Our Shared Mission

Letter from the Director

Aug. 24, 2023

LSIers, the fall semester for 2023 is upon us. Temperatures will soon be cooling off, parking is already more difficult both on campus and in town, and it now takes longer to cut through the increased crosstown traffic. I hope everyone got at least some rest and relaxation over the summer, although the Life Span Institute Central Office stayed busy with grant submissions, new recruitments, and the Research Rising initiative.

As a research institute, our annual rhythms here at LSI are not always aligned with the cycles of the academic year. But campus reawakening for a new semester represents an opportunity for a refreshed review and reflection on some fundamentals. 

My recent stints in the Office of Research and in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences over the last few years have reminded me of the uniqueness of LSI within KU. The other offices in which I’ve served constantly struggle with competing priorities and missions. 

However, all of us here at LSI share a common mission: we’re all working to improve health and human development in our local/regional/national/global communities. 

For sure, our various centers and our many affiliated investigators approach this mission in different ways and from different perspectives. However, this shared mission provides us with consistent guidance on the right and proper courses of action, and on what needs and enterprises should take priority. What we often take for granted, however, is that this shared mission affords us all a unified identity within the KU community. 

Our work here is translational, rigorous, and nationally visible, but above all, it matters. We all work to make a difference in people's lives.

Toward that end, we are also lucky to have added to our roster of outstanding scientists over this summer. Trina Spencer has joined us from the University of South Florida to lead the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project. Valerie Mazzotti has come to KU from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Lauren Bruno joins us from Washington State University, Elizabeth Stevens from Georgia State, and Lisa Didion from the University of Iowa. 

I wish everyone good luck as we embark on the new academic year, and I look forward to working with you again.

John Colombo, PhD

Professor of Psychology 

Director, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies