KU accepting nominations for 2013 honorary degrees


LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas is now accepting nominations for honorary degrees to be awarded in May 2013.

The Chancellor’s Committee on Honorary Degrees invites the KU community and general public to nominate individuals of notable intellectual, scholarly, professional or creative achievement or service to be awarded an honorary degree at the 2013 Commencement ceremony.

Nominators should provide a brief supporting statement describing the nominee’s career and achievements, indicating why these contributions are exceptional and relevant to KU’s mission.

The committee will review all nominations and forward its recommendations to Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little for consideration. The Chancellor will then nominate candidates to the Kansas Board of Regents for approval. All nominations will be treated as confidential.

Nominations can be submitted electronically or mailed to the address below. The nomination deadline is March 20.

“Honorary degrees enable us to recognize outstanding individuals whose scholarship, research, creative activity or service embodies the ideals of the University of Kansas,” Gray-Little said. “Individuals who receive an honorary degree from KU should be thought of as role models for the entire KU community.”

Additional information about the nomination process is available here.

“I look forward to reviewing a new group of nominees,” said Susan Kemper, chair of the Chancellor’s Committee on Honorary Degrees and a professor of psychology. “Last year we had a very strong pool to consider, and I hope the task this year proves just as challenging.”

The 2013 honorary degree recipients will be the second such group in KU history. KU will award its first-ever honorary degrees at the 2012 Commencement on May 13. The inaugural class of honorary degree recipients includes Sheila Bair, former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Robert Dole, former Senate Majority Leader; Kirke L. Mechem, composer; and Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company. Mulally will be the featured speaker at the ceremony.

Applications that aren’t submitted electronically can be mailed to:

Susan Kemper, Ph.D.
Committee on Honorary Degrees
Chancellor’s Office, 230 Strong Hall
University of Kansas
Phone: 785-864-9826
Email: skemper@ku.edu

Tue, 02/21/2012

author

Joe Monaco

Media Contacts

Joe Monaco

KU Office of Public Affairs

785-864-7100