Celebrating 20 years of dancing and changing lives
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MOCKUP FRONT
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of DanceBlue, a 24-hour fundraising dance marathon that raises money for the DanceBlue Hematology/Oncology Clinic at Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Illustration
INSPIRED BY A CAUSE
By Sally Scherer
OF THE MATTER 14 20 24
The goal of DanceBlue is to change the lives of the children and parents of those with pediatric cancer. But the students who join the dance are changed, too.
A STELLAR ALUMNA
By Dan Knapp
From stargazing in Louisville to steering missions at NASA, alumna Tracy Drain turned her sci-fi childhood into an engineering epic — and she’s still charting new frontiers.
REMEMBERING THE FALLEN
By Sally Scherer
The $82 million renovation at Historic Memorial Coliseum included finding a new place for the memorial to nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who died during WWII.
HEART
A WAY OF GIVING THANKS
By Steve Harris
Sally ‘Sal’ Siebert’s gratitude shines through in her commitment to nurture the next generation of nurses.
FOSTERING SHELF ESTEEM
By Dan Knapp
UK alumni Andy and Peggy Henderson were so moved by Jack ‘Goose’ Givens’ memoir that they sparked a new chapter of reading and reflection among Lexington middle schoolers.
Do you have a cherished memento from your time at the University of Kentucky? Maybe it’s a wool UK pennant, your graduation program or a T-shirt from an unforgettable concert at Memorial Hall. We want to hear about it!
by Whitney Stamper
CREDITS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jill Holloway Smith ‘05 BE, ‘11 AFE: Associate Vice President for Stakeholder Engagement and Executive Director of the UK Alumni Association
EDITORS
Meredith Weber: Director of Marketing and Communications
Sally Scherer: Managing Editor
DESIGNERS
Whitney Stamper: Graphic Designer, Alumni
Kaylynn Cromer: Graphic Designer, Philanthropy
CONTACT US
King Alumni House
400 Rose St. Lexington, KY 40506
859-257-8905
800-269-ALUM
Fax: 859-323-1063
Email: ukalumni@uky.edu Web: www.ukalumni.net
ukalumni
@kentuckyalumni
@kentucky_alumni
ukalumni.net/linkedin
@kentuckyalumni
Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is published quarterly by the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington, Kentucky, for its members.
Wondering why you received Kentucky Alumni magazine?
All current Life and Active Members of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association automatically receive the Kentucky Alumni magazine quarterly. All who give $75 or more ($25 for recent graduates) to any UK fund, including UK Athletics/K Fund and DanceBlue, are recognized as Active Members regardless of alumni status.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL
Officers
Robert “Rob” L. Crady III ’94 BE: President
Thomas K. Mathews ‘93 AS: President-elect
Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS, ’98 ED: Treasurer
Jill Holloway Smith ’05 BE, ’11 AFE: Secretary
In-State Representatives
Michelle Bishop Allen ’06 ’10 BE
Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 CI
Christopher J. Crumrine ‘08 CI, ‘10 GS, ‘23 AS
James F. Gilles, III ’10 AFE
Emily C. Henderson ’01 PHA
Michael H. Huang ’89 AS, ’93 MED
Lee Jackson ’73 AS
Frank Kendrick ’90 ’92 DE
Scott Mason, ‘94 AS, ‘03 LAW
Michelle McDonald ‘84 AFE, ‘92 ED
Tonya B. Parsons ’91 AS
Quintissa S. Peake ’04 CI
Robin Simpson Smith ‘79 BE, ‘82 LAW
Sarah Webb Smith ’05 CI
Anthony Thornton ’05 BE
Jonell Tobin ‘69 ‘70 ‘95 ED
Blake Broadbent Willoughby ‘11 ‘12 ‘12 BE
Allen O. Wilson ’03 AFE, ’06 LAW
Out-of-State Representatives
Erin Burkett ’01 EN
Shiela D. Corley ‘94 AS, ‘95 AFE
Ruth Cecelia Day ’85 BE
Michael L. Hawks ’80 AS, ’85 DE
Anthony G. Hester ‘86 EN
John T. “Jay” Hornback ’04 EN
Mark Ison ’99 FA
Erin Carr Logan ’06 BE
Beatty London ’00 BE
Sylvester D. Miller II ’08 AFE
Chad D. Polk ‘94 DES
Ronald Sampson ‘83 EN
Nicole Segneri ’91 CI
Quentin R. Tyler ’02 ’05 AFE, ’11 AS
Dominique Renee Wright ‘08 EN
Stephanie D. Wurth ‘05 CI
Alumni Trustees
Brenda Baker Gosney ‘70 HS, ‘75 ED
Hannah Miner Myers ‘93 ED
Paula Pope ‘73 ‘75 ED
Living Past Presidents
Richard A. Bean ’69 BE
Michael A. Burleson ’74 PHA
Bruce K. Davis ‘71 LAW
Scott E. Davis ‘73 BE
Marianne Smith Edge ’77 AFE
Franklin H. Farris Jr. ’72 BE
William G. Francis ’68 AS, ’73 LAW
W. P. Friedrich ’71 EN
Dan Gipson ’69 EN
Brenda B. Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED
Cammie DeShields Grant ’77 LCC, ’79 ED
John R. Guthrie ’63 CI
Antoine Huffman ’05 CI
Diane M. Massie ’79 CI
Janie McKenzie-Wells ’83 AS, ’86 LAW
Robert E. Miller
Susan V. Mustian ’84 BE
Hannah Miner Myers ’93 ED
John C. Nichols II ’53 BE
Dr. George A. Ochs IV ’74 DE
Sandra Bugie Patterson ’68 AS
Taunya Phillips ’87 EN, ’04 BE
Robert F. Pickard ’57 ’61 EN
Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED
David B. Ratterman ’68 EN
G. David Ravencraft ’59 BE
William Schuetze ’72 LAW
Mary Shelman ’81 EN
David L. Shelton ’66 BE
J. Fritz Skeen ’72 ’73 BE
J. Tim Skinner ’80 DES
James W. Stuckert ’60 EN, ’61 BE
Hank B. Thompson Jr. ’71 CI
Elaine A. Wilson ‘68 ‘23 SW
Leadership Advisory Council
In-State Representatives
Jacob Broderick ’05 BE
Lillian Bland ‘83 CC
John Cain ’86 BE
Kevin L. Collins ’84 EN
Donna G. Dutton ‘87 BE
Cassidy Hyde ‘16 AS
Sheila Key ’91 PHA
Kent Mills ’83 BE
Sherry R. Moak ‘81 BE
Michaela R. Sheppard ‘19 HS, ‘23 LAW, ‘23 PH
Kendra Wadsworth ’06 ED
Lori Wells ’96 BE
Out-of-State Representatives
Nicole Blackwelder ’86 AS, ‘87 PHA
Kyle Aaron Bosh ‘08 GS
Mike Gray ’80 ’81 BE
James F. Hardymon Jr. ‘87 BE
Vincent M. Holloway ‘83 EN
Michael McNeely ’98 AS, ’03 PH
Carolyn C. Riticher ‘81 BE
Winn F. Williams ‘71 AS
College Representatives
Will Nash ‘06 AS: College of Arts & Sciences
Dr. J. Clifford Lowdenback ’99 AS, ’03 DE: College of Dentistry
Regina Summers ‘94 DES: College of Design
Cathy Crum Bell ’76 ED: College Education
Joel W. Lovan ’77 FA: College of Fine Arts
Deana Paradis ‘03 ‘03 BE: Gatton College of Business and Economics
Kathy Panther ‘76 HS: College of Health Sciences
La Tasha A. Buckner ‘97 AS, ‘00 LAW: Lewis Honors College
Michaela Mineer ’18 CI, 18 AFE, ‘21 GS: Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Dr. Debra J. Sowell ’82 MED: College of Medicine
Tukea L. Talbert ‘89 ‘94 ‘06 NUR: College of Nursing
Dr. Joseph R. Mashni ‘91 ‘92 PHA: College of Pharmacy
Amna Al-Jumaily ‘19 EN: Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
Emily Clear ‘06 ED, ‘09 ‘13 PH: College of Public Health
Shaye Page Johnson ‘02 AS, ‘05 LAW: J. David Rosenberg College of Law
Cheryl Talbert ‘95 ‘00 ‘23 SW: College of Social Work
Constituency Group Representatives
James R. Aaron ’04 CI: PrideCats
Lillian Bland ‘83 CC: Lyman T. Johnson Alumni Constituency Group
Bryce Dexter, ‘22 AS; DanceBlue
Brian Hunt ‘80 ‘05 FA: Alumni Band
Steve Stevens ‘83 BE: Alumni Band
Appointed
Dalton Bertram: Student Government Association
Dr. Michael A. Christian ’76 AS, ’80 DE: Honorary
Jo Hern Curris ’63 AS, ’75 LAW: Honorary
Katie Eiserman ’01 ED: Athletics
Thomas W. Harris ‘85 AS: University Relations
Stan R. Key ’72 ED: Honorary
Jake Lemon: Office of Philanthropy
D. Michael Richey ’74 ’79 AFE: Honorary
Marian Moore Sims ’72 ’76 ED: Honorary
Rachel Watts Webb ’05 CI: Honorary
From the President
Looking back helps pave the way for a bright future with new colors.
The path to graduation does not end with spotlights on a stage but continues in a life of boldness, courage and responsibility.
In May, Wildcats proved, once again, that dreaming big is the starting point and not the destination.
You belong to a community that lives to achieve the unattainable.
At the end of March, DanceBlue celebrated 20 years of historic milestones for the Big Blue family, overcoming barriers to support our fight against pediatric cancer in Kentucky.
DanceBlue 2025 raised $2.3 million, but its impact goes far beyond numbers.
For 20 years, students from the University of Kentucky have come together to support treatments for families at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital DanceBlue Hematology/Oncology Clinic, ensuring that children have access to the highest quality care. Many of you share in this rich legacy of community, service and hope.
We exist as a community because of a past that never feared the future. Tracy Drain is an example of this.
The University of Kentucky became her springboard for a flight that took her to spaces bigger than she could measure — literally.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from UK in 1998, she earned her master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and soon after joined NASA as a systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
She has worked on aerospace projects for more than a quarter of a century, from Mars to a mission to one of Jupiter’s “most intriguing icy moons.”
It is people like Tracy who have made the Wildcat community a space for innovation wherever they go, leaving their mark — some of them visible for everyone to see.
With each hammer blow, another page in a story of resilience was written as we celebrated the official re-opening of Historic Memorial Coliseum this spring.
This coliseum is much more than an athletics venue. It is a powerhouse of history, carrying the stories of Kentucky’s fallen heroes from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars and subsequent military service. UK alumni from RossTarrant Architects have been responsible for reshaping a history of immortalized names, opening a new page for future achievements beyond what happens on the court.
This is a time to reflect on past narratives, even as we begin new chapters with different voices.
Our community is united in purpose — as we create a Commonwealth that welcomes trailblazing minds — ready to make an impact beyond the confines of our campus. Together we can chart an unseen path, with a fresh view, willing to continue writing a story that does not stop in the past.
That is what it means to be a Wildcat. Thank you for being part of this legacy.
Sincerely,
Eli Capilouto President
President Eli Capilouto poses with graduates in Wildcat Alumni Plaza with Bowman, the wildcat.
Photo by
Pride in Blue
University of Kentucky Alumni President Rob Crady addresses students at Commencement in June and welcomes them as new members of the UK Alumni Association.
Ican’t quite believe my year as president of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association is coming to an end. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you.
At the beginning of my term, I promised to continue the progress of those who have worked tirelessly in this role before me. I hope I have fulfilled that promise by providing our clubs with the resources, tools and guidance they need to thrive; by continuing to build bridges between our alumni and current students; and by expanding our reach and impact through innovative programs and initiatives.
It’s impossible to capture everything this year has included.
Fall started out with the 109th Homecoming, which included adventures around campus in the UK Alumni Association Swag Cab, a recognition ceremony with the Golden Wildcats and the Lyman T. Johnson Awards Luncheon where honorees were acknowledged for their excellent work.
At UK’s 160th birthday celebration in February, we proudly presented James “Jim” F. Hardymon ’56 ’58 EN with the Founders Day Award. Then, in March, we honored six remarkable teachers with the 2025 Great Teacher Award.
And, of course, no March is complete without lots of opportunities to cheer on the UK men’s and women’s basketball teams.
All of these events were celebrations of the deep pride we feel as UK alumni.
At May’s Commencement, welcoming new graduates to the UK alumni family was an incredibly special moment. Speaking before thousands of graduates, I encouraged them to share their successes with us as they keep the University of Kentucky as a part of their lives. “Wherever you go, all Wildcats go with you,” I told them.
As you can see, the Alumni Association is doing so much to keep alumni engaged, to celebrate them and to share our Wildcat pride. It’s all designed for the betterment of our alumni, our university and the Commonwealth.
Thanks for all you do to make a lasting impact.
Go Cats!
Sincerely,
Robert
“Rob” L. Crady III ’94 BE UK Alumni Association President
Photo by Carter Skaggs, UK
Photo
NEW NURSING LAB IS ‘GAME CHANGER’
A new, larger skills lab is helping UK’s College of Nursing more effectively train future nurses in the patient-centered skills key to their profession.
The state-of-the-art clinical simulation and learning center skills lab is in UK’s Multi-Disciplinary Science Building.
“This has been a game changer, particularly for our skills lab folks,” said Stephanie Kehler, the director of the Clinical Simulation and Learning Center. “They were in one lab space previously and running out of room. They have more space here and new, updated equipment so they’re very excited.”
Facing a state- and nationwide nursing shortage, the new lab helps the college fulfill its mandate in training the nurses of the future.
The lab features two large rooms, lined with beds where students can practice skills on low-fidelity mannequins. More
in-depth skills education can occur in another separate room that functions as a simulated ICU with a new high-fidelity mannequin — one that can talk and react like a real patient.
“It’s beautiful. I love it,” said Suzie Pilon,
FORMER MINE SITE SERVES AS CLASSROOM
University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) students joined forces with Green Forests Work, Suntory Global Spirits and The Nature Conservancy in their existing efforts to reforest land throughout Kentucky.
a senior lecturer in the College of Nursing who has been teaching nursing skills courses in the new lab this semester.
