Ted D. Ayres
Vice President and General Counsel 

Ted D. Ayres
Vice President and General Counsel

201 Morrison Hall

Wichita State University
1845 Fairmount
Wichita, KS 67260-0205

(316) 978-6791 telephone
(316) 978-3046 telefacsimile
ted.ayres@wichita.edu e-mail

Ted D. Ayres earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Central Missouri State College in 1969 and his Juris Doctorate degree in 1972 from the University of Missouri.

From 1972 to 1976 Mr. Ayres served as law clerk to Judge J.P. Morgan of the Missouri Supreme Court, was a partner with the firm of Stubbs and Ayres in Chillicothe, Missouri, (also serving as the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Livingston County) and was an attorney with the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company corporate headquarters legal department in St. Louis, respectively.

In 1976 Mr. Ayres began his career in higher education law as counsel for University of Missouri and, in 1984 he became General Counsel for the University of Colorado. In 1986 he became General Counsel to the Kansas Board of Regents. This position expanded when he was also named Director of Governmental Relations in 1992 and served as the chief spokesperson for the Board and the Regents System for five legislative sessions.

In May of 1996 Mr. Ayres joined Wichita State University as General Counsel and Associate to the President. In July of 2002, Mr. Ayres was promoted to Vice President and General Counsel. He also serves as General Counsel to the WSU Foundation, THe WSU Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Inc., and the WSU Board of Trustees.  During his career, Mr. Ayres has also served as Interim President of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, and as Interim Director of the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University (on two separate occasions).

In 1996, Ayres received a Bingham Foundation Scholarship to attend the NACUA Institute at Harvard University. In July of 2000, he was an invited participant in the Oxford Round Table (Higher Education law) at Somerville College, Oxford University, Oxford, England. In 2004, Mr. Ayres completed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Citizens Academy and in 2009, he attended the National Security Forum at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, upon invitation of the Secretary of the Air Force.

His past professional and community affiliations include serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys; the Downtown YMCA in Topeka; the Wichita Technology Corporation, and the Tornado Alley Tigers Chapter of the Mizzou Alumni Association, where he is a life member, and served a two-year term as President, and currently serves on the National Board of Directors. Ayres currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors, World War II Memorial, Inc. Ayres is also a lifetime member of the WSU Alumni Association.

Mr. Ayres is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Colorado and Kansas. He is or has been licensed to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the U.S. District Court of Colorado, the 8^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the 10^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. In 1981, he argued the case of Widmar v. Vincent before the United States Supreme Court.

On February 24, 2009, Mr. Ayres received the A. Price Woodard, Jr. Humanitarian of the Year Award from Diversity Kansas. On October 30, 2010, Mr. Ayres was named "Person of the Year" by the Wichita Chapter of the NAACP.

Ted and his wife, Marcia, have three sons, and two grandchildren.