSU Foundation

Congratulations to our WSUFAE graduates!

… us in congratulating these Shocker graduates! LILY PARKER ’23, STRAT COMM, ’25 M COMM, works as the WSUFAE’s marketing specialist. She has greatly appreciated the opportunity to advance her education with a master’s degree and study under the phenomenal faculty of the Elliott School of Communication. SAMANTHA CHANG ’25, ACCT, accounting intern, has accepted…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/wsufae-graduates-spring-25/

WSU Foundation

Shock Art

… studied under Elizabeth Sprague, who described her as showing “intense earnestness in everything pertaining to art.” Graves continued honing her skills at the Art Institute of Chicago, and, later, at the Art Students League of New York. She would eventually board the S.S. “Saint John,” making her way to Paris, where her works would be featured in the…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/shock-art-notre-dame/

WSU Foundation

This dance performance alum is in “Death Becomes Her” on Broadway

Taurean Everett ’07 is no stranger to the fickle friendship with the Broadway lights. Equipped with a background in dance performance from Wichita State, he moved to New York City and began making the audition rounds. In an industry of “no’s,” Everett learned to run with the opportunities that presented themselves. That tenacity paid off, earning him an…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/class-notes-05/

WSU Foundation

The Extra Mile

By Emily Mullins ’17/20 Zoe Thompson met WSU physical therapy pros in 2023. Since then, it’s been strides forward for both. “We always say, ‘walk ugly, walk often,’” says Audrey Garcia, a physical therapy clinical faculty member at Wichita State, as her hands gently and steadily guide 8-year-old Zoe Thompson through the playground of Argonia Elementary…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/the-extra-mile/

WSU Foundation

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas gift $2.5 million to support Wichita Biomedical Campus, nursing scholarships

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) is investing $2.5 million in Wichita State University, with $1.8 million earmarked as the lead gift to the Wichita Biomedical Campus. The remaining $700,000 will create two endowed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas nursing scholarships in the WSU College of Health Professions. “Most of the biggest moments in …

https://foundation.wichita.edu/blue-cross-blue-shield-to-support-wichita-biomedical-campus/

WSU Foundation

Aerospace engineering grad’s startup targets electrifying private air travel

Akim Niyonzima ’22 has never been accused of thinking small, and he’s certainly not starting now with the launch of his and his business partner’s startup Nimbus Aerospace. As he explains, their long-term mission is nothing short of “reshaping business aviation with sustainable solutions.” Niyonzima and Adrian Goos, a University of Wisconsin-Madison…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/aerospace-engineering-grads-startup-targets-electrifying-private-air-travel/

WSU Foundation

Shocker English graduates share Thoroughbred pedigrees

Roger Lyons ’69/73, left, and Bill Oppenheim ’71/74 have more in common than holding multiple degrees in English from Wichita State. They’ve both also fielded successful careers as consultants and analysts in the competitive world of Thoroughbred breeding and racing. In late October, the two got together for a campus tour with WSUFAE staffers Lynette Murphy …

https://foundation.wichita.edu/shocker-english-graduates-share-thoroughbred-pedigrees/

WSU Foundation

Remembering ‘the best within us’ — Dr. James Rhatigan

A national figure in educational activism, Dr. James J. Rhatigan, professor of education and senior vice president emeritus, died yesterday, Sunday, Oct. 27, in Wichita. Rhatigan served Wichita State for nearly six decades, arriving on campus in 1965 as the university’s first and the nation’s youngest dean of students, at just 30 years old. In 1971, he…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/remembering-the-best-within-us-dr-james-rhatigan/

WSU Foundation

Opportunity begets opportunity

Junetta Everett ’79 has been guided by her personal ethics of hard work, service and commitment to diversity throughout her life, including a storied career of more than four decades in dentistry. The WSU alumna practiced as a dental hygienist before accepting a position at Delta Dental of Kansas (DDKS), the state’s largest dental insurance agency, where she…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/opportunity-begets-opportunity/

WSU Foundation

Sportscaster Mike Kennedy ’71 writes about being a Shocker

Voice of the Shockers BY MIKE KENNEDY ’71HALL OF FAME PLAY-BY-PLAY SPORTSCASTER My love affair with Wichita State began at the age of nine, after I received my first basketball and radio for Christmas. I began listening intently to Shocker football and basketball games, and occasionally had an opportunity to attend games with my father. I followed all of the…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/sportscaster-mike-kennedy-71-writes-about-being-a-shocker/

WSU Foundation

Telly McGaha talks work, family, must-read books and more

WSUFAE’s president and CEO talks Appalachian living, the current climate of university development, what’s on his must-read literature list, the importance of family and the unexpected companionship of an unnamed black cat. Dolly Parton has a song, ‘In My Tennessee Mountain Home,’ and though we were an hour or so up from the state line, that song is a pretty…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/quoted-telly-mcgaha/

WSU Foundation

Breaking ground at Wilkins Stadium

September 14, 2024, leadership across the university and Shocker Athletics officially broke ground on the renovation of Wilkins Stadium, a priority capital project for the university. The ceremony marked the beginning of the first of four phases for the $19.85 million renovation. The WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement is halfway through its goal of raising…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/breaking-ground-at-wilkins-stadium/

WSU Foundation

Millie’s new threads

Visitors on campus can expect to see Wichita State’s beloved millipede sculpture by the 17th Street gateway to the Ulrich Museum, fondly known as “Millie,” fitted in a most unique attire this fall —thanks to the efforts of a local fiber arts club, nearly 30,000 yards of yarn and a few bottles of wine. “About twenty years ago, a few of us started meeting…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/millies-new-threads/

WSU Foundation

WSU’s newest pre-K-12 initiative aims for seamless transition from high school to college

‘Hillside High.’ It’s a not-always-favorable nickname for Wichita State that Alicia Thompson ’15 remembers hearing from students in Wichita Public Schools during her years as a teacher and superintendent. Now, she’s taking the lead on figuring out how to get those students to campus to experience the university for themselves. Cue, Wichita State Connect, a…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/wsus-newest-pre-k-12-initiative-aims-for-seamless-transition-from-high-school-to-college/

WSU Foundation

Count these three restaurants as among ICT’s gathering places for Shockers

Gathering Places Shocker-owned businesses of all ilks dot the Wichita metro area. These very different and uniquely styled restaurants are three of them: iTzcali Tapas and Tequila iTzcali, 2819 E. Central, provides a vibrant, art-filled setting for people to settle in and enjoy its Mexican cuisine menu and drink options. Owners Navid ’04, who studied…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/viewpoints-04/

WSU Foundation

In Memoriam

SUE E. (SMITH) BONNER ’86, educational psychology graduate and former public school 6th grade teacher who served as First United Methodist Church program director, executive director of Wichita YWCA’s Women’s and Children’s Crisis Center and, after moving to Kansas City, Mo., as program director of SAFEHOME, before retiring in 2003, March 15, 2023,…

https://foundation.wichita.edu/in-memoriam-04/