The provost of the University of Notre Dame will visit Kansas University next week to receive the Department of Psychology’s first 1949 Award, which honors distinguished alumni.

As part of the events leading up to his recognition, Thomas Burish, who has been provost of Notre Dame for nine years, will give a lecture about the importance of flagship universities such as Notre Dame and KU. This lecture, titled “Institutional Grit: The Critical Role of Flagship Universities in American Society,” will begin at 7 p.m. on March 6 in the Kansas Union ballroom.

Burish received his bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame in 1972 and later attended KU, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology and clinical psychology in 1975 and 1976. Burish served as provost at Vanderbilt University from 1993 to 2002 and spent three years as president of Washington and Lee University before being appointed provost at Notre Dame in 2005.