KU News Release

KU chancellor elected vice chair of national association of universities

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway has been elected vice chair of the Association of American Universities, an influential organization representing 60 of the most prestigious research universities in the United States and two in Canada.

Hemenway was elected earlier this week at the association’s membership meeting at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio

Hemenway will serve a one-year term. He is one of three officers of the organization’s executive committee, joining Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, chair; and Graham Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University and immediate past chair. The committee is charged with general oversight and functioning of the Washington, D.C.-based organization. Hemenway has been a member of the 11-person AAU executive committee since October 2007.

The AAU focuses on issues important to research universities, such as funding, policy issues and undergraduate and graduate education.

AAU universities in the United States have combined federal research awards of about $17 billion and award more than half of the nation’s doctoral degrees. The association was founded in 1900 to advance the international standing of U.S. research universities. Membership in the association is by invitation and is based on quality of academic research and scholarship.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.