KU Medical Center staffer crowned Mrs. Kansas

Boler will compete for Mrs. United States next month

Cydney Boler, corporate counsel and contracts office division director for the Research Institute at the KU Medical Center, is more than just a mother, community volunteer and attorney – she is now the 2009 Mrs. Kansas United States.

Boler competed on May 9 and 10 in Salina for the title and will go on to compete in the national Mrs. United States competition, the “premier pageant for married women,” July 19-24 in Las Vegas.

“I was honored to be crowned Mrs. Kansas United States,” Boler said. “The other women in the competition were very prepared and had great answers to the interview questions.”

Boler competed in pageants in her early 20s but hadn’t competed in 11 years when she became interested in Mrs. United States pageant.

“My first pageant experiences really gave me confidence when it came to interviews and the confidence needed to do well in law school, so I decided to give it another try,” she said.

To prepare for the national competition, she is working out twice a day and is designing her own evening gown, which she says will be elegant and unique.

Her colleagues at the medical center are helping her prepare for the national competition.

“Every time they come into my office, they have a different interview question for me,” she said. “They have been a great help and are very supportive.”

As part of the national competition, the 52 competitors will give a unique gift to the mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman.

“Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Atkinson presented me with a 2008 basketball from the championship team to give to the mayor,” she said. “I think he will really enjoy it.”

Boler, who has been working at the medical center for three and a half years and is expected to finish her master’s in December 2009, reviews contracts for clinical trials and works on building collaborative agreements between the Research Institute and outside companies, such as Quintiles and pharmaceutical corporations. Before coming to the university, she worked as a staff attorney for the Federal Trade Commission, as well as an associate attorney for Milberg, Weiss, Bershad and Schulman in New York.

Outside of her work, she is the proud mother of an 11-month-old son, Dalton, and 6-year-old, Kaleb. She and her husband, Brad, are active members of the Overland Park Church of Christ, and she is a volunteer for Court Appointed Special Advocates, commonly referred to as CASA. Boler, who has volunteered with CASA 10 to 20 hours a month for the past three years, uses it as her platform for the state and national pageant competitions.

Boler is supportive of the organization, which helps abused or neglected children navigate the legal system when they don’t have parental support, because she was a victim of the same situation growing up.

“As someone who went through the system without an advocate, I know how vital they are to helping children get through the situation,” said Boler.

Boler will be at a number of events in Kansas throughout the year representing the Mrs. Kansas United States pageant, including the Kansas State Fair and Shawnee Days. She is writing a blog, www.mrsksunitedstates2009.blogspot.com, to keep people updated on her events and year’s reign as Mrs. Kansas.