Why Tracey is a Hawk to Watch:

Oftentimes schoolwork is enough for a passing grade, and usually it's good enough for a degree. On rare occasions though, it's good enough to be published — which is where this Hawk to Watch comes into play. 

Why Emily's a Hawk to Watch:

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the person shaping the stories they tell must be worth millions. Emily Lew Fry, University of Kansas School of Fine Arts alum and director of interpretation at the Art Institute of Chicago, does just that. 

Rob Riggle, one of the most recognizable Jayhawk alumni, will be honored this year with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Kansas. He will visit Lawrence in November to accept the award. Riggle has forged two distinct and notable careers since graduating from KU in 1992 with a B.A. in theatre and film. Following a career with the United States Marine Corps during which he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Riggle has become well-known in comedic films and television.

The list of careers Delano Lewis has held is lengthy and diverse. After graduating from KU in 1960 with majors in political science and history and a law degree soon after, he embarked on a career including roles with the Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Uganda, as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, CEO of NPR and more than 20 years in telecommunications with C & P Telco in D.C., culminating as president of Bell Atlantic/DC, which is now Verizon. Alongside his professional career, Lewis has made contributions as a public servant and philanthropist in the Washington, D.C. community, and on a federal level.

Last year, Forbes magazine proclaimed “That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket.” Increasingly, reports show that creative thinking has become just as valuable as engineering skills in the industry, and for the former, more tech employers are seeking out liberal arts and sciences graduates. Brad Garlinghouse, a KU alumnus who is a veteran of the tech sector, has put his liberal arts and sciences background to use for two decades in Silicon Valley. And he’s building a talent pipeline from KU to California to encourage other Jayhawks to join the tech industry.

Major Dan Rooney, an F-16 pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, was on a commercial flight in 2006 that would end up changing his life and guiding his future.

In a time when girls were still wearing bloomers in gym class, Anne Levinson tried out for the boys’ baseball team in junior high. Such an act, when most people expected young girls to sit still and be quiet, was not very well received. Working to open doors so that more people can have opportunities has characterized Levinson’s life and shaped her impressive career. That seemingly minor episode of trying out for a boys’ team as a kid foreshadowed the trailblazing endeavors that Levinson would undertake at the University of Kansas and beyond.

During her time on the Hill, alumna Sharon Lee’s experiences shaped not only her future career but her values, belief system and outlook on life.

Growing up in an underprivileged area of Wichita, Kansas, it never occurred to Edgar Heap of Birds that being a professional artist was an option for a career. Luckily, for the art world, the many students he’s taught, and the people he’s honored and educated with his art worldwide, it was. 

Looking at the sum of his career, William Fisher attributes many of his accomplishments to a crucial conversation during his college years. Initially, Fisher was intent on a biochemistry major as an undergraduate at Southern Illinois University. That is, until a professor (who just happened to grow up on a wheat farm in Kansas) said he didn’t think Fisher was cut out for chemistry. Fisher was surprised, even more so by what his professor said next. “That was quite a shock to me. And he said, ‘Well, I’m not [cut out for it> either. I’m pursuing a degree in geology. You ought to go and talk to the people over there.’ That was the beginning of my junior year,” Fisher said. “So I transferred to geology.

Imagine witnessing many monumental international issues of the 20^th century firsthand. Living in China as a political officer in the 1970s right after the Nixon and Kissinger visits, being in Moscow in the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, helping Indonesia heal from a tsunami and aiding Somalia in fighting terrorism and piracy. B. Lynn Pascoe, Distinguished Alum of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has lived through that all and more in his notable Foreign Service career.

If you notice a lifelike presence when you look into the eyes of John Gurche’s sculpture of an ancient human ancestor, that’s no accident. The paleo-artist, who has made a career of creating reproductions of early humans and dinosaurs, draws on years of research on and fascination with fossils and extinct species to make works that are as lifelike and accurate as possible. His sculptures, paintings and illustrations have been displayed in museums, publications and even on postage stamps.