SpaceFest 2026

SpaceFest 2026

Celebrating 150 years of KU Astronomy -- and the life & career of Prof. Sergei Shandarin.
Friday, May 8, 2026.

Details will be below!

Description:

Welcome to SpaceFest 2026, our celebration of Professor Sergei Shandarin's successful career at KU --- and of 150 years of Astronomy at KU.

We invite past and present students, colleagues, alumni, and friends to join us here at KU in Malott Hall on Friday, May 8th to help celebrate. Stick around: the annual department banquet will take place that same evening.

Email Prof. Ian Crossfield (ianc@ku.edu) with questions or to RSVP. 

Location & Time:  

1-4:30pm in Malott Hall 2048

Logistics / Transportation:

  • Bike: KU & Malott Hall is served by many local bus routes, as described at the Lawrence Transit Website
  • Bus: Malott Hall also has numerous bicycle racks located around the building
  • Car: on May 8th, all Yellow Parking Lots are free to use. Find more details, including parking-lot maps, at the KU Parking Website .  Parking Lot 61 (see Parking Map here) is probably closest to Malott Hall.

Confirmed Attendees:

  • Humberto Campins (BS '77)
  • Dick Henry (BS '77)
  • Mark Paonessa (PhD '84)
  • Ramona Kessel (PhD '87)
  • Robert Kessel (PhD '87)
  • Scott Randle (BS '87)
  • Colleen McKee (BS '87, MS '88)
  • Doug Lindholm (BS '90)
  • John Pritchett (BS '94)
  • Bryce Kuhlman (BS '96)
  • Jen Pauls (PhD '98)
  • Nurur Rahman (PhD '05)
  • Brian Thomas (PhD '06)
  • Brad Klee (BS '10)
  • Casey Williams (BS '12)
  • Brandon Jones (BS '14)
  • David Thomas (BS '15)
  • Alex Ford (PhD '17)
  • Sara LeGresley Rush (PhD '18)
  • Eilish GIbson (BS '18)
  • Hannah Gibson (BS '18)
  • James Bowen (BS '18)
  • Nesar Ramachandra (PhD '19)
  • Michael Sitarz (PhD '24)
  • Matthew Wellman (BS '25)
  • Ryan Low (PhD '26)
  • David Kolb (alum)
  • Torry Crass (alum)
  • Joseph Pritchett (student)
  • Katie Brotton (student)
  • Shoukat Ali (grad student)
  • Chuck Wehner (Astronomy Associates of Lawrence)
  • Rick Heschmeyer (Astronomy Associates of Lawrence)
  • Reid Nelson (Astronomy Associates of Lawrence)
  • Conor Taft (KUEA)
  • Prof. Steve Shawl (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Steve Hawley (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Barbara Anthony-Twarog (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Alice Bean (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. David Besson (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Phil Baringer (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Ian Crossfield (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Greg Rudnick (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Jennifer Delgado (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. KC Kong (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Graham Wilson (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Chad Kraus (KU Faculty)
  • Prof. Chris Fischer (Department Chair)
  • .... your name here!  (email ianc@ku.edu) 

 

Possible Attendees:

  •  
  •  
  • Ethen Schmidt
  • .... your name here!  (email ianc@ku.edu) 

 

Other Events:

Click on the links below for information about: