Professor receives teaching innovation award
Fall enrollment surges for business school
School adds pro poker player, Olympics planner to list of distinguished alumni

Professor receives teaching innovation award

In 2005, Professor Raquel Alexander began incorporating community service into her tax curriculum with a student project that simplified tax laws following Hurricane Katrina.

Since then, Alexander’s students have refined a variety of skills, including preparing income tax returns and drafting proposed federal legislation for tax credits to benefit disabled veterans.

Alexander turned classroom projects into a winning teaching method proposal she wrote with KU Center for Service Learning Director Andi Witczak. Alexander and Witczak on Aug. 4 received the Deloitte Foundation and American Taxation Association 2008 Teaching Award at the annual American Accounting Association Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Fall enrollment surges for business school

The KU School of Business continues to attract superior students. This semester, 533 new students will join the school and the new class has an average collegiate G.P.A. of 3.4 and an average ACT score of 24.6.

This will be one of the largest incoming classes of business school students; 48 percent larger than entered last year. For fall 2007, 359 students were admitted into the school, and another 175 students joined in the spring. Higher admission numbers may result from new school offerings, including new faculty, a new supply chain management major and the reinstatement of the business administration major.

“The KU School of Business is truly one of the fastest growing business schools in the nation,” said Dean William L. Fuerst. “As our enrollment numbers increase, we continue to seek out new resources and tools that meet the growing demand of our students.”

School adds pro poker player, Olympics planner to list of distinguished alumni

Grant Hinkle, who graduated with a degree in business administration in 2003, recently turned pro after winning $831,462 at the 2008 World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas.

His mother, Lynn Hinkle, said her son drew inspiration from the Jayhawks’ championship year and relied on his business knowledge whenever he faced a challenge during games.

Click here for more information on Hinkle's win.

Nicole Sather worked as an event services coordinator for the United States Olympic Committee during this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Sather now works at the committee’s headquarters in Colorado Springs.

Visit the School of Business Web site for more information.