“This has so much more room and it’s so much more conducive to teaching skills. The space really supports it.” ■
The students are learning under Christopher Barton, professor of forest hydrology and watershed management in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources in the Soils and Hydrology at Robinson Forest class.
“We cover topics like water quality, stream morphology, hydrology, soil classification and stream ecology to examine how differing land use practices influence environmental quality,” Barton said.
While Barton’s students are used to working outside the classroom, the opportunity to work in Hazard was unusual. The planting allowed them to see a recently decompacted, reclaimed mine; participate in the restoration; interact with Martin-Gatton CAFE stakeholders; and learn more about the importance of white oak sustainability. In Kentucky, white oak trees are essential to the bourbon-making process for storage and flavor development.
“I especially enjoyed meeting new people and contributing to the reforestation of a former surface mine,” said Amber DuFour, a student in Barton’s class. “It felt rewarding to be part of a project that not only restores the landscape but also supports a larger environmental initiative.” ■
by
Photo
Michael Collins
2025 SULLIVAN AWARD RECIPIENTS EXEMPLIFY SELFLESS LEADERSHIP
Two University of Kentucky students and a UK HealthCare physician have received UK’s highest honor for humanitarian efforts — the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. This year’s student winners are Amanda Casolare and Nolan Deon Harvey. Dr. Scottie B. Day, physician-in-chief at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, is the citizen award recipient.
Casolare ‘25 EN served as president of UK’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders and led initiatives to design and implement water infrastructure projects for communities in Guatemala and Rwanda. She volunteered countless hours to the Lexington Humane Society and served as a coach for Mighty Kicks, a soccer development program for toddlers.
Harvey ’25 EN implemented technical advances at a local college in South Africa and contributed to cutting-edge projects in digital manufacturing, wireless connectivity and private cellular networks during his co-op experiences with Toyota Motor Manufacturing.
Day ’98 AS, ‘02 MED has overseen a reorganization of hospital administration to better support physicians, recruited more than 80 faculty members and leads hospital efforts to ensure stability. Under his leadership, Kentucky Children’s Hospital has become a preeminent center in the region for pediatric care. He has increased access to mental health care at KCH and has expanded outreach and educational programs across Kentucky.
Established by the New York Southern Society in 1925 and named for its first president, Algernon Sydney Sullivan, the award recognizes those “who exhibit Sullivan’s ideals of heart, mind and conduct as evince a spirit of love for and helpfulness to other men and women.” The award is given at several universities in the South. ■
SHAKER VILLAGE PAST IS PRESERVED WITH TECHNOLOGY
A group of history graduate students recently embarked on an innovative practicum — led by Stephen Robert Davis, associate professor in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences — where the past met the future through the use of cuttingedge digital technology, including artificial intelligence.
“History isn’t just about looking backward — it’s about finding new ways to interpret and share the past,” Davis said. “By equipping students with digital skills and giving them realworld applications, we’re ensuring historical research remains dynamic, relevant and accessible.”
Armed with digital scanning tools, Geographic Information Systems software and archival databases, the students set out to bring Kentucky’s historic Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill into the digital age — ensuring its rich history remains accessible to future generations.
A key highlight was the use of 3D
photographic scanning to create detailed models of archival objects, such as seed display cases. These digital reconstructions not only help preserve the architectural integrity of the site but will soon allow for virtual exhibits — an invaluable resource for researchers and history enthusiasts worldwide.
Additionally, students worked with GIS and drone photography to map historical changes in the landscape, including a once hidden worship site. Students explored letters, journals and Chronicling America — a Library of Congress collection of newspapers — to find advertisements that helped build the Shakers’ thriving seed packet trade, the business that sustained Shaker communities. Their findings helped piece together the hidden history of how Shakers invented the business model of selling seeds in “attractive” paper envelopes. The trade covered nearly every state in the union by the end of the 19th century. ■
Photo credit Lindsey Piercy
ACADEMY AWARDWINNING ALUMNUS SCREENED DOCUMENTARY ON CAMPUS
Academy Award-winning alumnus Paul Wagner ’70 AS, ’72 CI came to campus to screen his film “Georgia O’Keeffe: the Brightness of Light,” a documentary about American art icon Georgia O’Keeffe. The film stars Claire Danes as the voice of O’Keeffe with narration by Hugh Dancy and features interviews with leading experts on the artist.
Wagner and his wife and producing partner, Ellen Casey Wagner, were inspired to develop the documentary after visiting a museum exhibit about O’Keeffe in 2018.
“We learned that, in 1908, when she was 20 years old, O’Keeffe had given up on her dream of becoming an artist,” Paul Wagner said. “This young woman, who would later emerge as ‘the Mother of American Modernism’ and the iconic
woman artist of the 20th century, did not pick up a brush to paint for nearly four years.”
O’Keeffe exploded on the New York art scene in the 1920s with her paintings of flowers, bones and the beauty of nature. In the 1970s, O’Keeffe, isolated in the New Mexico desert, emerged as an iconic role model for second-wave feminists.
REAL-WORLD CONSULTING PROJECT CHALLENGES BUSINESS STUDENTS
A team of UK students placed fourth out of 20 teams at the 2025 Econ Games, a national data analytics and consulting competition hosted in Cincinnati, Ohio. The competition challenged students to analyze large, real-world datasets and deliver strategic recommendations to a civic client.
This year’s case was presented by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation, a nonprofit real estate developer focused on revitalizing Cincinnati’s urban core.
Competing teams were asked to evaluate how civic space activation and parking availability can enhance
Wagner, who was inducted into the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2020, is an independent filmmaker, whose documentaries have premiered at the Sundance, Toronto, Telluride and Rotterdam film festivals and have been broadcast widely on PBS. He has produced and directed over 40 films over a 40-year career. ■
provided
tenant retention and attract commercial investment in downtown Cincinnati.
Student teams had just 24 hours to clean, analyze, and interpret more than 4.3 million rows of civic event and parking data spanning three-plus years and multiple locations. Using tools like Excel and Tableau, the students built interactive dashboards and delivered a data-driven communication strategy to support 3CDC’s efforts in strengthening downtown Cincinnati’s commercial ecosystem.
“This competition is a great example of how we’re preparing students to solve real problems in real time,” said Darshak Patel, who co-organizes the event and mentored the UK team. “They combined technical skills with economic reasoning and presented like professionals — demonstrating they’re ready to add value from day one at any company looking to hire data-savvy, solution-oriented talent.”
The Econ Games are organized by cofounders Gatton alumnus Abdullah A. AlBahrani ’08 ’11 BE and Gatton assistant professor and alumnus Patel ’09 ’12 BE. This year’s competition included 134 students from 20 universities. ■
Photo
Photo provided
Research
RESEARCHERS LEADING FUSION POWER PROJECT
UK has been selected to lead a $2.3 million project from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to develop nextgeneration materials critical to commercializing fusion power.
The goal is to discover or develop a class of first wall materials — materials that form the inner wall of a fusion reactor and contact the plasma — that will maintain performance over the lifetime of a fusion power plant.
The multi-institutional team — led by UK’s John Balk, director of the Materials Science Research Priority Area — will explore promising alloy design space and manufacturing processes to strengthen that first wall.
This project aims to solve the challenge of containing a plasma at more than 100 million degrees Celsius — a mini-star — in a fusion reactor. Currently, no materials exist with that level of endurance that would make fusion power plants commercially viable.
“We’re going to make materials that are based on porous tungsten-based alloys, but they’re optimized for the mechanical and thermal properties we want,” explained Balk. “We’re going to backfill them with a high-thermalconductivity ceramic at a small length scale so that the radiation damage can be shed more easily to the interfaces.” ■
UK IN TOP 100 UNIVERSITIES GRANTED U.S. PATENTS
UK was ranked in the Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2024 by the National Academy of Inventors.
The report uses data provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and highlights the vital role patents play in university research and innovation.
Published annually since 2013, the report ranks the top 100 universities holding U.S. utility patents, which protect the way an invention is used and works, in the 2024 calendar year.
A member institution of the NAI, UK ranked No. 64, with 32 U.S. utility patents granted in 2024. UK filed 162 international and domestic patent applications and held 675 patent assets in fiscal year 2024.
TEAM DISCOVERS GUT HORMONE’S ROLE IN FATTY LIVER DISEASE
UK Markey Cancer Center researchers have identified a mechanism by which a gut hormone contributes to fatty liver disease, offering potential new targets for treating the common condition.
The study, published in Cell Death & Disease, examined both human liver samples and mouse models to show how neurotensin, a gut hormone released after eating fatty foods, plays a direct role in the development of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, commonly known as fatty liver disease.
The findings suggest that targeting the neurotensin signaling pathway could provide a new strategy for developing treatments for the disease, which has limited therapeutic options. MASLD affects about 25% of adults worldwide and is characterized by excess fat buildup in the liver and is strongly associated with obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders.
“The findings could lead to new treatment approaches for patients with fatty liver disease,” said UK Markey Cancer Center Director Dr. B. Mark Evers, who led the study. “By understanding how neurotensin affects liver metabolism, we may be able to develop targeted therapies that could help millions of people who currently have limited options for managing this condition.” ■
“The University of Kentucky’s continued inclusion among the top 100 global universities for innovation underscores UK’s leadership as a catalyst for research, discovery and real-world impact,” said Matthew Upton, director of Technology Commercialization, UK Innovate.
“This prestigious recognition reflects the relentless drive of our researchers to push the boundaries of knowledge and translate their work into meaningful innovation. Their commitment to advancing science and improving lives, both locally and globally, is what makes this achievement possible,” said Upton. ■
CONNECTIONS
DanceBlue
Celebrating 20 years of dancing and changing lives
By Sally Scherer
On the 20th anniversary of the DanceBLue dance marathon, a severe weather forecast caused the annual event to be slightly shorter than its 24-hour goal. But don’t think it negatively affected it.
The 2025 fundraising total of $2,305,274 was record-breaking. Add the totals from each of the 20 years and since the 24-hour no-sit, no-sleep dance marathon started in 2006 it has raised more than $25 million.
“They never missed a beat,” said Jennifer Mynear ’79 ’83 ED whose son, Jarrett, is the inspiration for the dance marathon. Now there’s a space missing between marathon. “There were other years when we had bad weather, we had COVID and one year we had a fire, but we’ve always focused on the mission.”
DanceBlue’s mission is to honor Jarrett’s final request to “do something to help the clinic.” That clinic, originally known as the Pediatric Oncology Outpatient Clinic at Ken-
tucky Children’s Hospital, was small and in need of resources when Jarrett was treated there. He died in 2002 at the age of 13 after receiving treatment for cancer for most of his life.
“When we started 33 ½ years ago, the clinic had two doctors, two nurses and one tiny treatment room with a little TV,” Jennifer said of what’s now called the DanceBlue Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic. “Now it’s one of the top pediatric oncology clinics in the nation (for its size).”
Jennifer and Susannah Denomme ’79 ’81 AS, ’83 CI, former associate vice president for philanthropy at UK, were co-founders in 2005 of the DanceBlue program and worked with student leaders to help start the marathon in 2006. After Jarrett’s death, the women went about trying to help the clinic, created the Jarrett Mynear Fund to raise money for its renovation and were remarkably successful, raising about $800,000.
But they were looking for more ways to help when Denomme’s daughter, who was a student at Penn State, told her mother about a dance marathon fundraiser at Penn State. The women knew the idea would work at UK.
“It all fell into place,” said Jennifer. “We approached students, and we had meetings, we made connections, we held open gatherings in the student center.”
“We were persistent,” said Denomme. “There were some rocks we had to get out of the way, but we got the key leadership of student organizations and panhellenic groups interested.”
One day, during their organizing efforts, the women met at Starbucks to get coffee. Denomme said her coffee cup sleeve had the words, “Keep on Dancing!” on it.
“I think it was a sign,” she said, smiling.
Part of what helped get the buy in from students was that many were aware of the good work Jennifer’s son had done. While a cancer patient, Jarrett started Jarrett’s Joy Cart, a mobile cart filled with toys and books that was, and still is, shared with all patients at the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital. His efforts were publicized nationally. Some of the students who participate in DanceBlue received toys from the cart during their time at the clinic, Jennifer said.
It’s fair to say that over its 20 years, DanceBlue has positively impacted the lives of those receiving care from the clinic and the clinic itself. Because of DanceBlue’s $1.225 million pledge in 2017, the clinic was renovated and renamed. Part of that renovation included increasing the number of infusion rooms
and exam rooms. The waiting area became more child friendly with interactive play areas and a 300-gallon fish tank. The changes provided more privacy and comfort for the patients and their families.
There are many aspects of the DanceBlue story that should be classified as amazing. Here’s one for you: the 2025 marathon included 675 dancers, 181 committee members and 65 mini marathons, more than ever before.
But what’s most striking about the marathon is that since it started, DanceBlue has been a student-run philanthropy organization at the University of Kentucky. Students participate in all aspects of the marathon including building relationships with families whose children are receiving care at the clinic.
DanceBlue alumni play a significant role in the dance each year. Alumni gather for a reception at the King Alumni House prior to the start of the marathon. About 150 alumni attended this year’s reception. The alumni group then walks over to the marathon together and sits in a designated area they call the “alumni balcony” overlooking the dancers.
On the second day of the marathon, alumni are allowed on the floor with the dancers, giving them a chance to relive the memories they made there. Each year the Dance Blue alumni present a check at the marathon during what’s referred to as “alumni hour.”
On its 20th anniversary, we’re sharing the stories of some of those who have been involved with DanceBlue and for whom DanceBlue has changed their lives.
Above
wheeled "Jarrett's Joy Cart" through the hallways of the Kentucky Children's Hospital. Jarrett distributed toys and games to children who were hospitalized. Above right: A sign showing Kappa Delta's support of DanceBlue from 2009.
Left: Cofounder Jennifer Mynear cheered on the DanceBlue dancers in 2006.
left: Jarrett Mynear
Photos submitted and from DanceBlue
THE LOSS OF A CHILDHOOD FRIEND
Hannah Talley ’25 HS was the 2025 chair of DanceBlue. When friends with her sorority, Chi Omega, told her about DanceBlue she connected with it on a personal level, she said. She had a second-grade friend who died from brain cancer.
