Ingram’s February 2023

JuliAnn Mazachek still re- members “when the magic happened”—her words—and the first steps to a career in higher education. An accounting un dergrad, she had return to the University of Kansas to earn an advanced degree. “It was during my MBA program I had the first opportunity to teach accounting, a course that many students do not enjoy as much as me,” she says. “I learned the joy that came from teaching others about something you love and seeing them learn something they never thought

an awaking in the power of teaching. “The seed for education as a career was first planted there,” she says. Later came the realization that an MBA would perfectly complement her goals in engineering, leading up to that magical moment. She came to Washburn in 1992 on the accounting faculty, and eventually served as dean for its school of business, the vice president for academic affairs. Last year, she ventured out of state to take the leadership of Midwestern State University in Texas, but quickly returned to Topeka upon the retirement of longtime president Jerry Farley. Simply put, “I could not turn down the opportu nity to come home,” Mazachek says. “The pull to return to the place our family had called home for 30 years was too strong. My heart belongs to Washburn University, and I am honored to serve as its 15th president.” Now, the chore of leading during an era of declining nationwide is hers to address. “It is a challeng ing time in higher education,” Mazachek says. “Washburn, like most institutions, faces enrollment challenges and changing student demographics. Working as a team, we will prepare for and embrace a future that is ready for new ideas to best meet the needs of students and our communities.” Academic courses and programs may have to change, she says, as well as delivery methods and continuing initiatives to make college affordable. “We know the tremendous importance of educating our future work force, business owners, thought leaders and community partners,” Mazachek says. “The vitality of our communities and economy depends on the next generation, which is why Wash burn continues to always put students first.” into a national model that has engaged more than 15,000 stu dents since its 2009 founding, earning Phalen a trophy case full of national awards. When he explored an expansion into Kansas City, he crossed paths with the Kauffman Foundation, which was looking to fill an open seat among its trustees— one that, by chance, had been occupied by the former president of his alma mater at Yale. Phalen won the foundation over. “Several things at tracted me to the opportunity,” he says. “First, I sensed something special about Kauffman because of the way they held themselves accountable for outcomes. I had seen foundations hold grantees accountable for outcomes but had never seen them hold them selves equally accountable.” That connection, in turn, led to KC Scholars, which had been established with Kauffman support. “When I was approached about joining KC Scholars, I was both humbled and honored,” Phalen says. “I felt like KC Scholars was one of the best scholarship programs in the country. A number of factors made and makes it one of the strongest and most impres sive models in the country.” Among them, independent evalua tions demonstrate 94 percent annual persistence rates and schol ars tracking towards 75 percent college graduation rates, which Phalen says is seven times the national average for first-genera tion and low- and moderate-income students. The program also offers substantial scholarships—$50,000 over five years—help ing many students to graduate debt free, and it supported 627 students last year. “All of these factors,” Phalen says, “combined with the opportunity to grow the program to positively impact the lives of many adults and families, made me incredibly excited about leading KC Scholars.”

JULIANN MAZACHEK WASHBURN UNIVERSITY

they could, or would, be able to learn. It was then I realized I wanted to make higher education my life’s work. I knew the next step was doctoral study.” From there, it’s a nearly straight line to the presidency of Washburn University, a title she as sumed just last month after more than 30 years in various roles of the Topeka-based municipal university. Born in Topeka and raised there, then in St. Louis, she’s a first-generation college student “who always loved math and science” so she pursued an engineering degree at Missouri University of Science and Tech nology. The college instructional dynamic she experienced was

Earl Phalen beat the odds in life. And for most of that life, he’s been working to help thou sands of young school students, mostly in urban settings, do the same. The president and CEO of KC Scholars got his first break as a toddler when an enlightened white couple defied social con vention of the 1960s by adopt ing a young black boy who had been abandoned a birth. “My parents,” he says, “have always put children at the forefront of everything.” Their loving em brace put him on a path to Yale University, then Harvard Law

EARL MARTIN PHALEN KAUFFMAN SCHOLARS

School, at a time when 70 percent of his young African-American peers were likely to end up incarcerated. “My parents had sev en children prior to bringing me into the family, and now there are 58 grandchildren,” Phalen marvels. “So children are a huge part of my family, and watching my parents lead the family in a way where children were always first has been instilled in me.” In various settings, he has turned that inspiration into work for so cial causes that included a women’s shelter, support programs for disadvantaged students, and eventually, his own non-profit, Sum mer Advantage, which is grounded in the premise that young minds can’t be educated if they can’t even read. He turned that

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February 2023

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