Robert Ebendorf, master metalsmith and graduate of Kansas University’s design department, will return to his alma mater this week to participate in a professional practice series.

He will give a public lecture during his visit at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Kansas Union’s Jayhawk Room. It is free and open to the public. Ebendorf also will give demonstrations for students and conduct a graduate seminar.

Ebendorf, a native of Topeka, received his BFA in metalsmithing and jewelry design in 1961 and his design MFA in 1963, both from KU. He is a Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor at East Carolina School of Art, where he teaches metals and design.

His work is in the permanent collection of the American Craft Museum in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Arts, Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.