“I was 8, she was 8. She wasn’t in school very much and I remember she lost her hair. And then she lost her life. I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time, but through DanceBlue I can advocate for her and honor her,” Talley said.
In addition, Talley has always loved science and enjoyed playing “doctor” as a child with her sister as the “patient.” She has several younger cousins she enjoys spending time with.
“I always knew I wanted to be in pediatric oncology,” she said.
From dancer to morale committee member to mini-marathon coordinator, Talley has seen the organization that started as a young boy’s wish turn into an incredible fundraiser for the oncology clinic. “So many survivors have gone on,” she said. “But there have been 20 years of loss, too.”
When asked, she estimates she has spent 2,000-3,000 hours of her senior year serving DanceBlue.
“I’m just so honored to be a small part of it,” she said.
From left are overall chairs and founders of DanceBlue: Jennifer Mynear, Emily Pfiefer Uhlir, Susannah Denomme, Amberlee Isabella, Mark Denomme, Jonathan York, Madison Conroy, Grace Bush, Caroline Sumner, Hannah Talley and the 2026
Overall Chair Josie Bailey.
‘IT’S HOW I GIVE BACK’
Hannah Simms ’15 AS, ’17 LAW learned about DanceBlue from a cousin at UK who was a few years older than Simms.
As a student at Lexington Catholic High School, Simms helped organize a DanceBlue mini marathon in 2010. Mini marathons take place at elementary, middle and high schools and some colleges.
“We had a wonderfully involved community at Lexington Catholic with kids who were eager to get involved. And (the late) Father Norman (Fischer, who served as the chaplain at the school) was such an incredible influence. He could get just about anyone to do anything. We raised $32,000,” Simms said, proudly.
As soon as she became a UK student, she started volunteering with the marathon. In 2012, reports of severe weather with possible tornadic activity caused DanceBlue to decrease its hours from 24 to 12.
“We had to make safe decisions for the 800 students, faculty and staff who were involved. We made a call to delay the start and then we had to communicate this with all the participants. We thoughtfully cut the program and focused on getting the spirit of DanceBlue into a shorter time,” she said.
She describes her involvement as a student leader with DanceBlue as “transformative.”
“The DanceBlue experience involves millions of dollars and hundreds of people and a highly advanced clinic offering cancer treatment,” she said. “There’s a lot of responsibility with it. It is a high impact experience. Students are in all the important conversations and receive a lot of support.”
Simms praises Jennifer Mynear and Denomme for their leadership skills and institutional knowledge.
“The community they help create with
Hannah Simms, third from the left, says her involvement with DanceBlue was 'transformative." It enriched her college experience and influences how she gives back as a young professional.
DanceBlue is special,” said Simms. “DanceBlue was started with the right intentions. It’s a good experience for students and you can have such an impact.”
For several years after graduation Simms worked at UK. She is currently the director of sports wagering at the Kentucky Racing and Gaming Commission, but she stays involved with DanceBlue as a member of the Golden Matrix Fund Advisory Board. The money raised at the dance marathons goes into the Golden Matrix Fund which supports research, patient care and clinic operations.
As an adult, when she considered what to do with her time and talent, DanceBlue was at the top of the list, she said.
“It’s how I want to give back.”
‘I LOVE TO DANCE’
Townsend Miller ’09 CI happily agreed to join the DanceBlue marathon for a very practical reason: “I love to dance,” he said. He danced with four of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers at the first marathon.
“I remember it vividly,” he said of the event in 2006. “We raised $147,000 and had 180 dancers. Toward the end of the marathon, in the last three hours, they had family hours, and we were introduced to some of the children who were receiving care at the clinic and their families. It was an introduction to the ‘why’ of the marathon. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”
From that moment on, “DanceBlue became attached to me,” said Miller, a major gift officer and senior director of philanthropy for UK HealthCare. “I found my mission in DanceBlue.”
Miller volunteered as part of the student leadership with DanceBlue while at UK. He served on the corporate relations committee as a member, then as assistant chair and then chair. He said his years with DanceBlue were eye opening.
“Sometimes, when you’re young you can be blind to so many things including the struggles of the world: childhood cancer, homelessness, addiction. But the real-life stories a DanceBlue are so moving.
I was very lucky,” he said. “DanceBlue was what drove me at UK and now it’s the reason I’m in fundraising.”
‘WE DANCE FOR HEATHER’
Heather Shaw ’12 CI was diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a sophomore at UK. It developed after having a liver transplant when she was in high school.
In January of 2009, she spent five months at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital being treated.
“All of a sudden one day, a Kappa Delta (bed) sheet came to my hospital room and it read, ‘We dance for Heather.’”
“My Kappa Delta sorority sisters had been dancing at DanceBlue for me. All the ribbons they wore were for me. We put that sheet up on the wall in my hospital room. It was a great moment.”
In January 2010, Shaw, a native of Cincinnati, was able to return to UK. She wasn’t strong enough to participate in DanceBlue with her sorority sisters that year, but she supported the marathon and the following year she “threw my heart into it,” she said, as a member of the family relations committee.
“Some of the children had the same form of cancer I did, even though it was very rare. I made a great connection with those families. I loved that part of it,” she said.
Shaw is the special events coordinator at the Akron (Ohio) Zoo and she has served as a board member on the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund since 2018. The fund works to keep pediatric cancer research as a priority in Kentucky.
As a cancer survivor, the importance of cancer research funding is very real for Shaw. She is proud of the advocacy work the trust fund and DanceBlue are doing.
“DanceBlue has just grown so much from what it was in 2007. There are partnerships with pediatric cancer care providers at UK, the University of Louisville and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. There are social workers to help the families at the clinic. I watched my mom struggle when I had cancer. Now there’s just a lot of extra support.”
Blu, the DanceBlue mascot, waved at a child during the dance marathon.
‘THE MISSION HAS STAYED STRONG’
Chris Crumrine '08 CI, ’10 GS, ’23 AS has stayed involved with DanceBlue since it began. He danced, he served as the marketing committee chair and as a senior he was on the leadership team. Currently, he’s a member of the Golden Matrix Fund Advisory Committee.
His passion for the marathon is rooted in meeting the needs of the families and the children who receive care at the pediatric cancer clinic. The advisory clinic works collaboratively with the clinic personnel to make sure that happens, he said.
“The student leadership team has a deep commitment,” he said. “It always has. We all want to maximize the impact for the families and to support the families.”
For families of children with cancer, the stressors of daily living can be overwhelming. There’s a child to care for, but also bills to pay and an emotional toll on other family members and siblings. There can be difficulties with regular job attendance, securing reliable transportation to and from the clinic for tests and procedures and then there’s schoolwork that needs to be tended to.
Prior to DanceBlue there weren’t social workers at the clinic or school intervention specialists or nutritionists or other support and assistance to family members.
“We now have a comfortable and safe place for families during a very difficult and scary time,” he said.
Money from the Golden Matrix Fund also helps provide clinical research associate sup port and laboratory research in pediatric oncolo gy and in the Markey Cancer Center.
“Over the years the mission has stayed strong,” he said. ■
Chris Crumrine, second from right, is among the group of alumni who presented a check to DanceBlue in 2015. Hannah Simms is center.
Photos by Brad Nally, Pigman College of Engineering
FROM LOUISVILLE STARGAZER TO NASA TORCHBEARER, TRACY DRAIN TURNED SCI-FI DREAMS INTO REAL-LIFE MISSIONS ACROSS THE COSMOS.
It’d be easy – too easy – to reductively describe Tracy Drain ’98 EN with the kind of pop culture taglines that get remixed and slapped on coffee mugs: “Boldly going where no girlboss has gone before.” “One small step for man, one giant leap for womankind.” “Houston, we’ve got a problem (and she’s got the answers!).” But while these lines are catchy enough to look right at home on the shelves of a kitschy gift shop near Area 51, they barely scratch the surface of this trailblazing woman – someone whose career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has contributed to missions from Mars to Europa, reshaping our reach into the cosmos.
Throughout the past quarter-century, Drain’s contributions to science missions have changed the way we think about planets within, and beyond, our solar system. Her work isn’t just a string of high-profile missions; it’s a collection of interplanetary puzzles with real scientific stakes. Each one demanded technical precision, creative thinking and the ability to lead diverse teams – skills Drain wields like a pilot navigating a starship through a wormhole.
What sets Drain apart isn’t just what she builds – the ships, the teams, the relationships – but how she shows up. In a field still light years away from full equity, she’s become a rare and powerful symbol of inclusion. She appears in NASA outreach videos, speaks at schools, mentors novice scientists, and has even been featured by National Geographic Live. She’s not there as a token or a talking head. She’s there because she knows representation fuels the next generation. For young Black girls who haven’t seen themselves in lab coats or mission control, Drain sends a simple, vital message: space is for you, too.
WE HAVE LIFT-OFF
Drain grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, where her fascination with space took root early. She was the kind of child who loved staring at the stars, voraciously devoured science fiction novels and asked big questions about what lay beyond the sky. By the time she was 7, she’d caught what she calls “the space bug.”
Her mother, Eddie Mae Rice, was instrumental in nurturing that curiosity. Rice encouraged her children to wonder widely – and never made them feel silly for doing so. Their home was a place where imagination was fuel and inquiry opened doors.
It was also a house steeped in sci-fi. The family would curl up together in front of the television to watch programs like “Star Trek,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” – stories that expanded young Drain’s sense of what was possible in the universe, and in herself.
“Growing up, I was interested in a whole bunch of things,” Drain says. “But one of the through-lines was that my mom introduced my brother and me to science fiction. We inherited that love of space and exploration from her.”
Movies like “Star Wars” and books like H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” and Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” further fed her fascination. But it wasn’t just the spectacle that stuck with her –it was the sense of purpose, the ethical questions and the model of thoughtful leadership.
When asked about her favorite sci-fi character, she pauses and then laughs. “No one has ever asked me that before. But I was always so impressed by Jean-Luc Picard. He was even-keeled, respectful, kind to everyone. He encouraged his crew to think outside the box and supported them in what they needed to do. I just loved his modeling of what an excellent leader could be.”
Decades later, those same traits possessed by the fictional captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise define her leadership at JPL.
Drain has often named Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke among her favorite science fiction authors. It’s a fitting coincidence that Clarke’s 1987 novel “2061: Odyssey Three” imagined a spacecraft reaching Jupiter’s moon, Europa, decades before NASA made it the focus of a real-life mission.
Today, Drain serves as the chief engineer in operations for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, a flagship project investigating whether that same icy moon could support life. It’s the kind of story that could leap straight from the pages of a sci-fi novel – only this time, Drain isn’t just reading it; she’s helping bring it to life.
Drain’s job on the Europa Clipper mission touches nearly every part of the spacecraft – from hardware to timelines to troubleshooting the unexpected. Given the enormity of her responsibility, it’s no small feat to boil her role down into a few words. But Drain has a knack for making the complex sound simple.
“I’m responsible for making sure we look ahead and figure out things that could be risky or problematic for the spacecraft and the mission and then take steps to keep those key things from happening – or get ready to deal with them if they do crop up and surprise us,” Drain says with a broad smile.
CHARTING HER COURSE
Even before she set foot on a NASA campus, Drain was already orbiting in her own academic stratosphere. Math and physics came easily to the young scholar. And, more importantly, they could be explained.
Drain credits her mother, Eddie Mae, with inspiring the curiosity and confidence that set her on a path to the stars.
“Through middle and high school and on into college, I really clicked with math,” Drain explains, who also says she enjoyed puzzles as a child and found tests “fun.” “Math and physics just made sense to me. I loved how everything built on the previous fundamentals that you learned.”
A National Merit Scholar in high school, Drain attracted interest from several colleges, though the selection process was unfamiliar terrain. As the first in her family to attend college, she says they were “a little naïve” about how to choose where to study. A home visit from a UK recruiter and an overnight campus stay, however, helped seal the decision.
“There were so many great things about the University of Kentucky,” Drain says. “They had a strong mechanical engineering program, a great environment – and it was close enough to home. It was a natural choice for me.”
She made that decision, she laughs, despite coming from a long line of loyal Louisville Cardinal fans.
Although engineering wasn’t her first plan, Drain quickly realized that pairing her passion for space with her aptitude for mathematics could open a path to a meaningful career.
“I probably would have studied astronomy, but I didn’t have a mental model for how you earn a living doing that unless you were a professor and, for whatever reason, that didn’t appeal to me at the time,” Drain explains. “I thought, ‘Well, who’s gonna pay me to sit around and stare at the stars? What else can you do with space?’”
While working toward a mechanical engineering degree at UK’s Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, Drain rotated between school and semester-long co-op stints at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. There, she got a firsthand glimpse into the aerospace world’s complexity and excitement. After completing a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000, Drain launched into her career with the momentum of a rocket burn. She landed at JPL in Southern California and began working on some of the most ambitious missions in modern spaceflight.
Her first was the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which among other things, aimed to unravel whether water once persisted long enough on Mars to support life. That was followed by the groundbreaking Kepler mission, which searched for Earth-like planets, known as exoplanets, orbiting distant stars.
“Very ‘Star Trek,’” is how Drain excitedly describes the Kepler launch. “Our mission was to find new worlds!”
Opportunities to work on projects involving Jupiter and metal asteroids followed. Then came Europa Clipper.
MAKE IT SO
The Europa Clipper mission launched in October 2024 and is following a five-and-a-half-year trajectory to the Jovian system. The mission reflects Drain’s talent for thriving amid complexity. With multiple gravity-assist maneuvers and dozens of planned Europa flybys, it’s a logistical and engineering feat. The spacecraft needed to be hardy enough to withstand intense radiation near Jupiter while carrying instruments sensitive enough to study the characteristics of the moon above and beneath Europa’s icy crust. Drain’s role is to ensure that the spacecraft is up to the challenge.
Earlier this year, the craft slingshot around Mars, using the planet’s gravitational pull to adjust the path and velocity without burning additional fuel. Traveling at more than 15 miles per second, about 550 miles above Mars’ surface, the spacecraft successfully altered course on March 1 – thanks in no small part to Drain and the team’s meticulous attention to detail.
