Q: Dr. Gray-Little, can you tell us about how your career in education has prepared you for the kinds of challenges you expect to be dealing with at KU?
A: My academic and administrative career until now has been at the University of North Carolina, where I went from assistant professor to provost over a 30-year career. KU and UNC have a surprising number of parallels. Both are among the 32 public members of the Association of American Universities, the nation’s leading universities, and both sustain strong and diverse academic and research programs, so my experience translates well to KU.
What attracted me to KU is that it’s an engaging university with the ambition to excel. I bring experience to a number of areas that are critical if KU is to reach the next level. These include scholarly enterprise, recruiting and supporting top students and faculty, and helping a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center thrive.
Q: What would you say are the three biggest issues confronting KU in particular, and higher public education in Kansas in general, and why?
A: The issues are interrelated. On the front burner today, everywhere, is the budget crisis. In an environment of shrinking resources, the challenge is to deliver the highest quality education to our students while, ideally, growing the robust enterprise and scholarly reputation of a research university. The financial situation in Kansas is not as bad as in some states, but we still will have to operate at maximum efficiency while protecting the academic core. Fundraising to increase the university's private endowment takes on special importance in this environment. Delivering a high-quality education means recruiting and supporting top students and seeing that they graduate. It also means supporting faculty, academic and research programs, which brings us back to the need to seek efficiencies and raise funds.
Q: In light of the national discussion over race and gender during Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, how do you see those issues and your own life experiences shaping your decision-making process?
A: Race and gender could be considered a challenge to a career path when you look back and evaluate experiences, but the challenge always is not to let your aspirations be limited by others’ expectations. You just do what you need to do and get it done. You just work through obstacles. People encouraged me to earn a college degree, and so I set about achieving it.
I grew up in a small town in North Carolina and my family couldn’t really contribute to my college education. But what they instilled in me was their fundamental belief in the power of education, that education can enrich and transform a life. I internalized this belief and it, probably above all else, influences me as an administrator.
Q: What can you tell us about your managerial style, and how you expect those style elements to come into play in reshaping the agenda for KU?
A: I have to say that one of the fundamental aspects of university life that I find so rewarding is the learning environment. It is exciting to witness how the knowledge we create shapes the world and finds solutions to important societal problems. I enjoy being a student—studying, listening to people, reading, learning from other people’s experiences, asking questions, analyzing the data, and then drawing conclusions to direct initiatives.
So you will see me out and about, observing and talking with a variety of people, from students to parents, donors to legislators, across Kansas and Kansas City and out of state, too. I think my love of this “learning style” will influence how my efforts shape KU’s agenda more than anything else.
Q: If it comes down to KU vs. UNC for the NCAA title, how will you finesse your choice of sportswear?
A: I’ve become quite fond of the color crimson, and I’ve always loved blue. People tell me that crimson-and-blue becomes me. So I don’t think you will have any trouble recognizing me in the stands as a Jayhawk fan.
