Panel discussion on higher education to honor alumnus' civic contributions
LAWRENCE — A panel discussion featuring notable Kansas City-area leaders and University of Kansas faculty will address “The Role of Higher Education in Building Communities and Civic Life.” The event, hosted at the KU Edwards Campus on April 21, is in recognition of Robert Kipp, one of the four recipients of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.
The panel will include several well-known Kansas Citians: The Honorable Emanuel Cleaver II, U.S. Representative; William A. Hall, president, Hall Family Foundation; John Nalbandian, professor, KU School of Public Affairs and Administration; Jewel D. Scott, executive director, The Civic Council of Greater Kansas City; and panel moderator Irvine O. Hockaday. The program begins at 6 p.m. Saturday at the BEST Conference Center, 127th and Quivira in Overland Park. Contact Patrick Woods to RSVP.
Kipp is a longtime civic leader in the Kansas City area who has made many contributions to the region and the profession of public management. The panel discussion will in many ways be a reflection of the impact Kipp’s career has had in improving civic life in the metro region.
Following the panel discussion, the College will present Kipp with the Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award. The award is the highest honor bestowed upon alumni of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It recognizes graduates for outstanding contributions in a range of disciplines as broad as the College itself, including public service, academia, business, the arts and beyond.
Kipp graduated from the College at KU with a Master’s in Public Administration in 1956. He has more than 50 years’ experience managing city administrations, commercial development and philanthropic efforts. He has worked in city administration for Lawrence; Vandalia and Fairborn, Ohio; and Kansas City, Mo. During his tenure as the city manager of Kansas City he earned the International City/County Management Association Management Innovation Award and the National Public Service Award. Following his work as city manager in Kansas City, Kipp has served as president of the Crown Center Commercial District, a member of the Hall Family Foundation Board of Directors, as well as chairman of Crown Center and a vice president at Hallmark.
The College selected three other recipients of the 2011-'12 Alumni Distinguished Achievement Awards. They are Metropolitan Museum of Art curator of Modern American Art, Marla Prather of New York; renowned bee researcher Marla Spivak of Minneapolis; and President Juan Manuel Santos of the Republic of Colombia.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest and broadest academic unit at the University of Kansas. It encompasses about 55 departments, programs and centers, and the top-ranked School of Public Affairs and Administration. About half of all KU alumni graduate with a degree from the College, which offers dozens of diverse majors in natural sciences and mathematics, social and behavioral sciences, humanities, international and interdisciplinary studies, and the arts.