Winter 2023 Kentucky Alumni Magazine by UK Alumni Association

Un iversit y of Kent uck y A lu m n i A s sociat ion

Alumni Alumni C mоs is dedic@ed to our umni family, reflecting the d p and resounding a reci@iо th@ the Univers y of Kentucky h ds f s gradu@es.

ALUMNI COMMONS: ALUMNI COMMONS: THE HEART HEART OF THE OFCAMPUS CAMPUS

Winter 2023

Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

Contents

ON THE COVER

Kaylynn Cromer created a design featuring all the aspects of Alumni Commons that make it such an inviting place on campus for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends to gather.

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UK REACHES $2.1 BILLION CAMPAIGN GOAL By Sarah Geegan, Jenny Wells-Hosley and Amy Jones-Timoney The largest fundraising campaign in the history of the Commonwealth, Kentucky Can, has concluded, but this achievement is just the beginning of UK’s next chapter.

THE FUTURE OF UK WOMEN By Stacey Gish As part of our celebration of the 135th anniversary since UK’s first female graduate, we look at what the future holds for women at UK.

HOORAY FOR HOMECOMING! It was great to see all the Wildcats who returned home for Homecoming 2023. We are thrilled you were here. Look to see if you spot anyone you know in our Homecoming 2023 photospread.

MARKEY CANCER CENTER IS NO. 1 IN KENTUCKY By Elizabeth Chapin The Markey Cancer Center at UK was named Kentucky’s first and only NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Learn how that change will impact the lives of Kentuckians and UK students.

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ALUMNI COMMONS By Sally Scherer It’s official – the Alumni Commons dedication ceremony celebrated the new social gathering location in the heart of the UK campus. And what a joy-filled event it was.

SCHOLARSHIP DINNER By Sally Scherer Nearly 200 students received scholarships from the UK Alumni Association, local Alumni Association clubs and individual alumni scholarships funds at the recent scholarship celebration.

STEPHEN BRIGHT By Jaci Carfagno As an attorney fighting for the rights of the poor, Stephen Bright has seen many examples of how the criminal justice system has failed. His new book shares his insight and offers remedies.

Plus... 5 6 8 11 36

From the President Pride in Blue News Research Club News

40 44 52 55 56

Sports Class Notes In Memoriam Creative Juices Quick Take

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TOGETHER WE ARE WILDCAT STRONG

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PER10191 3/2022

BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL

CREDITS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jill Holloway Smith ‘05 BE, ‘11 AFE: Associate Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Executive Director of the UK Alumni Association

EDITORS Meredith Weber: Senior Associate Director for Communications and Membership Sally Scherer: Managing Editor

DESIGNER Whitney Stamper: Graphic Designer

ASSOCIATION STAFF Lindsey Caudill Christy Coffman ‘18 PH Dana Cox ‘87 CI Nancy Culp Caroline Francis ‘88 BE, ‘93 ‘02 ED Jack Gallt ‘84 CI Amy Gamblin ‘00 AS, 03 GS Stacey Gish Emily Groves Leslie Hayes Kelly Hinkel ‘11 AS, ‘18 AFE Marci Hicks ‘87 AFE Lisa Hiscox ‘05 AS Albert Kalim ’03 ‘16 EN, ‘20 BE Ravyn Ladenburger ’17 AS Erica Langdorf Andrew Palmer ‘12 ‘12 ‘18 AS

Kirtland Roach Marivel Rosenquist Kathryn Schaffer ‘12 AFE Samantha Seitz: ‘22 AFE Chris Shotwell Dawn Smallwood ’83 BE Logan Smart ’23 BE Shelby Stivers ‘18 CI Dave Timoney ‘06 FA, ‘20 GS Emma White Don Witt ‘82 ‘84 CI Christina Yue ‘11 CI Jing Zhang ‘23 ED

