November 2022

Wichita Biomedical Campus will transform Kansas

When I was training to become a physician assistant and a public health practitioner, I had the fortunate experience of learning and researching at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, which has five partner universities with medical schools — including the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, where I received my PA degree. The Texas Medical Center in Houston is the largest health science center in the world; and as a student and a professional, I saw firsthand how that kind of collaboration creates innovation and improves patient outcomes. 

Working in that environment and in proximity to other health care professionals and researchers, the potential was palpable, paving the way for medical breakthroughs and advanced research.  

As Wichita continues to grow and prosper, one gap in our infrastructure is a centralized and collaborative health sciences center to train health professionals and conduct medical research. It’s true that we have several strong health education academic programs for hundreds of specialties throughout our city, but to centralize them in a way that encourages partnerships would be a tremendous opportunity for patients and providers in our region.

In January, Wichita State, WSU Tech and the University of Kansas announced plans to build such a facility in Wichita, and in May the Kansas Legislature approved seed money of $35 million to lay the groundwork for the Wichita Biomedical Campus. In September, we received approval from the Kansas Board of Regents to move to the next phase.

November 2022 podcast: Discussing the future of education

In this month's episode of the Forward Together Podcast, Wichita State President Rick Muma talks about education and community with WSU Provost Shirley Lefever and Wichita Public Schools Superintendent Alicia Thompson. 

Listen to the podcast at wsu.news/ftpodcast or on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts and Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

You can also watch a video of the podcast at wsu.news/fted.

The next episode will feature John Tomblin, senior vice president for Industry and Defense Programs at WSU and the executive director of the National Institute for Aviation Research.

• Wichita State men’s basketball team will spend Thanksgiving week in Kansas City in the Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center. The Shockers play Grand Canyon at 2 p.m. Nov. 2, and either Northern Iowa or San Francisco at 10:30 a.m./1 p.m. Nov. 22. All games are on CBS Sports Network. Wichita State’s next home game is against Tarleton State at 3 p.m. Nov. 26.

• Wichita State’s women’s basketball team is in Los Angeles over the holiday in the LMU Thanksgiving Classic. The Shockers play Montana (5:30 p.m. Nov. 25) and host Loyola Marymount (8 p.m. Nov. 26).

• Tennis player Kristof Minarik earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Month honors in October. Minarik, a sophomore, advanced to the round of 16 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Fall Championships in San Diego. He is the first Shocker to earn a spot in the ITA Fall tournament since 1984.

• Cross Country student-athletes Clayton Duchatschek and Adrian Diaz-Lopez earned NCAA Midwest All-Region honors by finishing in the top 25 of the men’s 10-kilometer race in Columbia, Missouri. The Shockers finished fifth in the 20-team field.

• Wichita State’s volleyball team takes a firm hold on fourth place in the AAC into the season’s final weeks. The Shockers play their final home match against Cincinnati at 1 p.m. Nov. 20 before ending the regular season at SMU (Nov. 23) and Memphis (Nov. 25)

In recognition of its strong commitment to economic engagement, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) has designated Wichita State University as an Innovation & Economic Prosperity (IEP) University.

The national designation acknowledges public research universities working with public and private sector partners in their states and regions to support economic development through a variety of activities, including innovation and entrepreneurship, technology transfer, talent and workforce development, and community development.

Two Medical Laboratory Sciences students at Wichita State University are the 2022 recipients of the $280,000 annual endowed scholarship gift from Southcentral Pathology Laboratory.

Dr. Joel Alderson, president of Southcentral Pathology in Wichita – the largest group of surgical pathologists in southcentral Kansas – established this fund in 2021 to provide two full-ride scholarships each year in WSU’s Medical Laboratory Sciences program. Recipients are chosen based on merit and financial need, and each student receives an equal amount of funds. This is the largest scholarship donation to the program.



The two recipients of the scholarship are senior Stephanie Pham and junior Amanda Moler. Pham and Moler were nominated by faculty in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. Pham was a recipient of the scholarship in 2021. The students say they are very grateful for the scholarship and the financial support allows them to concentrate on academics.

Wichita State University President Rick Muma and Dr. Kevin Sylvester Harrison, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at WSU, were each presented awards this weekend from the Wichita chapter of the NAACP.

Muma was named Wichita NAACP’s Person of the Year, an honor that reflects the work he and WSU do on the WSU campus and in the Shocker Neighborhood to develop a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for a thriving community and a stronger Kansas.  

Some of those initiatives include creating equitable and inclusive access to higher education; celebrating and uplifting diversity among students, employees and all of Wichita; and supporting the unique needs of underrepresented populations through WSU’s vision, mission and priorities.  

Dr. Jennifer Friend has been named dean of Wichita State University’s College of Applied Studies (CAS), effective Jan. 9, 2023.

Friend comes to Wichita State from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, where she is the associate provost for Academic Affairs and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Her 30-year career in higher education also includes educational leadership roles such as dean, educational leadership program coordinator and faculty member, PreK-12 principal and language arts teacher.

At Wichita State, Friend will focus on supporting culturally responsive learning, research opportunities and community engagement, with an emphasis on diversity, integrity, collaboration, discovery and leadership.

On Oct. 14, the Physician Assistant program at Wichita State University celebrated its 50th anniversary with an open house and reception for alumni, faculty, staff, students and supporters. 

Founded in 1972, the WSU PA program was the first program in Kansas and one of the first in the nation. The program provides students with a patient-centered education that includes high-tech simulation scenarios, real-life cases and clinical problem-solving. 

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