WSU News - All Stories

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.

June 22, 2021 - Joe Jabara doesn’t call his class Hacking 101, but his students do learn how to develop effective attacks on computer systems. The course is actually called Applied Computing Intermediate Design Project, and this past spring its students carried out phishing attempts against a targeted group of Wichita State University faculty, staff and students.

June 17, 2021 — Logan Brown, a Kansas entrepreneur and Harvard Law School student, loves her home state so much that when she decided to pay it forward, she partnered with Wichita State University to help propel women in business.

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 10, 2021 — Continuing a tradition that spans 135 years and more than 500 chapters worldwide Abby Carney and Munonyedi Egbo, both graduate students, were recently initiated into the Wichita State University chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society.

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 25, 2021 - The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University has partnered with the WSU Alumni Association to launch the college’s first alumni council. The Barton School of Business Alumni Council consists of professionals who received their bachelor’s and/or master’s degree from the business school and represents different regions, degrees and backgrounds.

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 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. 

May 14, 2021 — In December, 2017 Wichita State graduate Max Runyon created Literal Larry, a viral parody account on Twitter (@ImLiteralLarry1), which led him to land a remote role as a creative strategist with 180 New York. 

May 13, 2021 — Whether their goal is to be Gollum in “Lord of the Rings” or a character in the next version of “Call of Duty,” Wichita State University students now have the option to specialize in motion-capture acting through a new concentration within the School of Digital Arts.

May 13, 2021 - Wichita State’s bowling teams endured a lot to get to 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic ended their 2020 season with both teams ranked No. 1 nationally and riding in vans to their sectional qualifier in Fort Worth. On Saturday, they turned those trials and lessons of the past into a history-making day for college bowling’s most successful program. Wichita State won the men’s and women’s Intercollegiate Team Championship at Spectrum Entertainment Complex in Wyoming, Michigan.

May 13, 2021 – Students enrolled in Integrated Marketing Communication Campaigns with Dr. Lisa Parcell have been working with Alce Su Voz, Riverfest and the Kansas Nonprofit Chamber to develop full marketing communication campaigns.