In-State Representatives Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 CI Emmett P. “Buzz” Burnam ’74 ED John S. Cain ’86 BE Emily C. Henderson ’01 PHA Mark Hogge ’97 EN Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS, ’98 ED Michael H. Huang ’89 AS, ’93 MED Shelia M. Key ’91 PHA Scott Mason, ‘94 AS, ‘03 LAW Michelle McDonald ‘84 AFE, ‘92 ED Kent T. Mills ’83 BE Tonya B. Parsons ’91 AS Quintissa S. Peake ’04 CI John D. Ryan ’92 ’95 BE J. Tim Skinner ‘80 DES Robin Simpson Smith ‘79 BE, ‘82 LAW Jonell Tobin ’68 ’95 ED Blake Broadbent Willoughby ‘11 ‘12 ‘12 BE Allen O. Wilson ’03 AFE, ’06 LAW Dominique Renee Wright ‘08 EN Out-of-State Representatives Erin Burkett ’01 EN Shane T. Carlin ’95 AFE Shiela D. Corley ‘94 AS, ‘95 AFE Amanda Mills Cutright ’06 CI Ruth Cecelia Day ’85 BE Robert M. “Mike” Gray ’80 ’81 BE Anthony G. Hester ‘86 EN John T. “Jay” Hornback ’04 EN Erin Carr Logan ’06 BE Sylvester D. Miller II ’08 AFE Chad D. Polk ‘94 DES Ronald Sampson ‘83 EN Quentin R. Tyler ’02 ’05 AFE, ’11 AS Stephanie D. Wurth ‘05 CI Alumni Trustees Brenda Baker Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED Rachel Watts Webb ’05 CI

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

Officers Janie McKenzie-Wells ’83 AS, ’86 LAW: President Robert “Rob” L. Crady III ’94 BE: Presidentelect Thomas K. Mathews ‘93 AS: Treasurer Jill Holloway Smith ’05 BE, ’11 AFE: Secretary

ukalumni @kentuckyalumni @kentucky_alumni ukalumni.net/linkedin

Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is published quarterly by the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington, Kentucky, for its members. © 2023 University of Kentucky Alumni Association, except where noted. Views and opinions expressed in Kentucky Alumni do not necessarily represent the opinions of its editors, the UK Alumni Association nor the University of Kentucky. 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.

Living Past Presidents George L. Atkins Jr. ’63 BE 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 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

VOL. 94 NO.4 WINTER 2023 Hank B. Thompson Jr. ’71 CI Elaine A. Wilson ‘68 ‘23 SW Richard M. Womack ’53 AFE Leadership Advisory Council In-State Representatives Kevin L. Collins ’84 EN Donna G. Dutton ‘87 BE Christopher J. Crumrine ‘08 CI, ‘10 GS, ‘23 AS Abra A. Endsley ’98, ’01 CI Cassidy Hyde ‘16 AS Lee A. Jackson ’73 AS Sherry R. Moak ‘81 BE Dr. Barbara Sanders ’72 HS, ’77 ED Michaela Taylor ‘19 HS ‘23 LAW ‘23 PH Out-of-State Representatives Kyle Aaron Bosh ‘08 GS James F. Hardymon Jr. ‘87 BE Vincent M. Holloway ‘83 EN Mark A. Ison ’99 FA Dr. Frank Kendrick ’90 ’92 DE Roshan Palli ’15 AS Jane C. Pickering ’74 ED Carolyn C. Riticher ‘81 BE Nicole M. Segneri ’91 CI Becky L. Spadaccini ’80 AFE Winn F. Williams ‘71 AS College Representatives Will Nash ‘06 AS: College of Arts & Sciences Lynnette Canedy ‘88 CI: College of Communication and Information 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 Michaela Mineer ‘18 AFE ‘18 CI ‘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 Joe Mashni ‘92 ‘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 Willis K. Bright Jr. ’66 SW: College of Social Work Constituency Group Representatives James R. Aaron ’04 CI: PrideCats Brian Hunt ‘80 ‘05 FA: Alumni Band Keith L. Jackson ’87 CI: Lyman T. Johnson African American Alumni Constituency Group Steve Stevens ‘83 BE: Alumni Band Appointed 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 Jason Marcus: Student Government Association

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YOURS FOR

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MEMBER APPRECIATION WEEK IS

ALL ABOUT YOU! At the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, family is everything. We are so thankful you are part of the family. So thankful, in fact, we are gearing up to show some Wildcat love as we celebrate loyal Members, like you, during UK Alumni Association Member Appreciation Week, Feb. 19 – 23, 2024. It will be a week packed full of deals, games and prizes you won’t want to miss. Mark your calendar now and prepare to be appreciated!

