Robert Hemenway

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Robert Hemenway is the sixteenth and current chancellor of the University of Kansas (KU). Hemenway also served as chair of the 18-member NCAA Division I board of directors from 2002 to 2005, and also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education, and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.

Hemenway arrived at KU in 1995, and immediately made it a goal to make the school a Top 25 academic institution in America, which he has continued at an even greater pace in more recent years. To an extent, he has been successful, as KU now ranks 29th by US News & World Report, and KU ranks 3rd among public colleges and universities for the number of Academic All-Americans since 1990. Hemenway has also made research a pillar of KU, especially in medical fields, and recently has made a commitment to cancer research.

Hemenway graduated from Hastings (Nebraska) High School in 1959, the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1963 with a BA in English, and Kent State University in 1966 with a PhD in English. He wrote "Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography", about the Harlem Renaissance author, which was named one of the New York Times' Best Books of 1978. In addition to serving as chancellor, Hemenway also teaches English, as he served as a professor at the University of Kentucky, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Oklahoma.

Nickname: Chancellor Bob (referred to himself as this at 05/19/2006 commencement)

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