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Chancellor appointed to NCAA governing boards
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas A. Girod has been appointed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Board of Directors and the NCAA Board of Governors. The Division I’s board of directors is the division’s top governing body, responsible for strategy, policy, legislation and management of the division. The board of governors provides strategic leadership on association-wide issues that affect all three NCAA divisions.
Spencer Museum of Art exhibition ‘Soundings’ lets viewers imagine the ocean
LAWRENCE — Visitors can dip their toes into the art and idea of the ocean in the exhibition “Soundings: Making Culture at Sea,” on display now through Dec. 14 at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. The exhibition is drawn primarily from the Spencer’s own collection, with some loans from KU Libraries.
KU School of Architecture & Design announces fall 2025 design lecture series schedule
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design series will open with a talk by KU alumnus Tad Carpenter, followed by an opening reception for a retrospective exhibition of Carpenter’s “SUNday SUNS” series in the Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Joe Monaco, Office of Public Affairs, 785-864-7100, [email protected]
Chancellor appointed to NCAA governing boards
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas A. Girod has been appointed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Board of Directors and the NCAA Board of Governors.
The Division I Board of Directors is the division’s top governing body, responsible for strategy, policy, legislation and management of the division. The board includes 20 presidents and chancellors, including one from each of the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences, 10 from the remaining 22 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Division I conferences, the chair of the NCAA Division I Council, one faculty athletics representative, one senior woman administrator representative and two student-athletes.
The Board of Governors provides strategic leadership on association-wide issues that affect all three NCAA divisions. The board consists of nine voting members and seven ex officio nonvoting members, including presidents and chancellors from each division, graduated student-athletes, select leaders from the NCAA membership and independent members.
Girod’s appointments run through August 2029.
“It’s an honor to serve on these boards and to partner with peer institutions on behalf of student-athletes across the nation,” Girod said. “This is a challenging and important moment for collegiate athletics and higher education, and I’m glad for the opportunity to help ensure KU and the Big 12 Conference are represented in discussions that impact our students.”
“I’m thrilled Chancellor Girod will represent the Big 12 Conference on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and the NCAA Board of Governors,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said. “Chancellor Girod believes deeply in the value of athletics and higher education, and he recognizes the positive impact student-athletes have on our universities. Furthermore, he is recognized as a national leader and respected voice on policy matters impacting college athletics. The NCAA and the Big 12 will benefit from his leadership as we navigate the evolving world of college athletics.”
In addition to these appointments with the NCAA, Girod serves as vice chair of the Association of American Universities board of directors and as chair of the Big 12 Conference board of directors.
“Chancellor Girod has an established track record of successful stewardship of KU including record-setting enrollment, national designation for KU’s Cancer Center and nine consecutive years of increased research expenditures,” said Blake Benson, chair of the Kansas Board of Regents. “At the same time, he has become a national leader through his roles with the Association of American Universities, the Big 12 Conference and now the NCAA, ensuring that the University of Kansas is represented in important policy discussions and has a role in shaping the future of higher education. The Regents are grateful for Chancellor Girod’s efforts, and we look forward to his continued leadership.”
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Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected]
Spencer Museum of Art exhibition ‘Soundings’ lets viewers imagine the ocean
LAWRENCE — Visitors can dip their toes into the art and idea of the ocean in the exhibition “Soundings: Making Culture at Sea,” on display now through Dec. 14 at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.
Curated by Emily Casey, Hall Assistant Professor of American Art and Culture in KU’s Kress Foundation Department of Art History, and Celka Straughn, museum deputy director for public practice and curatorial, “Soundings” is drawn primarily from the Spencer’s own collection, with some loans from KU Libraries.
It includes works like the exquisite, late-period Winslow Homer watercolor painting “West India Divers” and a life-size carved-wooden mermaid that once served as an advertising sign above a 19th-century seaside supply shop.
With photographs of Greenland glaciers, it draws a connection between 19th-century Arctic explorer Lewis Lindsay Dyche, after whom KU’s Dyche Hall — home to the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum — is named, and the KU scientists exploring the effect of climate change on Antarctic ice sheets today.
And while Casey came to KU from an East Coast college just a couple of years ago, she noted that the existence of these materials proves that oceans have long been relevant to the people of Kansas.
“When I came here, I thought, ‘What does it mean to teach a class about the art of the sea in a landlocked state?’ But I think the exhibition really helps to highlight some of the ways in which there are so many connections to the ocean here,” Casey said. “And part of that is the fact that there were people who explored maritime spaces who have connections to KU. Dyche is an example.”