From the President space has already transformed the heart of our campus, and we are grateful for your commitment to its progress and completion. And finally, as another testament to your collective care for and belief in this institution, I was thrilled to announce that we have completed the $2.1 billion Kentucky Can: The 21st Century Campaign, the largest fundraising campaign in the history of the Commonwealth. With these funds, we are creating thousands of scholarships to expand access to education and to dramatically accelerate UK’s efforts to solve the state’s most challenging health and economic issues. It is with deep gratitude that I thank you for your continued support of the work we do at this powerful place. As we prepare for the spring semester, I am eager to see the continued impact our students will make in expanding our commitment to the Commonwealth and ensuring paths of success for future generations. You play such an important role in the success of our students and our university. Thank you for all the ways you help us advance Kentucky. Sincerely,

Eli Capilouto President

Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

ach year, as we approach the end of a semester, I reflect on how much this university has advanced our campus, community and Commonwealth. This fall was another remarkable semester filled with memorable moments and impressive accomplishments, driven by our commitment as the University of, for and with Kentucky. In early September, the Markey Cancer Center received the National Cancer Institute’s highest designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. In doing so, we became the first and only health provider in Kentucky to receive this accreditation. This is what we promised to do — to ensure that no Kentuckian must leave the state to receive the best care for the most serious of illnesses. This accomplishment reminds us of our promise to do more and be more for Kentucky, as our alumni — from across Kentucky and around the world — strive to do each day. Many of you attended our annual Homecoming events — pinning Golden Wildcats from the class of 1973, participating in the Lyman T. Johnson Awards Luncheon and rounding out the weekend with festivities at Kroger Field. Homecoming is more than a time to reunite with old friends; it’s an opportunity to enrich tradition and demonstrate the profound impact of our alumni. If you returned for Homecoming, you may have noticed several changes on campus. In September, because of your support and with the generous $3 million donation from the Alumni Association, we opened Alumni Commons. This

Princess Magor Agbozo, of Ghana, West Africa, a senior in the Lewis Honors College, was crowned Homecoming queen on Oct. 14. UK President Eli Capilouto congratulated Agbozo. She is pursuing her degree from the UK College of Public Health.

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Pride in Blue

The UK Dance Team joined us at the UK Alumni Association homecoming tailgate before the football game. The cheerleaders, pep band and Wildcat made an appearance in the fun, too. 6 K EN TUCKY A LU MNI MAGAZ I NE Winter 2023

Recipients of the Lyman T. Johnson Awards were recognized at an awards luncheon, while the Golden Wildcats enjoyed the beauty and splendor of horse racing at Keeneland. We celebrated Homecoming at Alumni Commons with a block party and this family-friendly event was an enormous success. It was one of the many ways Alumni Commons is already proving to be a valuable addition to our beautiful and renovated campus. But this Homecoming meant a little more. It was a time to renew lifelong bonds, make new friends, celebrate existing traditions and begin new ones. And, speaking of new traditions — the gates at each end of Alumni Commons will remain closed throughout the year except for three special occasions: the first will be at the Wildcat Welcome Festival to welcome new students to UK at the beginning of each academic year. The other two occasions will be during Senior Week before winter and spring commencement. We encourage students to walk through the gates as new students and out as graduates beginning the next chapter of their journey as Wildcats for life. I’m so proud to be a UK grad and I know you are, too. Always remember you are a part of the Big Blue Nation and that means something. And for my Eastern Kentucky friends — #606 it’s more than just a number! Go Cats! Sincerely,

Janie McKenzie-Wells ‘83 AS, ‘86 LAW UK Alumni Association President

Photo provided by Janie McKenzie-Wells

can’t remember a busier and more celebration-filled fall at UK. The UK Alumni Association has had the opportunity to show our appreciation for, and commitment to, our beloved alma mater by planning and hosting numerous festivals, activities, reunions and events over the last couple of months. The celebration began in September with the dedication of Alumni Commons. The UK Alumni Association provided a $3 million gift for the construction and completion of this amazing outdoor space. As a student, I would have never imagined Rose Street being transformed into a 5-acre destination where students and alumni could gather and collaborate. It is truly the “heart of campus” and captures the essence of the University of Kentucky. I have often thought that while our time as students lasts just a few short years, we remain Wildcats for life. Alumni Commons is a place where Wildcats of all generations and backgrounds can unite, reflecting on the past, present and future of our beloved university. It is a place to reminisce about our college days and make new memories with the next generation of Wildcats. If you haven’t had a chance, visit Alumni Commons next time you’re on campus and be sure to try out the swings — they are my personal favorite! Also, we celebrated our student scholarship recipients at the annual Scholarship Dinner this fall. More than 300 students, along with their family and friends, attended and we proudly awarded more than 185 scholarships, totaling over $250,000 from our clubs, the UK Alumni Association and individual alumni scholarship funds. This is what it’s all about — supporting our students on their path to success. We celebrated UK’s 108th Homecoming with more than 70 activities on campus this year. Many colleges, student clubs and organizations joined us for the week-long celebration. It was exciting to see the Wildcat Marching Band as well as the UK Cheerleaders and Dance Team during the Homecoming pre-game festivities under the alumni tent. Other Homecoming activities included trivia tournaments, campus tours, the Golden Wildcat Society induction ceremony, festivities at Lexington’s Thursday Night Live downtown, along with college and class reunions and numerous open houses around campus.