“One of the things we had to think through is, ‘Well, what could go wrong that could cause us not to get our gravity assist?” Drain explains of the daunting task she helped oversee. “You have to set up the spacecraft to go by the planet at the right time, at the right altitude from the surface, at the right angle, at the right speed, and in order to make that happen, you have to back way up and do the right propulsive maneuvers in advance to get there.”
Drain uses the analogy of trying to shoot an arrow from Los Angeles to New York to help explain the need for those propulsive maneuvers.
“If you just shot an arrow and let go, then wind forces that you can’t account for – it might go through a storm – all this stuff is going to throw you off, you’d never, ever, make it,” she says. “But if you have a giant finger that can go and nudge it now and then along its way, you can get there. That’s what those little burns that we do with our spacecraft engines are.”
The next major milestone will come in December 2026, when the spacecraft uses Earth’s gravity for another critical velocity boost.
THE NEEDS OF THE MANY
As Drain’s star rose, she became a sought-after expert on science and the cosmos. With a characteristic laid-back ease, she breaks down
complex topics for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. She’s given TED Talks, lectured in front of college crowds (including at the revered California Institute of Technology, home of JPL) and appeared on panels with scientists and movie stars to explore how space is portrayed in film and TV.
Drain has said that talking about her work – whether in classrooms or large auditoriums – is therapeutic. It recharges her excitement for the mission and helps her stay energized for the difficult problems that inevitably arise.
Dozens of Drain’s lectures appear on YouTube where fans praise her with comments like “Tracy has such an infectious joy for science and engineering. Makes me want to reach for the stars!” and “I myself was thinking about making a career in aero engineering, and this video gave me goosebumps and the butterflies in my stomach are going crazy!”
Drain serves on the planning committee for the National Academy of Sciences’ Science & Entertainment Exchange and on the Advisory Board for the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative. At UK, she’s a member of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Advisory Board. MAE Department Chair Jesse Hoagg says that the entire department is “thrilled” to have Drain as part of the board and that, “Tracy brings excellent ideas and insights informed by her extensive experience and accomplishments.” (She was added to the Pigman College’s Hall of Distinction in 2023.)
Drain recounts meeting Nichelle Nichols, who played the character of Uhura on “Star Trek,” at JPL and talking about the influence she had on a generation of young girls.
“She told the story of how she was going to quit the show before doing the second season,” Drain shares. “She had an amazing opportunity to meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who told her ‘You have no idea the influence you’re having on young girls, young people, all across this nation by being a figure like this. Yes, it’s entertainment, but it’s just so important that you are a way for people to see themselves doing something that is elevated in this really full arena.’ So, she stayed.”
As a science fiction aficionado, Drain (shown here with BB-8, the beloved droid from “Star Wars,” at the Pasadena, California, facility) turned her love of outer space into a leading role at the forefront of planetary exploration.
Even with a packed schedule, she makes time to mentor young engineers and spark curiosity – because she knows, “representation matters.”
Thinking back to her childhood in Louisville in the 1980s and ‘90s, very few Black scientists were depicted in the media. But there were glimmers of possibility in sci-fi — after all, Vulcan philosophy requires “infinite diversity in infinite combinations.” For example, the “Star Trek” universe featured Lieutenants Geordi La Forge and Uhura (both Black, one female, one visually impaired) who broke racial and gender barriers and opened doors for young viewers interested in space.
Drain continues that when she shared the interaction with Nichols with her mother, she responded that because Uhura resembled them, her sisters and she watched the show.
“That’s why she got interested in sci-fi; that’s why I got interested in sci-fi,” Drain explains. “That’s why I wanted to have a career in space. So it’s very important, that sort of representation, not just because it might give someone that ‘Maybe I can do that,’ thought, but because it might influence someone to get interested in something, who might then influence others to get interested in that. You just never how that whole path is going to go.”
Drain hopes that her path inspires others to reach for the stars. Analogous to her role with Europa Clipper, she often reminds young professionals to focus less on their final landing site and more on the route that lays their course forward.
“I think when people are overly focused on ‘I want to get over there,’ they don’t pay enough attention to what they’re doing right now and they’re not getting all the experience that they could be getting right where they are,” Drain warns.
“They’re not putting their whole heart and soul into what they’re doing because they’re worried about what the next step is. A very important part of how you can get to the next step is by focusing on what you’re doing right here, right now.”
Whatever lies ahead – whether exploring brave new worlds or inspiring the next generation of engineers – Drain proves the stars aren’t just out there; they’re within reach. Think otherwise? Resistance is futile. Just ask the girl from Louisville who made it to Jupiter. ■
The new memorial at Memorial
By Sally Scherer
Franklin Sousley, a marine from Hill Top, Kentucky, joined the United States Marine Corps in 1944. His unit landed in Iwo Jima in 1945 and fought in the battle to capture the island.
His story, one of commitment and bravery, was shared at the rededication of Historic Memorial Coliseum in April.
Sousley was one of the six marines who raised the American flag on the island’s Mount Suribachi in the final stages of the Pacific War. That moment is forever immortalized in the iconic World War II photograph.
A statue of that image stands in Arlington, Virginia with an inscription reading, “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
The private first class was killed in action by a Japanese sniper less than a month after the photograph was taken.
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto told Sousley’s story at the rededication, reflecting on his sacrifice and that of other Kentucky war heroes.
“These lives, and these moments — the raw and deeply human ones, born not out of spectacle but of calling — are not meant to fade. They are meant to be preserved, revered, immortalized. Not only for what and who they were, But for what they ask of us now to remember,” Capilouto said.
Sousley’s name is one of nearly 10,000 WWII departed soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen that appeared in Historic Memorial Coliseum. Originally, University of Kentucky Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering John Sherman Horine handwrote the names.
As Capilouto described it: “His tools were simple, a steel-nibbed pen, an inkwell and blank panels of paper nearly five feet long and four feet wide. From September 1949 to March 1950, Professor Horine's desk became a kind of altar.
“Like a prayer in motion, Professor Horine inscribed the names of Ken tucky's fallen World War II heroes, one by one, line by line, not just a list, but a litany — carrying the weight of a state’s grief,” Capilouto said.
Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK
MAKING CHANGES
The panels of names were removed, along with other memorial plaques honoring Kentucky’s fallen in military conflicts through 2001, before the $82 million renovation was made to the building’s interior.
Displaying the names in a new way was one of the objectives for Lexington’s RossTarrant Architects, the firm renovating the building. Architect Greg Hosfield ’02 ’07 DES and Landscape Architect Kevin McCalla ’05 AFE were part of the team.
“A lot of people were concerned, and rightly so, that we get this correct,” said Hosfield, project manager. “We made a goal to improve it, to make it accessible, not just physically, but to put it outside of the building’s locked doors.”
Prior to the beginning of the renovation, the 75-year-old panels were removed from the walls. Ruth Bryan, university archivist, oversaw that delicate process.
Then, Hosfield, McCalla and others set out to create a new memorial.
“It was a team effort,” said McCalla. “We were really strategic about designing a memorial plaza that would honor the sacrifices of generations of Kentuckians in this prominent campus setting.”
The team included Bryan, UK Architect Warren Denny, Capilouto, UK’s Vice President for Finance and Administration Eric Monday and representatives from UK Athletics including Deputy Athletics Director Marc Hill and Senior Associate Athletics Director for Operations Donnie Mefford.
A far cry from the red brick Alumni Gymnasium across the street where the men’s basketball team had been playing, Memorial Coliseum was designed by the architectural team of Lexington architects John T. Gillig and Hugh Meriweather with assistance of UK architectural engineer Ernst Johnson, according to “House of Champions: The Story of Kentucky Basketball’s Home Courts” by Kevin Cook.
The building’s masonry work and art deco design make it “a beautiful building and one of the great buildings on campus,” said Hosfield.
Added McCalla: “Memorial Coliseum is a historic icon on campus. It’s an example of how beautiful a masonry building can be.”
Architect Greg Hosfield, left, and Landscape Architect Kevin McCall pose in front of the new memorial plaza at Historic Memorial Coliseum. The men are part of the team that renovated Memorial and created the area that includes 24 two-sided monuments featuring the names of 10,000 Kentuckians who died in WWII.
Photo
SELECTING A LOCATION
The entrance facing Euclid Avenue (now the Avenue of Champions), which used to be an auto court where cars could pull up to the front entrance and drop people off, seemed like a perfect location. It is set aside from the sidewalk and is large enough to display multiple monuments and provide some contemplative space for those visiting the monuments.
The memorial area design needed to complement the building’s façade. A graphic artist was consulted about the design of the monument and National Park Service standards were met.
McCalla explained that the National Park Service has a variety of standards and guidelines for the management and protection of national parks and monuments. The standards include specifics such as size and style of lettering fonts and the location of wording on a monument surface, all designed to make them “as welcoming as possible to the population,” the 2006 management policies say.
Limestone from a quarry in Indiana was used for the monuments. Stainless steel panels were laser engraved with the names.
Just as on the 1950 panels, the names on the monuments are listed by Kentucky county. A map of Kentucky is featured at the top of each monument with the monument counties outlined.
“In Kentucky, people have a heartfelt connection to the county where they’re from,” said McCalla. “The original documents were organized by county, and it was an important tradition to maintain.”
DID YOU KNOW?
• Before the men’s basketball team played in Historic Memorial Coliseum, it played in Alumni Gym at Euclid and South Limestone.
• The UK Alumni Association raised $100,000 in 1923 to help build Alumni Gym. It could accommodate 2,800.
• Less than a decade after it opened, conversations began about building a bigger venue because of evergrowing crowd size at the games.
• Historic Memorial Coliseum was built in 1950 at a cost of $4 million. It could seat 12,000 and was to serve as an auditorium and an arena.
• In 1976, the men’s basketball team moved to Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington because, once again, the venue they were playing in (Historical Memorial Coliseum) was too small to accommodate their crowds.
Photo by Eddie Justice, UK Athletics
M. Lynn Parrish of Pikeville, Kentucky, read a monument prior to the grand reopening of Historic Memorial Coliseum in April.
THE TASK OF ARCHIVING
As the university archivist, Ruth Bryan knows what it takes to correctly document valuable university information and objects.
“Archivists plan for the future,” she said, emphasizing that documenting and acquiring what is important today provides valuable information for the future.
As an example, in 2014, when Jewell, Holmes, Donovan and Keeneland Halls were torn down, Bryan and a team of archivists and historic preservation faculty documented the buildings with photographs and collect historically significant items such as plaques and doorknobs.
STOP AND PAY HONOR
A graphics consultant created the panels with the engraved names which are on both sides of the stone monuments. They were checked for accuracy again and again.
“It’s an invaluable monument to the lives that were lost,” said Hosfield. “Everyone with the project understood the gravity of it and the importance of making sure it was all correct.”
Native plants were added to the landscape and blue glass pavers are placed throughout the area along with blue lighting which will be used to celebrate athletic victories. As part of the building modernization, the big stainless-steel doors were repaired and now enter into a full vestibule. McCalla and Hosfield hope that the monument area will bring new activity to the entrance at the Avenue of Champions.
“We hope that it touches the lives of people,” said Hosfield. “We hope they don’t just walk by the building, but that they stop and pay honor to what so many people have given.” ■
• UK President Herman L. Donovan wanted the building to serve as a memorial to Kentuckians who had died during World War II.
• In 1990, a $1 million renovation of Historic Memorial Coliseum added a state-of-the-art weight training facility, new administrative offices, players’ lounge and team meeting room. With the renovation, seating capacity was reduced to 8,500.
Memorial Coliseum’s modernization required Bryan’s special skills because of the many memorial plaques throughout the building. In addition to the display of the names of the WWII war dead, there were Bronze Stars (often called Gold Stars) that included the names of 340 WWII war dead who were affiliated with the university but were not necessarily native Kentuckians.
Among them are students, faculty and staff who died in the war including 25 student-athletes from baseball, basketball, boxing, fencing, football, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field, according to UK Athletics.
“Being a part of this project was an opportunity to be more accurate, to do more work on saving these names and finding out about their stories.,” said Bryan.
Using a copy of the original architectural diagram of Memorial Coliseum, Bryan was able to document the various memorial locations throughout the building. After photographing each location, the construction team removed each item. The stars were placed into drywall panels for transportation to the archives for temporary storage.
The panels were wrapped and permanently stored. Crystal Heis, digital imaging specialist for UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center, used her expertise to digitize the extremely large and heavy panels. These digital images are available online at the Special Collections digital library, explore.uky.edu.
The transcribed names of all the Kentucky fallen as well as the photographs and biographies of the World War II and Korea Bronze Star UK fallen are available at kentuckyveterans.nunncenter.net. There are excerpts from oral history interviews with Kentucky World War II veterans there, too.
Bryan received a 2024-2025 UK CURATE Research Support Program grant to fund Matthew Mitchem, a political science and public policy double major undergraduate, to work on developing Memorializing Kentuckians at War at kentuckyveterans.nunncenter.net.
There is no original list of names used by panel creator University of Kentucky Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering John Sherman Horine. It took three years for a team of Special Collections Research Center employees to transcribe, edit, check and recheck all the names. All documents and name lists are stored in the university archives.
Display cases featuring photographs and artifacts memorializing Kentuckians who served in World War II and telling the story of Historic Memorial Coliseum have been installed inside the front doors of Memorial Coliseum on the Avenue of Champions. A dynamic interactive display allows visitors to search or browse by name or by county for any Kentuckian who died in conflicts from World War II through 2001. Oral history excerpts from Kentuckians who fought in World War II are part of the interactive display. ■
MEMORIAL’S MONUMENTS
The front entrance of Historic Memorial Coliseum has a new look since the building’s $82-million modernization. Monuments that are inscribed with the names of nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who lost their lives in WWII are displayed there. The names were originally handwritten and framed inside the building.
by
Photo
Eddie Justice, UK Athletics
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
HOMECOMING HOMECOMING
by Shining Light Photography
Photo
KATIE
MORRISON CI ’13 COMBINES ARTISTRY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP TO CREATE PERSONALIZED WORKS IN BOTH DENTISTRY AND WATERCOLOR, EACH PIECE REFLECTING HER DEEP CONNECTION TO CHERISHED MEMORIES.
