Bookstore receives education award

Borders Books Music & Cafe, 700 N.H., received an award this month for its work with Schwegler School.

The business displays student artwork in its cafe, and invited students to read original works one Saturday morning and gave Schwegler families a 20 percent off coupon.

Lawrence Education Achievement Partners honors one business or organization each month that helps Lawrence public schools.

KU dean elected to council’s board

A Kansas University dean has been elected to a one-year term on the Council of Graduate Schools’ board of directors.

Diana Carlin, dean of the Graduate School and international programs, will be one of 12 members on the board.

The council is an organization of higher education institutions in the United States and Canada with international affiliates engaged in graduate education, research and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees.

Engineering student writes 2nd-place paper

A Kansas University’s research paper recently took second place in a national engineering competition.

Theresa LaFollette, a senior from Olathe, won second in the technical presentation competition at the 2004 Society of Women Engineers national conference, which was Oct. 14-16 in Milwaukee.

LaFollette’s paper studied how the poorly water-soluble drug naproxen, the key ingredient in the Aleve painkiller, reacted in a low-pH medium. She devised a mathematical model to predict how the drug would react in the stomach.

The award included a $1,000 prize, which LaFollette plans to use to pay for applications for graduate schools.

KU professor to lead research program

A National Science Foundation program designed to bring more federal research dollars to Kansas will have new leadership at the beginning of the year.

Kristin Bowman-James, a Kansas University chemistry professor, will become director of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) on Jan. 1. She will succeed Tom Taylor, a KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who will return to full-time teaching and research.

The program, which was established in 1992, is part of a national effort to attract federal research money to states that traditionally have been underrepresented in federal programs. It has been responsible for bringing $20 million to Kansas since its inception, through projects at KU, Kansas State University and Wichita State University.

Bowman-James joined the KU faculty in 1975 as an assistant professor. She was promoted to professor in 1987 and served as chair of the chemistry department from 1995 to 2001.

Board of ed member

named to national post

State Board of Education member Kenneth Willard, of Hutchinson, was named this month to the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Willard is a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and earned a political science degree from Washburn University.