Deborah L. Kennedy ’94 simply exudes excitement for her new position as executive director of the oldest and largest organization in support of higher education at Wichita State — the WSU Alumni Association.
A nurse and health-care educator by profession, Kennedy earned her master’s degree in nursing at WSU and has been on the WSU School of Nursing teaching faculty for 10 years. She previously served as director of professional development at Wichita’s Via Christi Riverside Medical Center and last fall coordinated WSU’s premier Rockin’ the Roundhouse auction event for the alumni association.
The event, a partnership venture with WSU Athletics, raised some $165,000 for assistance to many association and athletic department programs, including student scholarships, alumni records, publications, academic programs for student-athletes and career services.
The association’s selection team unanimously chose Kennedy for the job.
“We were blessed with a high caliber of candidates, indicating strong respect for the association and the university,” says Kathy Sexton ’88/89/92, association president. “We are so pleased to welcome Debbie. She will lead the alumni association into a new era of service to Wichita State and connection with alumni and with students.”
Says Kennedy, who moved into her office at the Woodman Alumni Center Feb. 1, “I’m so excited to begin this new adventure. My experiences working with volunteers and as a member of the faculty — blended with my passion for WSU — have prepared me to lead the association in serving all its constituents.”
Led by a volunteer board of directors, the alumni association is an independent nonprofit organization with an annual operating budget of $1 million, current membership of 6,128 and 11 staff members.
One of her first actions as the new ED was filling her office with Shocker memorabilia. Another was making clear her commitment to the association’s mission of enhancing “relationships among WSU alumni, current and prospective students, faculty, staff and friends in order to foster loyalty and support for the university and for one another.”
She reports, “Everything we do here needs to be mission-driven. One of the first things we’ll focus on is increasing our membership base so that we can broaden our reach and strengthen our effectiveness.”
Kennedy succeeds Bradford Beets ’87, who resigned July 1, 2004, to pursue a career-changing opportunity of his own as a youth minister.