Perched on a nightstand in the Craftsman bungalow Katie Morrison shares with her husband, Brian, is an encased wallpaper swatch, a relic of her childhood home that ties her present to her past. Sage-colored vines coil over a muted white background within a small golden frame, an ivy-like pattern that once sprawled across her Eastern Kentucky kitchen where she spent hours with loved ones. Salvaged by her sister-in-law, Kati, before the property’s sale, it occupies a prominent place next to a seaside vacation photo of Morrison and her late mother, Melanie.
“When I look at that wallpaper, I get a sense of warmth,” Morrison (née Conley) CI ‘13 says of the nostalgic gift she regards as her most cherished. “So many memories were made helping mom in the kitchen, celebrating birthdays around the table, eating homecooked meals as a family every night. We did our homework at that table. We had holidays around that table. It was home for so long, and I love having a piece of it with me.”
Morrison’s home in Lexington’s tony Chevy Chase neighborhood is a mélange of vintage charm and modern style, where timeworn treasures mix with sleek, contemporary lines. Like the sun-faded wallcovering, many pieces hold cherished stories and emotions, reflecting an ethereal connection to the past. Morrison routinely seeks out forgotten treasures in secondhand shops and antique stores.
“I’m forever thrifting and trying to find vintage pieces for my home,” Morrison explains of her eclectic collection. “I just found a taxidermied pheasant that I’ve been chasing for years. I love to collect — I guess you’d say — other people’s sentimental items. I feel like older things have more soul, and I (get a thrill) finding unique pieces that look like they’ve been loved before.”
Just as her décor reflects a mix of cherished treasures, each imbued with sentimentality and a connection to past owners, Morrison brings this same sensibility into her corporate life and creative endeavors. As with many millennials, Morrison deftly juggles two careers. By day, she works as a dental lab technician in a downtown Lexington orthodontics practice — a role that provides routine and stability (and funds stuffed birds in the living room); her burgeoning side hustle as a fine art watercolorist allows her to channel creativity nurtured since her youth in that botanical-themed kitchen.
“I’ve always loved working with my hands,” Morrison recalls. “My dad used to bring home scrap paper from work because he was tired of buying me drawing pads. I’d burn through paper like crazy, writing and drawing on everything.”
After graduating from Greenup County’s Russell High School, Morrison moved West to Lexington to study biology before switching majors to communications. Her father, Robert — now a respected figure in Kentucky’s judiciary — attended UK as an undergraduate (BE ‘81), and Morrison says the university has always held a special place in her heart.
“UK’s just in my blood,” she shrugs. “When I visited campus as a high school senior, I fell in love with the city. It was so beautiful, and there’s so much history here. I couldn’t imagine myself going anywhere else.”
While studying at UK, Morrison played on the club soccer team and served as a leader in the K Club, the Varsity Letter Association — experiences that brought lasting friendships and cherished memories. Inspired by sportscaster Erin Rogers, she envisioned a similar path for herself. But when she stepped in front of the camera to interview players at a holiday basketball tournament, she realized that broadcasting might not be her calling after all.
“It was mortifying,” recalls Morrison with a chuckle. “I was like, ‘Nope, I don’t want to be in front of a camera ever again.’”
She dove headlong into public relations courses, eventually using the skills she learned at UK to promote and market I.T. services throughout the Bluegrass after graduation. She used the skills she learned at UK to promote and market I.T. services throughout the Bluegrass.
As she approached 30, career ennui began to set in. While she thrived on the creativity that came with marketing and cherished the relationships she built, the tedium of hours in front of a computer screen left her yearning for more.
“I was working at a job where I really wasn’t feeling the fullness of the creative outlet that I needed,” Morrison says. “I thought, ‘You know, dentistry is an art in and of itself.’”
After seeking counsel from friends and family, including a sisterin-law who was an oral surgeon, Morrison realized that much of the artistry she craved could be found in a completely different field: orthodontics. She embraced the challenge of learning a new craft, one that would blend precision with creativity.
Despite lacking a formal dentistry education, Morrison instinctively understands that a beautiful smile empowers individuals to feel confident, fostering connections and joyful experiences that become cherished, lasting memories. She learned the craft firsthand from practitioners who patiently showed her the ropes. In making orthodontic appliances like spacers, retainers and palatal expanders, she helps dentists restore smiles from Paducah to Paintsville, instilling renewed assurance in patients. By blending artistry with dental science, she now creates personalized solutions that preserve oral health and transform lives — not just teeth.
While gushing about the colleagues with whom she works, Morrison’s face lights up as she reflects on her unexpected career of the past four years. In addition to the fulfillment it provides, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a lab technician, she says, is that after the workday ends, she can set aside her resin, wire and soldering tools and fully immerse herself in her ever-expanding passion for painting.
Lincoln was the muse who sparked a whole new canvas for Morrison’s art. She painted this portrait in 2018.
Morrison’s artistic journey took an unexpected turn in 2016 when a simple act of dog-sitting led to her first commissioned painting.
“I was dog sitting as a little side job because I love dogs so much, and I couldn’t have one in my apartment,” she begins.
Morrison became enamored by a silver Labrador named Lincoln; she sketched the pup on craft paper as a Christmas gift for his owner. The sketch was so well received that she was asked to paint a full watercolor portrait. Although initially drawn to dry mediums like charcoal and pastels, she decided to test her skill with painting.
“Turns out I love watercolor, and that’s my medium now,” the artist says matter-of-factly.
Morrison’s art is not about replicating a moment in time; it is about capturing the essence of her subjects. Instead of striving for photorealism, she seeks to convey the unseen qualities that make them unique.
“A photo can only capture a frozen moment in time,” Morrison explains. “With painting, you get the opportunity to add things that aren’t necessarily visible to the eye, but that capture the spirit of the subject.”
Her commissioned works often feature dogs, cats or horses — which befits her adoration of animals.
“I asked for a horse every year for Christmas until I got my driver’s license,” she laughs. “I never got one, but I’m still holding out hope.”
Drawing parallels between creating dental appliances and fine art, Morrison says that both mandate meticulous consideration to create meaningful results.
With an artist’s eye and a collector’s heart, Morrison finds
“Each mouth is unique, and it requires attention to detail and engagement in my mind. That keeps me really interested and focused,” she explains.
Morrison says that she tries to apply the same level of focus to her fine art in an effort to get everything “just right.”
In her meticulous approach to art, Morrison views her role as faithfully capturing the essence or memory of each subject she portrays.
beauty in every detail.
Photos submitted
“I really work to be as accurate as I can while trying to put love and life in the eyes because that’s most important,” Morrison adds. “Now, I always start with the eyes because if they’re wrong, you might as well trash it. It might be just because I love animals and I love people — I’m very sentimental, you know? — but I think having an artist take time to interpret something you love for you and try to make it even more special is the line between fine art and photography.”
In recent years, Morrison has expanded her artwork to include scenes taken from nature as well as less organic subjects, such as manmade structures. She calls commissions for paintings of houses “a nice break from pets, a nice break from that intensity of trying to represent a living thing.”
She adds, however, that portraits of homes are “still very loaded with sentimental value to the person that requested it.”
Each piece she creates tells a personal story, often tied to a client’s emotions. Her portfolio now features stately homes, precious pets and even one-of-a-kind apparel. Her custom cowboy boots are a particularly popular item.
“I love boots — I’m not a high-heel girl. I wear sneakers and boots,” Morrison explains with a glint in her eye. “I fell in love with the concept of painted boots, so I ordered myself a cheap pair from Amazon and just started playing around.”
Morrison reached out to Sherri Henry Wolf — a frequent collaborator and owner of the popular Lexington boutique, Henry Dry Goods — and asked her professional opinion about the commercial viability of the artful footwear.
“I texted Sherri, ‘What do you think about this?’” Morrison recalls. “And she said, ‘Make more!’ so I started coming up with ideas, and then I got requests for custom boots.”
She discovers gently worn boots in vintage clothing stores and rejuvenates them with reconditioning and resoling, infusing her unique flair onto the supple leather. While on a life-changing trip to Montana — where she and Brian became engaged — a local milliner spotted a pair of her boots adorned with blue butterflies and requested his own bespoke design. From there, she shared the final product on social media, which sparked a surge of interest.
“She is an amazing talent that needs to be shouted from the rooftops!,” enthuses Wolf. “I fell in love with Katie’s art from the moment I saw her first piece. She has an amazing ability to take a photo, object, idea, sketch or thought and bring it to life! The character, depth and layers in each piece take on a unique personality that we can’t wait to share with our customer base.”
Married in the summer of 2024, the Morrisons continue to settle into domesticity, balancing their various jobs and hobbies. Describing her husband — CEO of Bri-Den Roofing — as “the most kind, patient, supportive and loving partner that I could ever have,” Morrison explains that the kindred spirits maintain their respective interests while sharing quality time.
“Brian has a gift for cooking — he’s an excellent chef,” Morrison boasts, her newlywed bliss evident in the sanguine smile that erupts with the mention of his name. “He cooks while I paint. I sit at the table in the kitchen, so we’re still together, cutting up and chit-chatting about our day. We have that functional balance where we’re both doing things that we love that are separate, but we’re together.”
As a proud UK alumna, Morrison reflects on the importance of her college experience as a time for learning and transplanting deep roots in Lexington’s community.
Morrison draws artistic inspiration from the natural world.
“I wasn’t born in Lexington, so graduating from UK has given me a sense of belonging here,” she says. “It connects me to so many people. I find that common ground with almost everyone I talk to who went here. I’ve never met someone who graduated from the University of Kentucky and was indifferent about it. We love it, and I’ve always found that to be such an important connection.”
Alumni News
1. The Greater Houston UK Alumni Club had a Big Blue time at its Derby celebration at the Sam Houston Race Park. The event included raffles, a Derby hat contest and live and silent auctions.
2. Attendees at the Greater Birmingham UK Alumni Club Derby party mingled with fellow Wildcats as they celebrated the 151st Run for the Roses. Each guest received a commemorative Derby glass.
3. The guests at the Dallas-Fort Worth UK Alumni Club Derby party enjoyed a panoramic view of the racetrack at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. The Wildcats participated in a Derby hat and tie contest.
4. & 5. The Sarasota Suncoast UK Alumni Club hosted the UK women’s golf team and then watched the team play in the Spartan Sun Coast Invitational held in Sarasota in February. The tallest man in the photo (wearing the Kentucky blue shirt) is “honorary” club member and UK basketball Hall of Famer Jim Andrews. In May, a crowd of about 80 attended a Derby party. Guests enjoyed a Kentucky “favorites” buffet, raffles, a Derby hat contest and betting on the Derby race. Congratulations to Janie Nozell for repeating as the Derby hat contest winner!
6. A fun time was had at the Central Ohio UK Alumni Club celebration of the 151st Run for the Roses Derby party. About 35 alumni, family and friends placed bets, enjoyed mint juleps and a Derby cake and cashed in some racing tickets.
7. The Space Coast UK Alumni Club socialized with about 35 Wildcats at its Derby party. The event featured a Derby hat contest, door prizes, raffles, giveaways and auctions.
8. & 9. The New York City UK Alumni Club gathered for the 151st Derby and enjoyed the greatest two minutes in sports. The following day, the club cheered on NYCFC as the team played FC Cincinnati at Citi Field in Queens, New York.
Sports
NEW MODEL BRINGS INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO FUTURE OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS AT UK
With a charge to continue to be one of the country’s top programs, University of Kentucky Athletics now reside in a holding company.
This new model — perhaps the first of its kind in the country among major programs — is designed to increase flexibility and enable the department to find new opportunities to generate additional revenue and more efficiently manage expenses. The holding company is called Champions Blue, LLC.
The strategy provides the department with the flexibility to unlock new revenue streams through public-private partnerships and potentially other transactions, such as real estate.
The holding company structure is similar to how UK in recent years has acquired two major community hospitals — King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Kentucky and St. Claire Healthcare in Morehead, Kentucky. Both hospital systems are within similarly structured holding companies that report to the University and its Board of Trustees.
A governance board, composed of UK officials and outside expertise from
business and the professional sports world, provides the new holding company and athletics officials with guidance and counsel.
“Athletics and its success have always been the result of an incredible and productive partnership with campus. It will continue to be in the future — if we seize the opportunities in front of us to meet the challenges that lie ahead,” said UK President Eli Capilouto.
The Champions Blue Board, a public entity, will meet regularly to advise Capilouto and UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart on strategic directions and opportunities for revenue growth. Opportunities could include developments such as expanded premium seating and fan amenities in Kroger Field or public-private partnerships to develop revenuegenerating ventures.
This move comes as intercollegiate athletics is undergoing unprecedented changes. Over the last 15 years, college athletics has moved toward a model where student athletes may be compensated by monetizing their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). ■
NBA MVP IS A WILDCAT
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was a Wildcat in the 2017-2018 season, is the first Kentucky men’s basketball player to earn NBA Most Valuable Player accolades.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring at 32.7 points per game during the regular season for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is the first UK player to pace the league in scoring in program history. The Hamilton, Ontario, native’s 32.7 points per game was also the most ever in Oklahoma City Thunder history. He poured in 20 or more points in 72-consecutive games and owned the most 20, 30, 40 and 50-point performances this season.
The 6-foot-6 guard’s 72-game streak of 20 or more points was the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history and the longest since Oscar Robertson had a stretch of 76 games in 1963-64. Wilt Chamberlain had two such streaks of 80 games with 20 or more points in 1961-62 and 1963-64.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak began with a 30-point performance against the Trail Blazers on Nov. 1, 2024. In the game prior he tallied 18 points vs. the Spurs. It was the only game during the 2024-25 regular season he did not reach the 20-point plateau. He earned 913 total votes, including a commanding 71 firstplace votes. Nikola Jokic of Denver Nuggets finished second in the voting with 787 total votes and 29 first-place tallies.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s historic season was not only marked by being the league’s top scorer, but he also guided the Thunder to the best overall record (68-14) and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season. ■
NINE WILDCATS NAMED TO ALL-SEC TRACK AND FIELD TEAMS
Nine Wildcats have been named to the 2025 track and field All-SEC teams for their performance at the SEC Outdoor Championships held in Lexington. Kentucky totaled six medals at the three-day SEC Championship meet, including three bronze medals, two silver medals and one gold medalist.
