UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, November 10, 1993
7
John Gamble / KANSAN
Real men don't play raquetball."
-Bob Friauf
Professor maintains constant state of motion
Continued from Page 1
"I really don't need a lot of coaxing to get the camping equipment out," he said.
California and his favorite, Glacier National Park in northern Montana.
At KU, Fräufen enjoys playing handball, which he considers a real sport.
When asked if he played racquetball, Friauf snorted and dismissed the idea with a toss of his hand.
"I try not to be disparaging or discriminating against anybody or anything, but the one luxury is that real men don't play racquetball." he said.
Friauf tries to play twice a week with friends Del Shankel, professor of microbiology and special counsel to the chancellor, and Richard Himes, professor of biochemistry and biological sciences.
"We're all pretty even, and so sometimes we have good days and sometimes bad days," he said.
Shankel is not as modest when describing Frioul's game.
"He is a very cagey player. A good player, probably a little better than I am, but I beat him occasionally," he said. "He has a great shot into the corner, and he gets this funny little smile on his face after he makes a really good shot."
When Shankel and Friauf played one Friday, Friauf constantly scored points with his shot into the corner leaving Shankel muttering, "good shot."
Bob Friau, professor of physics and astronomy, sits behind the stacks of papers in his warehouse-like office. Friau's collection of periodicals fills two desks and several ceiling-bigh bookshelves.
Bob Friauf, KU professor of physics and astronomy, sits with his dog, Tessie, behind his house. Friauf and Tessie, who wears her own backpack, often go camping and hiking together.
John Gamble / KANSAN
When Friauf served, he looked as if he was winding up for a pitch. He knocked the ball against the wall with a resounding smack. He constantly darted from side to side, hitting the ball, and when he erred, the stoic professor cried, "Ooh." in frustration.
"You'll find that lots of outstanding people have a wide variety of tastes, all the way from the Nobel Prize winners on down," he said.
Handball, hiking, skiing and sailing have helped Friauf in all areas, said Gorden Wiseman, a retired KU professor of physics and astronomy who sails with Friauf. Wiseman said people with varied interests were more effective in everything they did.
A hen and her ducklings
Friauf, born in 1926 in Pittsburgh, is a second-generation German-American. His family moved to Milwaukee when he was 4 and then to Arlington, Va., when he was in the 10th grade. He graduated from high school in 1944 and headed to Duke University, where he enlisted in the Navy V-12 program, which is like today's ROTC. During World War II, Duke had a trimester academic program, which allowed Friauf to finish six semesters in two years.
"It was a lot of work, but I wasn't complaining because I wasn't on the front line getting shot at." he said.
Friau's interest in physics had begun in Milwaukee, where his father, James, had worked as a physicist for the A.O. Smith Company, which made metal products.
Friauf said that although he enjoyed talking about physics with his brother and father, his mother, Helen, was not crazy about it.
"When we got off to talking about physics, she felt ... like a hen that's raised ducks and sees the ducks swimming off into the water," he said
Friauf graduated from Duke in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He then went to the University of Chicago, where he earned a master's degree in 1951 and a doctorate in 1953, both in physics. During his stay in Chicago, Friauf met Betty Schroer; the two were married on Sept. 10, 1949.
After getting his doctorate in 1953, Friauf became an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at KU. He also became a father on June 3 of that year.
After the birth of their first child, Ann, the Friaufs had two more children during the next four years. Barbara was born on March 10, 1955, and Nancy was born on Nov. 7, 1957.
In 1987 Friauf and his wife got a divorce; she now lives in Olathe.
Governance run amok
As a physics professor teaching Western civilization, Friauf knows he is a minority.
"That's one of the interesting perquisites of being a university professor. I like physics, and I like to do it, and at times on research projects when I've done it, it seems like 14 hours a day. But there're other times when it's nice to get into more general discussions."
James Woelfel, professor of philosophy and director of the Western civilization program, said there was a long-standing tradition in Western civilization of having other professors teach honors Western civilization.
Friauf first became involved with governance during the '60s, when the University Senate was still the main governance body. In 1969, the governance system changed from the Senate, which included associate and full professors, to the system in use today of the University Council, and its executive group, the University Senate Executive Committee. There are now 39 elected members of University Council, with a representative from each school, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the libraries.
While the governance change probably was inevitable, Friauf said he was disappointed that faculty members were not as active as during the previous governance system.
"There's lots of demands on faculty time," Friauf said. "The actual amount of time devoted to University committees is usually not fully recognized or rewarded, and most of the people in governance are aware of that, but that's a partial discouragement. It's really the pressure and the other demands that seem to keep quite a few faculty members from becoming much involved."
Although other professors might enjoy teaching honors Western civilization, not many want to serve on governance committees.
"What I realized, fairly soon, is that for the three years you're on University Council you know more about University affairs than you did with the full University Senate," he said. "But the years you're not on, it's just hard to keep up the interest. You're just not really involved very much."
Friauf said faculty members needed more encouragement from people heading departments to serve on governance committees.
"They don't feel that it's very effective, and there are times when I share their opinion," he said. "There are other times though, when I think that if nobody were interested in discussing these affairs, then the administration really would run things and would sometimes run amok."
Friauf said the governance system complemented his teaching duties.
"I've often felt that one of the chief benefits of being a university professor is that you get to do so many different things," he said. "If I had to do nothing but teaching, I'd get tired of it after a while. But having a change of pace often makes all of your activities
more enjoyable."
T. P. Srinivasan, head of SenEx and professor of mathematics, said Friauf's contributions to governance and KU were irreplaceable.
The time for recognition is coming soon. Friauf expects to retire when he finishes his three-year term on University Council in the spring.
"I wish, when he leaves governance, there will be some way to recognize his contributions formally," he said.
Friauf said he had enjoyed every aspect of his time at KU, both teaching courses and working on governance.
"I really think the best part of it is getting to meet the variety of people, and that includes many of the students," he said. "I expect to continue to live in Lawrence, because I enjoy the association with the University and the town."
After he retires, Frieda will have many more opportunities to go skiing, sailing and camping. But he has an even more pressing issue at hand:
Like his crowded office, his living room is stacked with 40 years' worth of magazines that his busy schedule has kept him from reading.
"I keep telling myself there will be a chance to read the National Geographics," he said.
The University of Kansas
School of Fine Arts
Department of
Music and Dance
Fall Vocal Jazz Concert
7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 11, 1993
Lied Center
with special guest Don Shelton, vocalist/instrumentalist, formerly with The Hi-Lo's and The Singers Unlimited
KU Jazz Singers Dan Gailey, director
KU Jazz Choir
KU Jazz Choir
Julie Yount, director
Dick Wright, Master of Ceremonies
For general admission tickets, call the box office (Murphy) 913/644-3982 Lied: 913/644-ARTS); public $3, students $2, senior citizens $2; VISA/MasterCard accepted for phone orders; call about group rates. Tickets will also be available at the door
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