WSU News - All Stories

Aug. 2, 2021 — The marquee exterior fixture of the W. Frank Barton School of Business’ new home, Wayne and Kay Woolsey Hall, has been officially named the Promise Bridge. The 300-foot-long pedestrian bridge will span a water feature south of the building.

Aug. 2, 2021 — The National Science Foundation has awarded a $200,000 grant to Dr. Ajita Rattani, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering’s School of Computing, that seeks to improve facial recognition technology, addressing civil liberties concerns that some demographic groups are more likely to be misidentified.

July 9, 2021 - John Wise, Wichita State University assistant director of track and field, documents his love of history, travel and frozen soft drinks in “Travel With a Wiseguy” on YouTube. He posts a video weekly, many from trips around Kansas to visit small towns, ghost towns and places such as Old Oxford Mill and Little Jerusalem.

July 9, 2021 -- Dr. Anthony Muscat has been named dean of Wichita State University’s College of Engineering, effective July 25. Muscat is a professor and chair of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he has been since 1998.

June 30, 2021 -- The U.S. Air Force is launching a new program with Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to make a digital replica of the F-16 Fighting Falcon in an effort to improve the sustainment and modernization of F-16s operating around the world.

June 29, 2021 -- An opening reception for "From Lima to Wichita: Intercultural Dialogues in Clothing & Paint" will take place from 6–9 p.m. July 2, at ShiftSpace, WSU’s student-run gallery, as part of Wichita’s First Friday gallery crawl.

June 29, 2021 - Alicia Sanchez is assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Wichita State University. In May, she earned a senate-confirmed appointment to the Kansas Human Rights Commission as an At-Large member.

June 21, 2021 — Adding to its myriad points of pride, Wichita State University has been named the most affordable, LGBTQ-friendly college in the state. 

June 16, 2021 — Shaunte’ Levine is the recipient of the fourth annual Launch Award through Harvester Arts and the Wichita State School of Art, Design and Creative Industries (ADCI).

June 9, 2021 - Wichita State’s Esports director Courtney Calder played soccer more often than video games growing up in California. Those experiences, however, helped prepare her for running the Esports program, as did her time working in sales for Apple after graduating from Northwestern University. Wichita State’s varsity program, housed in the Heskett Center, offers four teams competing in Overwatch, League of Legends, Rocket League, and Valorant.

June 8, 2021 - Karla Burns’ legacy of music and drama is one of Wichita State University’s most prominent contributions to the performing arts. Burns, 66, died June 4 in Wichita. She attended Dunbar Elementary School and graduated from West High School. At Wichita State, she earned bachelor’s degrees in music education and in speech/theater, both in 1981.

June 7, 2021 — Five-year-old Ford Hall has had to overcome more in his short life than most do in a lifetime. That’s because immediately after he was born, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The doctors informed his mother he would probably never be able to walk. “It was that conversation with that doctor that really lit a fire in us,” said Cori Hall, Ford’s mother.

May 24, 2021 - Ten years into her career as coach at Wichita State, softball coach Kristi Bredbenner is well into creating her own atmosphere of winning and college experience. The Shockers ended their 2021 season by advancing to an NCAA regional final for the second time and with a 41-13-1 record.

May 20, 2021 — The FirePoint Innovations Center at Wichita State University has welcomed the first class of students into its Future Innovators Program, a new engineering internship opportunity aimed at introducing historically underrepresented students into the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) technical talent pipeline.

May 18, 2021 - The Wichita Rowing Association founded Wichita State University crew in 1974, and that shared history remains important to many former Shockers. On May 8, the WRA dedicated its $250,000 Riverside Rowing Center Boathouse at Riverside Park on the Little Arkansas River.