Freshman Collins Kiprop Kipngok (pictured) earned his first career gold medal in the men’s 3000m steeplechase and broke the SEC Championship and UK facility record with an 8:26.33 time, earning him an All-SEC First Team for the Wildcats. Luke Brown and Janet Jepkemboi Amimo featured on the All-SEC Second Team for their silver medal performances at the conference championships.
The Wildcats received an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, marking the first time in program history it has advanced to the postseason three consecutive seasons.
Unfortunately, West Virginia ended the Wildcats’ season when they had an unlikely comeback for a 13-12 victory at Doug Kinsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C. in regional play.
The Cats were a No. 3 seed after a 29-24 season with a 13-17 SEC record. The season featured many big victories and narrow defeats. The Wildcats finished with an RPI of 38, the eighth-best strength of schedule and secured key series wins over Tennessee and Oklahoma.
For the first time since 2018, Kentucky baseball player Tyler Bell (pictured) was invited to the USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp. Bell, a shortstop, will be one of the youngest players to participate.
Brown earned his second silver medal of the season in the men’s triple jump final, setting a season-best 16.33m/53-7 mark, while Jepkemboi Amimo secured her first career medal in the women’s 1500m event.
Kate Powers (women’s hammer), Payton Phillips (women’s pole vault) and the women’s 4x400m relay team, consisting of Alysia Johnson, Oneika McAnnuff, Hannah Douglas and A’Laji Bradley, headlined the All-SEC Third Team for Kentucky for their bronze medal performances. Powers and Phillips earned their second SEC medals of the season,
The Frankfort, Illinois, native is the first UK player selected for the training camp since star left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson. Bell has etched his name all over UK’s freshman records list and has gotten stronger as the season has progressed. He has reached base safely in 51 of 53 career games (he has started every game this season), including of the first 27.
His 10 home runs this season ties the freshman school record set by Chris Gonzalez in 1993. He is the only Wildcat to bat over .300 in conference play at .318 and led the team in doubles, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage in those games. ■
Photos by UK Athletics
A LEGACY OF GENEROSITY & LEADERSHIP IN NURSING EDUCATION
By Steve Harris
Sally “Sal” Siebert’s life is a testament to the power of generosity and compassion.
A dedicated nurse, a loyal soldier and a devoted mentor, she has poured her heart into serving others. From her service to her country to her countless hours spent caring for patients, Siebert ’85 NUR embodies the true meaning of giving back. Her story is one of warmth and kindness, inspiring those around her to follow in her footsteps.
The foundation of her legacy lies with two endowed scholarships at the University of Kentucky: the Major Troy T. Gibson & Lt. Colonel Sally G. Siebert Scholarship, established in 1994 and the Sally G. Siebert Scholarship for Nurse Practitioners created in 2005.
The first scholarship honors the memory of Major Troy Gibson, a 1981 UK nursing alumnus and Army nurse who played a significant role in Siebert’s life.
“He was a UK bachelor of science in nursing graduate, and I wanted to honor him and all military nurses,” she said. This scholarship supports sophomore nursing students, easing their journey as they acquire the essential tools of their trade.
The second scholarship focuses on supporting aspiring nurse practitioners.
“These scholarships are my way of thanking the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and everyone who supported me throughout my career,” Siebert said. Her heartfelt gratitude shines through in her commitment to nurture the next generation of nurses.
Ten years prior to starting her role as a family and pediatric nurse practitioner with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Siebert enrolled in the Army Student Nurse Program in June 1968. She graduated from the Hamot Hospital School of Nursing in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1969.
Siebert was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps in September 1969 and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She later volunteered to serve in Vietnam, working at the 91st Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai for a year, where she was involved in the ward for prisoners of war, the intensive care unit and the recovery room.
During her time at Fort Campbell, Siebert developed a deep appreciation for Kentucky.
“I was only stationed there for five months, but I just loved Kentucky,” she recalled.
Siebert worked at the health department in Lexington for over 30 years. She earned her BSN from the University of Kentucky
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Mark Cornelison, UK
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College of Nursing and was recognized as the outstanding senior student. UK later recognized her as an outstanding alumna as part of the College of Nursing’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2010.
Siebert’s philanthropic spirit drives her to support initiatives that empower future nurses with education, training and resources. She believes that well-prepared health care professionals are essential to quality patient care.
When Siebert learned that UK was constructing the Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building, she felt compelled to further support the College of Nursing.
“A significant number of nurses have retired or transitioned to other jobs since the pandemic. So, if the College of Nursing can double its enrollment with this new building, that is just amazing. That’s why I support the Rankin Health Education Building,” Siebert said.
The new facility is more than just a beautiful building; it symbolizes collaboration. By co-locating the Colleges of Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, alongside the Center for Community and Interprofessional Health Education, it creates a vibrant space for future health care professionals to learn and innovate together.
“Bringing all these colleges into one space will truly make a difference,” Siebert said.
Thanks to Siebert’s generous contribution, the tutoring space on the nursing floor will provide students with opportunities to learn and grow together.
“I've been very fortunate over the years,” Siebert said. “I took my parents’ advice and tried to save as much as I could, so I'm at a point where I can support this building. When I was a student, there were places on campus to go, but having a dedicated study area with tutors and other health care students in this new building will be wonderful.”
The Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building will enable UK to train more skilled health care professionals, ready to address Kentucky’s urgent health challenges. By integrating diverse disciplines, the facility will enhance teamwork among students and foster innovative solutions in patient care and public health through interprofessional education. This focus on practical skills and collaboration ensures that graduates are well-prepared to meet the demands of health care and positively impact their communities. ■
Sal Siebert with Major Troy T. Gibson in the mid-1980s during annual training at Ft. Knox. A few months after Gibson's death in 1994, Siebert started the first scholarship fund to honor military nurses.
spaces designed to enhance hands-on learning and collaboration for students, equipping future health care professionals with the tools and environment they need to succeed. Learn more about
The Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building will feature innovative
for the Booked Booked Summer Summer
One Wildcat couple’s shared love of reading — and basketball — ignites a spark in Lexington middle schoolers, who find echoes of themselves in a champion’s story.
By Dan Knapp
It’s summertime, and the living is easy — a time for travel, poolside lounging or kicking back in an outdoor salon, just like the one Dr. and Mrs. Henderson are enjoying on a golden June afternoon, serenaded by the relentlessly cacophonous soundtrack of cicadas. It’s also the perfect season to lose oneself between the covers of a great book.
Thanks to the Hendersons’ generosity, a Lexington middle school is ready for summer reading — each student with an inspirational memoir to call their own.
Last year, Andrew “Andy” Henderson III ’76 MED, a retired internist, avid reader and ravenous basketball fan, received a copy of “They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond” (University Press of Kentucky, 2024) by Jack “Goose” Givens ’78 AS as a Father’s Day present. Enchanted by the book’s themes of positivity and perseverance, Andy suggested that his bride of 50 years, Peggy ’74 AS, ’86 ED, might enjoy it as well.
Fast-forward a year, and Peggy leans forward in her chair recalling the impact reading it had on her after she turned the final page. Even though she and her husband “read hundreds of books a year,” she couldn’t get Givens’ true-to-life story out of her mind.
Peggy, who majored in English before returning years later for her graduate degree in education, was especially impressed by Givens’ storytelling and sense of local history. A fan of historical fiction, she remembers falling in love with reading as a child.
“Our little library in my little school had a section right in the corner. Everything was bound in orange,” Peggy vividly recollects, her voice threading gently through the shimmering chorus that pulses in the trees just beyond the screened porch. “They were all biographies of famous people. And I read every one of those probably two or three times because I learned I could put myself in the place of Jane Adams or George Washington — whoever I was reading about — and learn things about them. To me, that was more exciting than anything on television.”
More than a paean to Givens’ storied UK basketball team — which he led to the 1978 national championship — the book
delves into more personal topics like his humble upbringing in the segregated, barbed-wire enforced BluegrassAspendale housing project, the intense scrutiny of public life, and the crushing weight of debt.
These personal revelations struck a chord with the Hendersons.
“The way he handles adversity in his life is very positive,” the former principal of Athens-Chilesburg Elementary School explains. “He’s very faith oriented. He’s very family oriented, and he brings all that to say to the reader, ‘I went through all this, but I kept my positivity. I kept my faith, and I developed a plan to succeed.’ So, it was really, really good to read that book. At the end, he sums everything up and says, ‘You know, if you want to be successful, you need to be positive, to stay true to yourself. You can do it!’”
Similarly, Andy, the former CEO of Lexington Clinic who was born in Williamson, West Virginia — “Hatfield and McCoy country” — says the book was right up his alley.
“I like nonfiction, particularly stories of people — people who met challenges and, through some… whatever it was — miracles, intervention, something — overcame those challenges and survived,” he explains.
Last summer’s read blossomed into a yearlong effort to encourage young people to set aside their electronic gadgets and discover the joy of a story they could connect with and be inspired by. When Peggy pitched the idea, her husband didn’t hesitate: “Let’s make it happen!”
The Hendersons, who met and fell in love at UK, spoke with the author to get his thoughts on the plan.
“I think we’ve been to every book signing the UK Alumni Association has hosted — because we go to every basketball game,” Peggy says with a chuckle.
The Louisville-native gestures toward Andy and quips, “I’ve always said this one would trade anybody for a ticket to the right game.”
“We were in Atlanta for the KentuckyDuke game, and Jack had a book signing,” Peggy continues. “I had already talked to Andy about the idea. He said, ‘Go on, go ask him.’ So, we went together. I told Jack, ‘If I can work it out with Fayette County Public Schools, would you be willing to talk to a group of middle school students? We’ll buy your book so they can take it home and read it.’”
The Hendersons say Givens was visibly moved — deeply honored by the opportunity to inspire the next generation.
Earlier this year, former UK basketball phenom Jack “Goose” Givens delivered a motivational speech to students at Lexington Traditional Magnet School — in the same gym where he once honed his skills. The event was the brainchild of Peggy and Andy Henderson, who were inspired by the positivity in Givens’ book.
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Joe Bandy
“I was completely shocked when Peggy approached me with this idea,” says Givens, whose #21 jersey was retired and hangs from the rafters in Rupp Arena. “I was already shocked at how many people had read the book and the sales of it — I was extremely excited about that. But when she came with this idea about trying to get the book in the hands of more young people — more kids — I was thrilled at the possibility of doing that.”
Tapping into her network from years in the Lexington school system, Peggy began exploring how to get the book into the hands of students.
Earlier this year, the Hendersons purchased more than 300 paperback copies for Lexington Traditional Magnet School (LTMS) students. (The school was renamed Lexington Middle School on July 1). The choice was no coincidence: Givens attended the same school in the late 1960s.
“When Peggy and Andy shared with me how they wanted to do it and I realized that the school we were talking about was a school that I had attended, in a neighborhood I grew up in, I just thought, ‘Man, it can’t get any better than this,’” shares Givens.
passages that resonated with them or reflected their own lives. One student annotated the margins with notes like “He took chances and didn’t stop” and “My pastor helps people too.” Amid the neon-colored markings and personal reflections, one poignant line stood out — a thread tying the student to the author: “My dad left too.”
“Very few books make me want to get up and do something,” Peggy explains. “But Jack’s did because I’m an educator, and I could see the use of that — or parts of it — in a classroom. I thought it was so good for the students to have something to hang on to. If you teach reading, which I did for many years, you want the child to be able to identify with the text personally.”
Peggy believes every child needs a small library of their own, “a place to live in.” She hopes their gift will inspire children to move away from screens and flex their reading muscles.
“It’s like if you would play basketball from September to May, and then you just stop,” Peggy explains. “When you come back in September, you’re going to have a little regression. That’s normal because you didn’t exercise. Reading is the same way; if you don’t read from the end of May until the first of September, you’re going to lose a little of that skill. I think it’s critical to keep our kids reading in the summertime.”
“Very few books make me want to get up and do something. But Jack’s did.”
— Peggy Henderson
On May 5, LTMS students had the rare opportunity to hear directly from the former basketball star and broadcaster. They sat rapt as Givens candidly spoke about his book, his career, his ups and downs and what it meant to return to the gymnasium where his journey began.
“I was hoping when I wrote it that young people would read the book because of some of my experiences are the same experiences many of them will go through, certainly the kids in the neighborhood that this school is located,” says Givens. “They’ll experience a lot of the same things I experienced, so for me to come over and spend the day with the young people and talk to them and give a motivational speech, that was easy — easy for me to do.”
Each student — and every school staff member — left with an autographed copy of the book to take home and enjoy.
“They were spellbound; they just swarmed him like he was a rockstar,” says Andy. “Here’s a guy who wrote a book, who grew up down the street. He was a great basketball player. Now he’s on the radio and TV and so forth. He’s a role model. I think those kinds of stories are great for kids.”
Several teachers immediately found ways to make reading the book a shared experience. In one reading classroom, students were invited to read pages from the preface and highlight
The Hendersons didn’t give away hundreds of books so students would remember them. What they hope will linger — long after the spine is bent and the story tucked away — is the quiet certainty that dreams can be chased and caught.
“I hope they remember Jack’s message that you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” Peggy says. “Surround yourself with positive people. Keep working hard. Don’t let people tear you down. Set a goal and strive to meet that goal.”
With LTMS students diving into their summer reading, the Hendersons are teeing up a few titles of their own. In between travels, Peggy can’t wait to savor every twist in “The First Gentleman” (Little, Brown and Company, 2025), co-written by former President Bill Clinton and her favorite author, James Patterson. (She also holds an equally soft spot for the late Louisville mystery novelist Sue Grafton.) Andy plans to dig deep into Eric Topol’s “Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity” (Simon & Schuster, 2025), exploring the science of aging well.
“I count on him to read all that kind of stuff and then just give me a synopsis,” Peggy teases, reclining in her chair as the whirring swarm of tree-singers continues their afternoon concert, “because I’d rather spend my time reading fiction.”
