Modernizing Wallace Hall
Wallace Hall, WSU’s aerospace engineering building that carries the name of Dwane Wallace ’33 and his wife Velma, hasn’t been significantly upgraded since built in the 1970s. That’s set to change.
A $1 million gift from the Dwane and Velma Wallace Foundation will help with the modernization of the building. Grant funds will be used to update the facility with an emphasis on making it more student-friendly, functional and aesthetically appealing.
“What I want to see most are improved spaces for students,” says Royce Bowden, dean of the College of Engineering.
The renovation of Wallace Hall is slated to start next year. The building’s namesakes, Dwane and Velma Wallace, died in 1989 and 2012, respectively.
For more about this noted aviation couple, check out “Eyes to the Sky.”
Quickdraw Trio Wins Shocker New Venture Competition
Going up against a total of 62 teams, a trio of gamer entrepreneurs took top honors at the Shocker New Venture Competition finals on April 29. The on-campus event was sponsored by the WSU Center for Entrepreneurship.
Wichita State students Nicolas Gallo, Brian Foster and Cody Harryman won the $10,000 first-place prize for their business idea: Quickdraw Studios, a video game and application company geared toward restaurants and bars.
The idea was sparked when Gallo, a Textron Aviation engineer and WSU graduate student, thought the logo for the Hopping Gnome Brewing Co. in Wichita had so much charisma that it needed to star in its own video game — and made the video game!
In addition to the video game, Quickdraw also makes a trivia application. Both products have been purchased by the Hopping Gnome.
The trio plans to use the prize money to continue growing their business.
Law Enforcement Training Center to be Built at WSU
A new Law Enforcement Training Center, to be built on the site of WSU’s Innovation Campus, will feature training space and classrooms for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department, the Wichita Police Department and the WSU Criminal Justice Program.
Construction is expected to begin this fall and be complete in a year. The $9.5 million facility is a collaboration between the county, the city of Wichita and Wichita State. The project will be funded by the city and Sedgwick County.
Innovation Campus infrastructure funding will cover the costs of providing parking for the building, and the university will cover maintenance fees for the building for the first five years, at approximately $200,000 a year.
The first floor of the training center will include rooms for tactical training and fitness, 911 backup/training, crime scene incident and quartermaster’s rooms for the WPD and Sheriff’s Department.
The second floor will house classrooms for the WPD and Sheriff’s Department, and the third floor will feature classrooms and offices for WSU’s criminal justice program, which includes the Regional Community Policing Institute and the Midwest Criminal Justice Institute, 500 students and 12 faculty and staff.
WSU Diversity Council Names Members
The President’s Diversity Council, set up earlier this year, has named its first members. The council is an advisory and leadership team responsible for developing, overseeing and monitoring university-wide efforts in cultivating a diverse campus climate.
The group of faculty and staff meet regularly with WSU President John Bardo about current events, issues and campus updates.
Members are Marché Fleming-Randle, Deanna Carrithers, Stephen Arnold, Mehmet Barut, Alex Chaparro, Jaya Escobar, Jean Griffith, Aaron Hamilton, Riccardo Harris, Moniqueka Holloway, Alex Johnson, Danielle Johnson, Frankie Kirkendoll, Krishna Krishnan, Rhonda Lewis, Gergana Markova, Kennedy Musamali, Quang Nguyen, Douglas Parham, Alicia Sanchez, Sarah Sell, Lyston Skerritt, Natasha Stephens, Johnnie Thompson, Natalie Toney, Robert Weems and Russ Widener.
Starkey Wins Top Honor
Linda Starkey, director of the School of Performing Arts and program director for the Musical Theatre program, has been awarded the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Gold Medallion.
It is the organization’s most prestigious award and considered one of the great honors in theater education.
Each year, the festival honors those who’ve made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theater and who have supported KCACTF.
Region V encompasses seven states. Starkey, who has worked at WSU for 25 years, teaches voice and has served as a music director, stage director, actor and pianist for more than 100 productions.
