The new president of Wichita State University knows his way around our campus and town, and so does his wife, Deborah. For many years it was their town too ? he says it?s great to be home.
John Bardo taught sociology at WSU from 1973 to 1983; Deborah grew up here, and graduated from West High School in 1971.
Bardo on July 1 will become the university?s 13th president, succeeding Donald Beggs, who along with his wife Shirley got a sustained standing ovation on Friday from the hundreds who showed up to hear the Kansas Board of Regents announce the new leader.
?I want to thank the Board of Regents and the members of the WSU community for the opportunity to continue building on the strong traditions of high quality education, engaged scholarship and public service that have been the hallmarks of WSU for generations,? Bardo said. ?I can?t think of any place I?d rather be than right here, right now.?
Ed Mckechnie, Regents president, said the board interviewed five strong finalists for the job, and that Bardo?s strategic thinking and ideas for how to steer WSU were much the strongest they heard; the depth and scope of some of those ideas were so good that McKechnie said they might borrow some of them for use at the state?s other universities.
Bardo was reluctant to discuss those ideas specifically on Friday, because he said he wanted to spend time here first, getting a handle on enrollment, local business, and what other people would like to tell him about what should be done. But he said Beggs had done an outstanding job in 13 years in positioning the university for the future.
Bardo, former chancellor of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., earned a bachelor?s degree in economics from the University of Cincinnati, a master?s degree from Ohio University in sociology, and a doctorate from Ohio State in sociology. He?s served during his career as a department chair, a dean, a university vice president, and as a provost.
Long established at other universities, Bardo said he never thought about applying for other places until the WSU job came open. When it did, he got excited; ?I thought I could be useful here.?
He said it?s been fun to see the familiar sights here, and more fun to discover the part and attractions of town that came to be after he left here years ago. There?s a good Vietnamese restaurant he and his wife have come to like; a good Mexican restaurant.
He said all of us will be seeing him and Deborah out and about a lot from now on.
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