KU News Release

Robert Hemenway

Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center

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• KU Medical Center

LAWRENCE — Former University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway’s name will grace KU’s Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center in Kansas City, Kan., as a lasting testament to his success in promoting life science research.

The Kansas Board of Regents today approved naming the three-year-old, $57.2 million center for Hemenway, who served as KU’s 16th chancellor from 1995 until June 30, 2009.

The Robert E. Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center, located at 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard on KU’s Medical Center campus, is a 200,000-square-foot facility that houses 300 people and 129 research projects worth more than $109 million in total funding.

Research at the center focuses on liver disease, reproductive sciences, neuroscience, diabetes and proteomics, among other topics. The Hall Family Foundation contributed $19 million to furnish the building with state-of-the-art equipment. It was built for KU by the University Research Development and Enhancement Corporation, which the regents formed to expand the research capabilities of Kansas universities.

“It is a fitting honor that this state-of-the-art facility bear his name,” said KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. “During his tenure, the university grew in national stature, more than doubling its research activity to almost $300 million in annual expenditures and underwent an unprecedented expansion and remodeling of campus facilities to attract top students and faculty.”

As chancellor, Hemenway was dedicated to improving KU’s research profile and in particular ensured that KU was a key partner in Kansas City’s bi-state effort to make the region a bioscience hub. He also launched KU’s ongoing quest for Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute for the KU Cancer Center. The life science center was designed to foster collaboration and recruit top researchers, both key components in obtaining National Cancer Institute designation.

“Chancellor Hemenway had a dramatic impact on the medical center and its success, and therefore a profound and positive effect on the health and well-being of millions of people in Kansas and the greater Kansas City area,” said Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor of the medical center and executive dean of the School of Medicine. “His name is synonymous here with expansion, growth and research so I am proud our campus will be home to the Hemenway center.”

After stepping down last summer, Hemenway is on sabbatical leave this academic year to work on a book about intercollegiate athletics and American values. A scholar of American literature, he will return to teaching and scholarly research at KU in fall 2010.