Featured news at KU


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Big Jay
Nearly 9,600 undergraduate students at the University of Kansas earned dean's list distinction for the fall 2025 semester. The honor roll comprises undergraduates who meet requirements in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and in the schools of Architecture & Design, Business, Education & Human Sciences, Engineering, Health Professions, Journalism & Mass Communications, Music, Nursing, Pharmacy, Professional Studies and Social Welfare.

Other featured news

A toolbox with tools is positioned next to a globe

From Kansas to the world: KU’s WHO collaboration works to promote global health

By delivering a digital “toolbox” to 300 countries, researchers at the Center for Community Health and Development are bringing life-saving lessons back home to Kansas.
The arm of a businessman fist bumps the arm of a robot.

Human-AI interactions stimulate coordination among co-workers and improve team performance, study finds

In a new study, Todd Hall, assistant professor of business at the University of Kansas, finds that human-AI interactions can stimulate relational coordination among co-workers and improve team performance.
People dancing in the woods

Dances with trees: Choreographer using grant for ongoing nature project

KU dance faculty member Shannon Stewart has received a $10,000 unrestricted grant that comes with one of 53 inaugural State of the Art Prizes from the New York-based Creative Capital Foundation. She'll use the funding in part for an April performance to coincide with the opening of a new nature trail within Baldwin Woods, part of KU Field Station.
Car driving toward tornado in rural Kansas area.

Tornado-forecast system can increase warning lead times, study finds

Today’s tornado warnings rely on radar data and regional spotters. By contrast, the Warn-on-Forecast System synthesizes observational data in real time and runs high-resolution simulations to gauge uncertainties and produce guidance for tornado and severe weather threats well before they form.

Research



A University of Kansas researcher found lightning-stroke density — the number of individual lightning discharges, or “strokes,” per square kilometer — to be about 36% lower than before the 2020 IMO sulfur cap. Findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Climate and Atmospheric Science.
Tadeo Weiner Davis, assistant professor of social welfare at the University of Kansas, earned a grant to preserve materials of Stand Up KC, a movement dedicated to earning better pay for fast food and casual restaurant workers, and record oral histories of those involved.
A woman's hand pulls the book "Swiftynomics" from a handbag.
A new book from KU researcher Misty Heggeness titled "Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy” pairs rigorous data with humor, personal anecdotes and Taylor Swift song titles as chapter subheadings to tell the story of women who have survived and thrived in overlooked ways. It also shares policy prescriptions for a more sustainable workforce.

Kansas Communities



A streamlined credentialing system is helping Kansas get firefighters and emergency personnel into the field faster through computer-based assessments. KU‘s Assessment and Technology Solutions (ATS) and Kansas Fire and Rescue Training Institute (KFRTI) are partnering on the project.
KU is among select U.S. colleges and universities honored for demonstrating a commitment to partnership and collaboration with the larger community.
A toolbox with tools is positioned next to a globe
By delivering a digital “toolbox” to 300 countries, researchers at the Center for Community Health and Development are bringing life-saving lessons back home to Kansas.

Economic Development



The University of Kansas is a powerful engine of economic growth and job creation for the state of Kansas, according to a new study detailing the university’s impact.
The University of Kansas School of Business received a $10 million gift commitment from an anonymous donor that ensures the construction of a new entrepreneurship hub building that benefits the greater KU community by teaching students to solve problems in meaningful ways. The new gift supplements the donor's lead gift of $50 million in 2023.
Kalin Baca shown working in a KU lab in 2023 with professional portrait superimposed over main image.
A recent report from the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science shows more than 7,000 KU research-funded employees leveraged their experience to build careers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2023 — and nearly 40% found employment in Kansas.

Student experience and achievement



Over winter break, 18 Jayhawks traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to volunteer with three community-based organizations as part of KU Alternative Breaks. Established in 1995, KU Alternative Breaks is a student-led program dedicated to fostering a lifelong commitment to service through volunteering and education.
After years of seeing strong student theses go unpublished, a KU faculty member started an undergraduate journal to showcase international studies research.
Big Jay
Nearly 9,600 undergraduate students at the University of Kansas earned dean's list distinction for the fall 2025 semester. The honor roll comprises undergraduates who meet requirements in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and in the schools of Architecture & Design, Business, Education & Human Sciences, Engineering, Health Professions, Journalism & Mass Communications, Music, Nursing, Pharmacy, Professional Studies and Social Welfare.

Campus news



KU's online MBA program ranks among the nation’s top 10 for the fourth year in a row, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 ”Best Online Programs.”
KU Memorial Unions has announced renovations under way at the Kansas Union, including the Level Four lobby and the Jayhawk Ink space located on Level Two. The union team is partnering with Dimensional Innovations, a design team based in Overland Park.
Joseph R. Pearson Hall
The University of Kansas earned top national recognition in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report online graduate program rankings for programs in the School of Education & Human Sciences. KU’s online graduate education program ranked No. 2 (tie) overall and No. 1 nationally for veterans, with specialty rankings including No. 1 in special education.

Latest news

A presenter at the 2025 Structural Engineering Conference in the Kansas Union

KU Engineering will host 71st Annual Structural Engineering Conference

On March 5, the Department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas will host experts in the field of structural engineering for a conference exploring the latest developments in the field.
Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) logo with image of Luciano Tosta inset.

KU to host Brazilian Studies Association starting July 2026

The University of Kansas has been selected to host the Brazilian Studies Association, an international scholarly organization dedicated to advancing Brazilian studies, for a six-year term beginning this summer under the leadership of KU faculty member Luciano Tosta.
Big Jay

University of Kansas announces fall 2025 honor roll

Nearly 9,600 undergraduate students at the University of Kansas earned dean's list distinction for the fall 2025 semester. The honor roll comprises undergraduates who meet requirements in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and in the schools of Architecture & Design, Business, Education & Human Sciences, Engineering, Health Professions, Journalism & Mass Communications, Music, Nursing, Pharmacy, Professional Studies and Social Welfare.
red tulips in foreground; brick building in background

Educate & Act Series will feature sessions on grant funding, consumerism

Educate & Act, hosted by the Center for Service Learning and The Commons at the University of Kansas, will feature three events in spring 2026, centering grant funding and nonprofits, student senate elections and linear economies. The series opens Feb. 17.