“Soundings” is divided into four sections, Casey said.
In the maps section, a Mercator projection is contrasted with Buckminster Fuller’s radically different “Dymaxion” representation of the globe.
The second section, about crossing or living alongside the ocean, is where Homer’s painting of shell divers is displayed alongside a screen showing “Encore (Paradise Omeros: Redux),” a four-minute video by British artist Isaac Julien that reflects on his own Caribbean heritage.
The third section, in which the Greenland photographs are located, emphasizes the way artists play an important role in raising awareness about the current ecological threats to the ocean.
The final section, about the ocean as trade route, features a tea chest, porcelain vessels and textiles, among other works.
Casey said the exhibition grew out of her area of research.
“I focus on the context of the early United States — so the late colonial, early national period,” she said. “My book project, which I’m working on right now, examines how people imagined and represented the ocean around the time of the American Revolution.”
Casey said she would teach her fall course, Art and the Sea: From the Age of Sail to the Age of Climate Change, in conjunction with the exhibition, calling it “a great example of collaboration between the museum and the classroom.”
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Contact: Dan Rolf, School of Architecture & Design, 785-864-3027, [email protected]
KU School of Architecture & Design announces fall 2025 design lecture series schedule
LAWRENCE — The School of Architecture & Design at the University of Kansas has announced programming for the Fall 2025 KU Design Professional Lecture Series.
The series kicks off at 6 p.m. Aug. 21 with a lecture by designer and KU alumnus Tad Carpenter. Following the lecture, an opening reception for a retrospective exhibition of Carpenter’s “SUNday SUNS” series will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery in Chalmers Hall.
For over four decades, the KU Design Professional Lecture Series (formerly the Hallmark Symposium) has introduced KU students and the local creative community to artists and designers working in a wide range of disciplines, media and professional fields.
Lectures begin at 6 p.m. in 3140 Wescoe Hall on the KU Lawrence campus, except where stated otherwise. Virtual lecture details will be published on the lecture series webpage the week of the event. Events are free and open to the public.
Aug. 21
Tad Carpenter is a designer, illustrator, author and founding partner of Carpenter Collective, a Kansas City, Missouri-based graphic design and branding studio. Carpenter has illustrated more than 20 children’s books and designed more than 200 gig posters for musicians, bands and tours. His personal projects include his weekly SUNday Suns and Made in the Middle. In 2017, he was named a Graphic Designer To Watch by GDUSA.
Sept. 4
Jeff Breazeale is a designer, brand strategist and founding partner at The Matchbox Studio. He has worked for more than 25 years helping clients identify brand opportunities and develop creative solutions. At The Matchbook Studio, Breazeale has led teams developing work for clients that include American Airlines, Dallas Museum of Art, FedEx, Fossil, Neenah Paper and the State Fair of Texas. In 2020, Breazeale launched MBX Real Estate Creative, a sister-agency to Matchbox dedicated to multifamily residential branding.
Sept. 18
Aggie Toppins is a graphic designer, collagist and scholar who combines a studio background with humanities methods to explore meaning making in visual and material culture. Her book “Thinking Through Graphic Design History: Challenging the Canon” (Bloomsbury, 2025) surveys the terrain where historical research and visual communication meet. The project challenges traditional understandings of graphic design history, offering ways for designers to shape socially engaged, critical practices.
Oct. 2
Adam Henry is an animator, writer and producer with more than 20 years of experience working in film and television. Beginning his career at Warner Brothers as an animator on the film “Iron Giant,” Henry went on to serve a variety of roles – including storyboard artist, producer and showrunner at Disney (“Penn Zero,” “Tinkerbell Movie”), DreamWorks (“She Ra,” “Jurassic Park”), Nickelodeon (“Kung Fu Panda,” “The Loud House,” “Ni Hao Kailan,” “Random Cartoons,” “Robot Monster”) and Netflix (“Dogs in Space”).
Oct. 23 (virtual event)
Jeremy Vickery is an artist specializing in light and color who works in film, television and video games. Credits include “Assassins Creed,” “Brave,” “Cars,” “Fallout,” “The Incredibles,” “Inside Out,” “Ratatouille,” “Wall-E,” “Westworld,” and “Uncharted.” Vickery also founded Lighting Mentor, a company that provides educational courses, workshops and apprenticeship programs to students and other artists seeking to enhance their skills.
Nov. 6
Wesley Bedrosian is an illustrator and art director whose editorial illustrations have appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Scientific American, Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal. He has taught and lectured at Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute and The School of Visual Arts.
Nov. 20: To be announced.
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