Engaged Leaders Speaker Series

Hosted by the KU Libraries and The Commons, The Engaged Leaders Speaker Series welcomes leading scholars to KU to lead intentional conversations which emphasize open, equitable, divergent, and critical thinking posed to guide the future university. This series combines the institutional priorities of Jayhawks Rising, the strategic plan for the University of Kansas, by illuminating the work and structure of higher education through research & discovery, with an eye toward “Healthy & Vibrant Communities,” which depends on the well-being of students, faculty, and staff who make up the communities of KU.
Kathleen Fitzpatrick Roundtable
Engaged Leaders Speaker Series with Kathleen Fitzpatrick, author of 'Generous Thinking'

January 12, 2023 - Beronda Montgomery

Beronda L. Montgomery is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean at Grinnell College. She is a scholar, writer, and science communicator with research interests in plant biochemistry, equitable mentoring, and progressive leadership. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Plant Biologists, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Academy of Microbiology, she was named on of Cell's 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America and won the 2021 Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award and the 2022 Adolph E. Gude Jr. Award for outstanding service to the science of plant biology for writing the book Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press), among other plant-based writings.

Beronda Montgomery Promotion

January 13, 2022 - Andrew Hoffman

In his book, “The Engaged Scholar,” Hoffman argues for the emergence of a more publicly and politically engaged scholar. Hoffman's lecture is a call to make the path toward public engagement more acceptable and legitimate for the academic scholar in today's world. This lecture is part of the Engaged Leaders speaker series and is the keynote address for the KU Summit on Community-Engaged Learning and Scholarship.

Andrew Hoffman

January 27, 2021 - Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick discusses the central tenets of her book, “Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University.” Fitzpatrick urges academics to think critically, constructively, and generously — a mode of engagement that she describes as listening over speaking, community over individualism, and collaboration over competition.

Kathleen Fitzpatrick