She may favor fiction, but as Givens proved, a good story doesn’t have to be made up to be unforgettable. ■
The UK Alumni Association is planning additional book signings with Givens. Check out the event calendar at ukalumni.net/events to see where the “Goose” will land next.
Class Notes
1950s
Charles E. English Sr. ’58 BE, ’60 LAW, co-founding partner of English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, was awarded the inaugural Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. Award. English built a law career spanning 65 years in Bowling Green.
1970s
Suzanne Lenhart ’78 ’81 AS has been named the University of Tennessee’s 2025 Macebearer, a designation that recognizes a distinguished career and exemplary services to students, scholarship and society. Lenhart joined UT as an assistant professor in 1981.
1980s
David Godfrey ’82 AS was awarded the title of faculty emeritus by the University
of Jamestown, Jamestown, North Dakota. He joined the faculty in 1988 and retired in 2022.
David B. Spencer ’83 EN has been named an Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Public Service by the Ann and H. J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, Colorado.
Paula Haines ’86 CI was named CEO of the Year 2024 in the Small Nonprofit category by Columbus CEO. Haines is CEO at Freedom a la Cart, a nonprofit catering social enterprise and workforce development program that serves and supports survivors of human trafficking.
Jamie Burcham Estes ’88 CI is the founder and president of Estes Public Relations which was named 2025
Public Relations Agency of the Year and Public Relations Team of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Awards. Estes is a long-time member of the UK Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Communication and Information.
Debra H. Lambert ’89 LAW has been chosen by her colleagues on the Kentucky Supreme Court to serve as the court’s first female chief justice. She will serve in that role for the next four years. She was elected to the court in November 2018 and has served as the deputy chief justice.
1990s
Darren S. Bilberry ’90 CI, ’02 ED was inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. Bilberry excelled at football, basketball and track and field while a student at Fort Knox High School. He played football at UK.
David Brinkley ’90 CI has been named the executive director of WUWF public radio at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida. Brinkley joined WUWF from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he served as the executive director of public media and general manager of WKU Public Radio network.
Amy Foster ’90 CI has been named branch manager of the Covington Library in
Covington, Kentucky. Foster was former head of public services at the UK College of Law Library.
Aaron Thompson ’90 ’92 AS, president of the Kentucky Council on Post Secondary Education, received a 2025 East Kentucky Leadership Foundation leadership award.
Dan Drury ’94 AS has been promoted to vice president of commercial strategy and execution for Diversified CPC International, a producer and distributor of aerosol propellants, hydrocarbon refrigerators and specialty gas products.
Ron Holder ’95 AS, ’99 PH has joined Hendrick Health in Abilene, Texas, as chief administrative officer for Hendrick Clinic and Hendrick Anesthesia Network. He has 29 years of experience in medical practice leadership.
Greg T. Watkins ’95 BE has rejoined Stock Yards Bank Wealth Management & Trust Group as an investment advisor based in Lexington. Wakins has three decades of experience assisting clients in achieving their financial goals and managing their financial complexities.
Stan L. Gish ’96 EN has been named chief executive officer of MetalX, an independent metals recycling business based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As CEO, Gish will guide the company’s long-term growth, market development and industry positioning. Before joining MetalX, Gish spent
DanceBlue’s yellow ribbon is a symbol for pediatric cancer awareness and fundraising. Students form a ribbon before the 24-hour dance marathon.
more than 30 years in various technical and operational roles in the aluminum industry.
Renhe Lin ’96 EN has been promoted to associate fellow at PPG. Lin joined PPG’s aerospace business in 2005.
Stacie Strotman ’98 AS has been appointed first president and chief executive officer at Partners for Change, formerly Covington Partners. Strotman has nearly 26 years of experience with the Covington Independent School District. Partners for Change is a nonprofit organization provides support services to Northern Kentucky students.
Jeffrey Fleischaker ’99 LAW has joined Gross McGinley LLP, a leading full-service law
firm. He has more than 25 years of helping clients.
Robert H. Frank II ’99 AFE has joined CDM Smith as a senior project manager. Frank just completed an emergency response project in Asheville, North Carolina, where damages from Hurricane Helene impacted the water treatment facility. Frank led the team that built the world’s largest temporary treatment system in just 23 days. CDM offers services in water, environment, transportation, and energy and facilities projects.
David Longnecker ’99 LAW has been elected to the Centre College Board of Trustees. An alumnus of Centre, Longnecker is an attorney with Lexington’s Stites & Harbison.
DanceBlue concludes each year when the amount of money raised through the dance marathon is revealed. As this 2015 photo shows, $1,615,057.18 was raised that year.
Michael T. Stephenson ’99 CI has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Tampa. He was the provost and senior vice president at Sam Houston State University.
2000s
Jacob Barney ’00 AS has been appointed by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Secretary to serve a two-year term on the invasive species advisory committee. Barney is a professor of invasive plant ecology in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech.
Dave McGinnis ’00 BE has been appointed chief financial officer at the Hornblower Group. He
has more than 20 years of financial leadership experience, coming to Hornblower from Filtration Group where he served as CFO since 2020.
Joseph Rudder ’00 BE has been named the chief financial officer at Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, Florida. Rudder served as the chief financial officer and chief operating officer at the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia.
Sheila Youngblood ’01 AFE has been named the chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Deep East Texas. She has more than two decades of experience in higher education, engineering and community leadership.
Information in Class Notes is compiled from previously published items in newspapers and other media outlets, as well as items submitted by individual alumni. Send us your class note by emailing ukalumni@uky.edu or submitting your information in the online community at www.ukalumni.net/class
COLLEGE INDEX
AFE Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food & Environment
AS Arts & Sciences
BE Gatton College of Business & Economics
CI Communication & Information
DE Dentistry
DES Design
ED Education
EN Pigman College of Engineering
FA Fine Arts
GS The Graduate School
HS Health Sciences
HON Honorary Degree
LAW Rosenberg College of Law
MED Medicine
NUR Nursing
PHA Pharmacy
PH Public Health
SW Social Work
Class Notes
Matthew Barszcz ’02 AS, ’10 LAW has joined the Chicago law office of Cozen O’Connor. He is an employment litigator and appellate lawyer and will join the firm’s labor and employment department.
Kristin Klingshirn ’02 CI has been honored with a Gracie Award for Nationally Syndicated Co-Host for “The Bert Show,” a blend of humor, entertainment news and lifestyle advice heard in 20 markets and on a daily podcast with four million downloads each month. She joined “The Bert Show,” based in Atlanta on Q99.7, in 2011.
Zhiping Wang ’02 EN is the recipient of a 2025
Dedicated Service Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Wang is the advanced engineering manager for Morrison Products Inc.
James Boone ’04 AFE has been appointed the manager of the Caldwell County Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance agency. He has worked as an agent for the Caldwell County Farm Bureau for 10 years.
Quintissa S. Peake ’04 CI recently accepted the 2025 Carolyn Sundy Award at the East Kentucky Leadership Awards Conference. Peake is an advocate in Letcher County, working with organizations including the
Kentucky Blood Center, Appalshop and the Hemphill Community Center.
Sonja Feist-Price ’06 ED has been selected for the 2025 cohort of the Daniel Burnham Fellowship created by Leadership Greater Chicago. The fellowship is designed for senior executives to impact the region’s workforce and economic progress. Feist-Price is the provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs at Chicago State University.
Brandon C. Meadows ’06 AS has been named a managing partner with Jimerson Birr, a full-service business law firm based in Jacksonville, Florida.
Chiharu Cathy Bowman ’07 DES has been named associate principal in the Portland, Oregon office of Mackenzie, an architectural firm. Bowman has been with McKenzie for 11 years and in the industry for nearly two decades.
Whitney Zimmerman
Johns ’07 AS, ’11 LAW has been sworn in as judge of the 50th Judicial Circuit in Kentucky. Johns is a partner in Taylor and Johns law firm in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and is an assistant county attorney for Mercer County.
Garland Crawford ’08 MED has been named assistant vice provost for research at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Crawford served as a professor of chemistry and director of undergraduate
research. He joined Mercer in 2011.
Justin Johnston ‘08 BE has become the senior vice president of finance at Viamedia, the country’s largest independent advertising digital and linear rep firm. He previously served as the company’s controller.
Greg Mills ’08 BE has been appointed to the board of directors of Famers National Bank. Mills has been the bank’s chief financial officer since 2023. He joined Farmers National Bank in 2010 as an internal auditor and has led many key leadership roles since then.
Michael Miracle ’08 AFE has been appointed golf national account manager within the turf and ornamentals division at Envu, a company with the purpose of advancing healthy environments for everyone. Miracle has been with Envu for three years and has extensive golf industry experience.
Danielle (Daney) Amrine ’09 SW has been named NorthKey Community Care’s chief executive officer. She brings more than 17 years of experience in nonprofit management, mental health services and community engagement to her new role.
Allison Garcia ’09 BE has been appointed vice president of marketing for Heritage Grocers Group, the largest Hispanic and ethnic food retailer in the USA. Her
KENTUCKY ALUMNI MAGAZINE Summer 2025
Wildcat, the UK mascot, showed off his dance moves in 2017 at DanceBlue, a 24-hour fund-raising dance marathon.
food industry career includes 16 years with Kroger.
Jesse M. Parrish ’09 BE, ’12 LAW has been named senior vice president operations at Alliance Coal. He was previously chief executive officer of Blackhawk Mining.
Sean Patterson ’09 AS, ’11 PH has been appointed chief executive officer of Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Most recently he served as the chief financial officer of TriState NorthCrest Medical Center in Springfield, Tennessee.
Andrew Thomas Soper ’09 AS has been promoted to manager of product marketing at Link-Belt Cranes. Soper joined LinkBelt in 2014 as a marketing specialist.
Jason Vest ’09 FA has been named dean of the Sam Houston State University College of Arts & Media. He was an associate provost for academic and student affairs and a professor of voice at Northern Kentucky University.
2010s
Wes Downing ’10 ’18 ED has been selected as the next principal for Brenda Cowan Elementary School in Lexington, Kentucky. Downing has more than 15 years of experience in education with Fayette County Public Schools.
Heather Allison Green Garcia ’10 BE has been promoted to group vice president of marketing for Heritage Grocers Group, the largest Hispanic and ethnic food retailer in the country. Her food industry career includes 16 years with Kroger.
Joshua Gibson ’10 ED has joined Sterling Seacrest Pritchard, one of the nation’s top 100 insurance brokers, as a client advisor. Gibson is based in the Atlanta office.
Shelley Amrine Mitchell ’10 ’11 BE has been named executive vice president of Abound Credit Union. She joined Abound in 2016, leading the audit team. Prior to that she worked at the accounting firm, BKD/Forvis.
Amber Florence ’11 ’16 BE has joined the American Horse Council Board of Trustees. Florence, senior vice president of finance and business planning for the Jockey Club, has more than 23 years of experience in the Thoroughbred industry.
Jordan Roberts Gabbert ’11 BE has been promoted to head of investor relations with MiddleGround Capital. She joined MiddleGround in 2020 as a member of the operations team.
Kevin Klosterboer ’11 GS has been named chief financial officer of the city of Round Rock, Texas. Klosterboer served as Round Rock’s budget manager.
Will Martin ’12 AFE has been named assistant basketball coach at the University of Wyoming. He spent seven seasons at Missouri Western including five as head coach.
Eric Neely ’11 AS, ’12 ED has been named the new principal at Bryan Station Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky. Neely has 12 years of experience in education and serves as the academy coach at Bryan Station High School.
Jim Shaffer ’14 ’23 AS has joined the faculty at Center College, Danville, Kentucky, as an assistant professor of biology.
The 2020 men’s basketball team joined the crowd of dancers at the DanceBlue marathon in Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Career Corner Career Corner
by Amy Gamblin
BENEFITS OF HAVING A CAREER COACH ON YOUR SIDE
In today’s ever-evolving job market, creating a career path can be overwhelming, especially during times of transition, uncertainty or setbacks. Having a career coach on your side can make all the difference. While tools like Artificial Intelligence, including ChatGPT, are helpful, they can’t replace the human connection, personalized insight and strategic support that a coach provides. A career coach offers professional, unbiased guidance that brings expertise shaped by current industry trends.
Here are some of the ways a career coach can support your job search and career development.
Clarify career goals. A coach will ask thoughtful, guided questions to help you assess your skills, strengths, and values, whether through career assessments or conversation. This process helps transform uncertainty into a clear, focused direction.
Craft a resume that tells a story. Your resume should do more than list past jobs. It should tell a compelling story about who you are and what you offer. With the help of a coach, you can tailor your resume to a specific job, highlight your achievements and ensure you’re communicating your value clearly and confidently.
Strengthen interview skills. Interviewing takes preparation and practice. A career coach can help you anticipate common and behavioral questions, refine your STAR stories (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and build the confidence to speak authentically about your experience and impact.
Build and leverage your network. Coaches can provide practical tips for building meaningful connections both online and in person. They’ll help you approach networking in a way that feels authentic and aligned with your personal style and goals.
Brainstorm career opportunities. It’s not always easy to know if you’re on the right path. Whether you’re considering a career transition, exploring semi-retirement or aiming to grow within your current field, a coach can help you explore options and build confidence in your next move.
Create a plan for skill and interest development. If you’ve gained skills from various work experiences, it can be difficult to know how they transfer to new roles. A career coach can help you identify and articulate your transferable skills so you can position yourself effectively for new opportunities.
Build accountability and momentum. It’s one thing to set a goal, but it’s another to follow through. Research shows that people are significantly more likely to reach their goals when they have someone to hold them accountable. Having a coach as your accountability partner helps you stay focused, motivated and on track.
Experience a human and personalized approach. Most importantly, a coach brings empathy, active listening and emotional intelligence to every conversation. They’ll celebrate your progress, support you through challenges and offer encouragement in a way that feels truly personal – something AI simply can’t replicate.
UK Alumni Career Services are a benefit of Life and Active Membership with the UK Alumni Association. Explore options at www.ukalumni.net/s/membership
Amy Gamblin, CCC, CPRW is a Career Coach with UK Alumni Career Services. Visit www.ukalumni.net/career to learn more.
