{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Ask A Kansan","title":"K-State Past, Present, and Future: A Conversation with President Linton | Powercat Kansan","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3855,"description":"Kansas State University touches all 105 counties in this state — training the veterinarians who protect our livestock, the biomanufacturers building tomorrow's jobs, and the students who choose to stay and build their lives right here in Kansas. On this episode of Ask a Kansan, Gus and Sydney sit down with Dr. Richard Linton, president of Kansas State University, to talk about what it really means to lead a land-grant institution built to serve every corner of the state. We get into the mentors who shaped him, the napkin sketch that mapped out his entire career decades before he became a university president, why athletics might matter more in Manhattan, Kansas than almost anywhere else in the country, and the story of how he and his wife once snuck onto campus incognito before he ever took the job. We close out with his hopes for what Kansas and K-State will look like 100 years from now.\n\nHighlights\n\nDr. Linton's path from food microbiology at Virginia Tech to university leadership, shaped by mentors like Dr. Merrill Pearson and Randy Woodson\nK-State's scale: over 21,000 degree-seeking students, three campuses (Manhattan, Salina, Olathe), and engagement across all 105 Kansas counties\nA breakdown of what a university president's week actually looks like — \"friend-raising and fundraising\"\nMajor initiatives shaping K-State's Next Gen strategic plan: biomanufacturing, water resource management, and nuclear energy\nThe origin and meaning of \"land-grant university,\" and what \"next-generation land-grant\" means for K-State today\nThe value of a K-State degree, explained through three numbers: 81% financial support, 97% job/grad school placement, 67% above-average starting salaries\nCommunity college partnerships (Dodge City, Garden City, Manhattan Technical College) and support for first-generation students\nThe \"brain drain\" challenge — why Kansas keeps roughly 75% of in-state students but only 40–45% of out-of-state students\nWhy athletics matters so much to K-State's...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/31uDhQmE-73zaqpWjXtwnyYffNMsUnDPiL6GtjTddEQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNzBm/YzFkNDBkODVjNGM2/MzMwMGViYjhmZTY4/Nzc0Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}