University of Kansas

The University of Kansas (often referred to as just Kansas or KU) is an institution of higher learning located in Lawrence, Kansas. The University was founded in 1865 by the citizens of Lawrence, under a charter from the Kansas Legislature, with the assistance of a donation of 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land on Mount Oread in Lawrence from former Kansas Governor Charles Robinson and his wife Sara and a small monetary gift from Amos A. Lawrence. In the Fall 2003, the University enrolled 29,272 students. The total faculty head count was 2,158. The total staff and faculty count was 12,328 employees.

Distinguished alumni

• Philip Anschutz, Billionaire, founder of Qwest
• William H. Avery, Governor of Kansas, 1965-1967
• Stewart Bailey,television producer,The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• Scott Bakula, Actor
• Brian Barker, Judge and Queen's Counsel in England
• Etta Moten Barnett, Actress/singer. First black artist to perform at the White House. Bess in Broadway production of Porgy and Bess
• Linda Z. Cook, CEO, Shell Gas and Power, part of Royal Dutch/Shell
• Richard Davis, Founder, K.C. Masterpiece Barbecue Products Inc.
• George Docking, Governor of Kansas, 1957-1961
• Robert Docking, Governor of Kansas, 1967-1975
• Bob Dole, Kansas' US Senator 1969-1996, Republican presidential nominee in 1996. WWII combat veteran
• Bob Dotson, Documentarian and NBC reporter. 4-time Emmy Award winner
• Robert Eaton, Former CEO, Chrysler Corporation
• Joe Engle, (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) NASA Astronaut
• Kevin Helliker, 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner for Explanatory Journalism and Chicago bureau chief, Wall Street Journal
• William Inge, Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winning author/playwright
• Don Johnson, Actor
• Nancy Kassebaum Baker, US Senator from Kansas 1978-1997
• Robert Kleist, Founder and CEO, Printronix
• Neil LaBute, Filmmaker/screenwriter. Won Independent Spirit Award for In the Company of Men, Nominated for Palme D'Or for Nurse Betty
• Deane Waldo Malott, Chancellor of KU, President of Cornell University
• Sara Paretsky, Novelist. Best known for her frequent protagonist, V.I. Warshawski
• Mandy Patinkin, Actor/singer ("The Princess Bride"). Emmy and Tony winner
• Paul Rudd, Actor
• Jim Ryun, US Olympic runner, Kansas' 2nd District US Representative 1997-present
• Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas, 2003-present
• Vernon L. Smith, 2002 Winner, Nobel Prize for Economics
• William Stafford, Poet and pacifist. Winner, National Book Award for Travelling Through the Dark
• Dee Wallace Stone, Actress, (E.T.)
• Clyde Tombaugh, Astronomer, Discoverer of Planet Pluto