Class Notes
Blake Aaron ’17 CI has been named 2024 Agent of the Year for the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s district four. The award recognizes an agent’s excellence in overall sales production and service to policyholders. Aaron is an agent for the Russell County Farm Bureau.
Ellis Allen ’17 LAW has been named a partner at the law firm of Weiner, Shearouse, Weitz, Greenberg & Shawe in Savannah, Georgia. Allen’s practice is focused on commercial and residential real estate, business transactions and civil litigation.
Josh Brockman ’17 BE, ’17 EN has been named Atlanta market president of Fischer Homes, one of the nation’s largest home builders. Formerly he was Atlanta division manager.
Eric S. Pollitt ’18 GS is the county administrator for Amelia County, Amelia Court House, Virginia. Pollitt was the town manager in Tappahannock, Virginia and Glasgow, Virginia and served as a management analyst for Fluvanna County, Virginia.
2020s
Taylor Murray ’20 EN has been hired by Gehring Montgomery, a distributor of fine and specialty chemicals serving commercial and industrial manufacturers. Murray has experience in manufacturing and selling coating chemicals.
Craig Sumner ’21 BE has joined Pemamek USA as area sales manager. Sumner has extensive management experience in welding automation and service management.
Mallory Baker ’22 AS has joined the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Washington, D.C.’s office as Horse PAC coordinator. She worked as an associate for The Elevated Group.
Malissa Bouakham ’24 AS was crowned the National Conference of State Societies 2025 United States Cherry Blossom Queen. She was the 2025 Kentucky Cherry Blossom Delegate. In her time at UK, Bouakham chartered the first and only Asian sorority in Kentucky, Delta Phi Lambda, Inc.
Audrey Stewart ’24 AFE is the assistant membership services coordinator at the Christian County Chamber of Commerce.
Ava Tomich ’24 AFE has been named the dance coach at Joliet Catholic Academy in Joliet, Illinois.
Simply put, I would not have been able to enroll in an MBA program that didn’t offer the same level of
FLEXIBILITY AND THOUGHTFUL CURRICULUM
that UK applied to its program. UK’s willingness to accommodate, and capacity to understand, the struggles of being a full-time employee while completing an MBA made it much less daunting for me to enroll in the program. It’s one of the main reasons I ended up choosing UK over other programs.
CHASE WARNER
PART-TIME MBA:
A PROGRAM FOR BUSY LIVES
Director, North America R&D Site Communications, AstraZeneca LEARN
In Memoriam
Alice Gail Price Smith ’49 ED Russell, Ky.
Arnold Doyle Baker ‘50 ‘55 EN Lexington, Ky.
Eugene Brashear ‘52 EN Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Earl E. Caudill ‘53 BE Brewster, Mass.
Eugene Lewis DuBow ‘53 AS Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Life Member
David Ralph Young ‘53 EN Dayton, Ohio Life Member, Fellow
Mary Keller Basta ‘56 BE Minneapolis, Minn. Life Member, Fellow
Robert E. Roberts Jr. ‘56 AS Louisville, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Paul O’Daniel ‘57 EN Columbus, Ohio
Elbert C. Ray ‘57 EN Nicholasville, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Charles C. Cornette ‘58 BE Lexington, Ky.
Vernon Hatton ‘58 ED Lexington, Ky.
Diana G. Trapp ‘58 ED Jacksonville, Fla.
Dr. John P. Briscoe ‘59 EN Louisville, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Dr. John A. Halpin ‘59 BE, ‘69 MED Loveland, Ohio
Dr. Charles G. Noss ‘59 MED Stanton, Ky. Life Member
Elizabeth Eblen Sarfati ‘59 AS Chapel Hill, N.C.
Whayne C. Priest Jr. ‘60 AS, ‘62 LAW Bowling Green, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Suzette Brown-Owen ‘61 PHA Cynthiana, Ky.
William J. Scheben Jr. ‘61 BE Florence, Ky. Life Member
Dr. John E. Cleek ‘63 AS, ‘67 ED Louisburg, Kan.
Carlene E. Harwick ‘63 SW Madison Heights, Mich.
Dr. John E. Miracle ‘64 AS Ft Mitchell, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Darrell K. Parrish ‘65 EN Mount Washington, Ky.
Bonnie Y. Stice ‘65 BE La Grange, Ky. Life Member
Angela L. Townsend ‘65 AS Bowling Green, Ky.
Mary G. Wathen ‘65 AS Lexington, Ky.
Lois T. Prewitt ‘66 NUR, ‘80 LAW Irvine, Ky. Fellow
Lawrence Westbrook ’66 ED McKee, Ky.
Ali T. Yazdi ‘66 EN Oak Ridge, Tenn. Life Member
Paul F. Guthrie ‘67 LAW Lexington, Ky.
William H. Lewis ‘67 BE Pinehurst, N.C.
Danny F. Mattingly ‘67 ED, ‘76 PHA Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Joe H. Nickell ‘67 ‘88 AS Amherst, N.Y.
George C. Piper ‘67 LAW Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Marcia K. Stanhope ‘67 NUR Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Wayne Wells ‘67 EN Lexington, Ky.
Eli H. Brown IV ‘68 LAW Prospect, Ky.
Dr. Robert B. Denhardt ‘69 ‘69 AS Chandler, Ariz.
Dr. Preston P. Nunnelley ‘70 ‘74 MED Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Dr. Jerry L. Stovall ‘70 ‘75 DE Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Thomas E. Meng ‘71 BE, ‘74 LAW Lexington, Ky.
Dorothy L. McNeil ‘71 NUR Louisville, Ky. Life Member
Cathy Goldstein Tasman ‘71 FA Louisville, Ky.
Lois I. Behne ‘72 AFE Roswell, Ga.
Linda E. Prejean ‘72 ED De Kalb, Mo.
Marvin L. Coan ‘73 LAW Louisville, Ky.
Dr. John H. Jones ‘74 AS Seabrook, Texas
Mary G. Wyatt ‘75 NUR Simpsonville, Ky.
Donald J. Ruberg ‘76 LAW Edgewood, Ky.
Markalan T. Smith ‘76 AS, ‘80 BE Appleton, Wis.
Lynne M. Gates ‘77 AS, ‘78 MED Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Dr. Milton E. Gellin ‘77 DE Lexington, Ky.
Linda Joyce Gayheart ‘78 SW Emmalena, Ky.
John H. Scott III ’78 MED Pikeville, Ky. Life Member
Dr. Michael J. Grogan ‘79 MED Lakeside Park, Ky.
William K. Blue Jr. ‘81 BE Lexington, Ky.
Dale Patterson ’81 BE Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Thomas P. Zwierlein ‘84 FA Austell, Ga.
Colonel Kenneth J. Hurst ‘85 CI Indianapolis, Ind. Life Member
Mary Jo Moloney ‘89 LAW Lexington, Ky. Fellow
Dean Wells ‘92 BE Prospect, Ky.
Stacy E. Davidson ‘94 BE Richmond, Ind.
EUGENE LEWIS D u BOW ’53 AS
Eugene Lewis DuBow ’53 AS, a member of the 2000 University of Kentucky Alumni Association Hall of Distinguished Alumni, passed away at the age of 92 in March.
A lifelong advocate for Jewish rights and interfaith relations, DuBow was born in New York City, grew up in the Bronx and after graduating from UK remained a devoted alumnus and passionate Wildcats basketball fan throughout his life.
In addition to his UK degree, he earned master’s degrees in human relations and community studies from New York University and in Jewish communal service from Hebrew Union College.
His distinguished career with the American Jewish
Reed Dievert ’94 AFE Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Jonathan S. Paul ’08 BE Chicago, Ill. Life Member
Seth Edward Fawns ‘13 ’13 AS, ‘16 LAW Lexington, Ky.
Dr. Victor J. Pilewski ‘14 MED Meadville, Pa.
Committee spanned decades, during which he played a pivotal role in aiding Soviet Jewry and leading efforts in German-Jewish reconciliation. Notably, during the “Skokie Affair” in 1978, when a group of American Nazis decided to hold a march in the small suburban village of Skokie, Ill., where many Holocaust survivors resided, DuBow was loaned to the Jewish United Fund of Chicago by AJC to coordinate the response of the Jewish community. The massive, planned Jewish counterdemonstration caused the Nazis to back away from their original plans and the march was never held.
In 1998, he became the first managing director of AJC’s Berlin office, solidifying Jewish representation in post-war Germany. He has held positions as adjunct professor at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and the Spertus Institute in Chicago. He also served as guest professor at the Bayreuth University in Bavaria.
In his later years, he was an integral member of the Kendal on Hudson retirement community, serving on multiple resident boards and leading a current events discussion group.
Hall of Distinguished Alumni
Friday, Sept. 12, 2025 | 6 p.m.
Gatton Student Center | Grand Ballroom 160 Avenue of Champions | Lexington, KY
2025 Inductees
Dr. Terry L. Birdwhistell*
’74 AS, ’78 CI, ’94 ED
Willis K. Bright Jr. ’66 SW
Clyde R. Carpenter* ’59 DES
Dr. Xiangming “Jack” Cheng ’00 EN, ’03 BE
Rebecca M. Cowen-Hirsch ’88 EN
Ambassador Kelly Craft ’85 AS
Brian L. Cury ’81 FA
James “Jimmy” P. Dunne ’77 AS
Michael T. Eaves ’94 CI
Ambassador Christine A. Elder ’89 AS
*Inducted Posthumously
Robert Hall Jr. ’53 AFE
Samuel “Sam” N. Hazen ’82 BE
Dr. Rebecca B. Liebert ’90 EN
Michael L. Marberry ’81, ’83 EN
Earl F. Martin III ’84 CI, ’87 LAW
Ouita K. Michel ’87 AS
Dr. Caroline R. Pogge ’99 PH
David B. Ratterman ’68 EN
J. David Rosenberg ’73 LAW
Dr. Pamela S. Whitten ’86 CI
The Bookshelf
Joshua Moore ’13 CI has written “Morphenomenal: How the Power Rangers Conquered the World.” When “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” premiered in 1993, it was unlike anything else on TV and predicted to flop by most. But children loved it, and more than 30 years later the Power Rangers are global icons and a billion-dollar business. Moore, a journalist and lifelong fan of “Power Rangers” from Lovely, Kentucky, delivers this narrative history of the show and brand touching on milestone moments and offering fresh looks at its thriving toy line and an adult fandom that can’t get enough of those “teenagers with attitude.”
John Winn
Miller ’77 AS is the author of “Rescue Run: Capt. Jake Rogers’ Daring Return to Occupied Europe,” a sequel to his book, “The Hunt for the Peggy C.” Critics and best-selling authors have praised the book for its meticulous historical detail, nail-biting suspense and rich character development. In this new adventure, Capt. Jake Rogers leads his crew on a mission to rescue his beloved’s father from the Nazis, but a betrayal forces them to flee across occupied Europe with the SS, French gangsters and a ruthless bounty hunter in hot pursuit.
Bob Willcutt ’71 AS, ’73 SW and Jeremy Popkin, emeritus professor of history at UK, just released “Gratz Park, the Heart of Historic Lexington” about Lexington’s oldest park. The book tells the story of the city’s oldest historical district, which is also a story of Lexington’s history. Through Willcutt’s photographs of the park today, reproductions of historical documents, and a narrative based on original historical research, the book makes a valuable contribution to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Lexington’s founding.
Bill Burton ’64 PHA is the author of “Turn A Blind Eye,” a fictionalized story of the era when Henderson, Kentucky, was known as “Little Chicago.” The book spins the tale of lawlessness, racketeering and murder and one WWII veteran’s struggle to take back the vice-ridden community. A reviewer writes: “His word pictures and riveting subplots, woven into the central narrative, deftly engage the reader throughout the book. I recommend it.”
Jan A. Brandenburg ’85 PHA has updated the meals of her Eastern Kentucky childhood in “The Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia.” Embracing her grandmother’s fearless approach to cooking while staying true to her own beliefs, Appalachian vegan Brandenburg has worked to create a cookbook that captures the flavor and comfort that came with every bite of her favorites from back home.
Denis Fleming ’80 AS, ’83 LAW has written “Thomas Jefferson and the Kentucky Constitution.” Jefferson had a strong but little-known connection with the constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He had influence on the 1792 charter and secretly wrote some controversial state resolutions. Fleming draws on firsthand accounts from Jefferson, John Breckinridge and the rarely used papers of George Nicholas, the brain behind Kentucky’s first constitution, to uncover a huge influence from these men.
Mark T. Wright ’80 DES has written “The Tail of a Salamander: One Man’s Journey to Save A Stream.” The book is a heartwarming, true story of architect and urban planner Wright’s quest to restore and preserve a North Carolina stream. Along the way, he experiences unexpected personal transformation and revelations about the things that are most important in life.
UK and the UK Alumni Association do not necessarily endorse books or other original material mentioned in The Bookshelf. The University of Kentucky and the UK Alumni Association are not responsible for the content, views and opinions expressed on websites mentioned in The Bookshelf or found via links off of those websites.
Quick Take
MAKING HISTORY: THIS PROUD WILDCAT BECOMES A BUFFALO BILL
Kentucky defensive standout Maxwell Hairston ’25 AFE was chosen in the first round by the Buffalo Bills as the 30th overall pick in the 2025 National Football League draft. Hairston, who proudly wore his UK Alumni lapel pin, was the first defensive back to be chosen in the opening round of the NFL Draft in school history and the 19th player chosen in the first round.
by Maxwell Hairston
Photo
INTRODUCING
THE LIMESTONE SOCIETY
HONORING THE LEGACY OF THOSE WHO SHAPE UK’S FUTURE
Just as limestone forms the bedrock of our Commonwealth, planned gifts are the foundation of UK’s future.
The Limestone Society celebrates alumni and friends who have made a planned gift to the University of Kentucky. This generosity supports UK’s commitment to advancing Kentucky through excellence in education, research, healthcare and service.
If you have already included UK in your estate plans, thank you. You are part of the Limestone Society and your legacy is deeply appreciated.
If you are considering a future gift, we invite you to learn more. The Limestone Society offers opportunities to connect with fellow members, inspire others to follow in their footsteps and leave a meaningful impact.