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News

Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

Photo by Paul Hughes

GLOBAL IMPACT AWARD GOES TO HONORS ALUMNA

RECORD GRADUATE RATES, ENROLLMENT FUELING UK’S MISSION UK has reached a historic milestone of a 70% six-year graduation rate — a figure placing the institution among the best in the country. The graduation rate details were part of a report on enrollment that President Eli Capilouto shared with members of the UK Board of Trustees at their September meeting. The report featured several other historic firsts, including a record first-year class of almost 6,500 students and overall, more than 34,000 students enrolled on the campus for the first time ever, according to preliminary figures. “Over the last decade, because of the work of thousands of faculty and staff and the commitment and capacity of our students, we have rapidly accelerated the rate of students — even as we continued to grow enrollment. Kentucky is rightly demanding of us a larger and even more skilled workforce to meet the needs of a complex and competitive economy,” Capilouto told board members. Other highlights of the report included: • Six-year graduation rates have increased by more than 12 percentage points since the class of 2010; four-year graduation rates have increased by 27 percentage points in that same time and five-year rates have increased by 17 percentage points. • The 70% graduation rate, according to the most recent data, places UK among the top 100 public institutions in the country that grant primarily bachelor’s degrees or higher. ■

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Ambassador Christine Elder ’89 AS accepted the 2023 Alumni Global Impact Award for recognition of her outstanding career. She was one of six awardees who was recognized by the UK International Center. Elder graduated from the University of Kentucky Honors program with a bachelor’s degree in Germanic language and literature. She also has a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University. She has spent 30 years in public service. From 2016 to 2020, Elder served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia, where she was conferred the star of Africa, the highest honor bestowed upon a foreign citizen by the Republic of Liberia. Elder currently serves as consul general at the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney, Australia. In recommending Elder for the Alumni Global Impact Award, Christian Brady, dean of the Lewis Honors College, for which Elder serves as an advisory board member, noted her ability to discern “how and when to use bureaucratic levers to balance risks and initiative, convert proposals into policy, promises into financial commitments, and secure positions for growing embassies.” ■

Rendering provided

GROUNDBREAKING TAKES PLACE FOR LARGEST ACADEMIC BUILDING IN UK HISTORY

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held for the Health Education Building, the largest academic building in the history of UK. At over 500,000 square feet, the building will house programs in the colleges of Medicine, Public Health, Health Sciences and Nursing as well as the Center for Interprofessional and Community Health Education. The facility will sit at the intersection of Huguelet and University drives when it opens in 2026. “As a testament to our collaborative spirit, this one facility

will contain programs from four colleges and the Center for Interprofessional and Community Health Education. We will educate students for a new health care future, collaborate through transdisciplinary work and attract and retain the best and brightest to advance Kentucky,” said UK President Eli Capilouto of the $380 million project. “Our goal — our promise — is that when our students complete these programs and join the workforce, they are well-equipped to face today’s complex challenges and help all Kentuckians live longer and healthier lives.”   This innovative, state-of-the-art Health Education Building will feature technological advancements, modern aesthetics and a spacious environment conducive to learning and serve as a hub for health education. It will provide an exceptional learning setting preparing the next generation of health care leaders, health and rehabilitation practitioners, nurses, physicians, public health professionals, scientists and more. “Education is the foundation for how we prepare tomorrow’s leaders, and that is what will propel Kentucky into the future,” said Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman. “This investment will eliminate barriers to success, increase opportunities for students and help us achieve our goal of a quality education for every Kentuckian.” ■

The National Association of County Agricultural Agents named KY Ag Matters the 2023 winner in their audio recordings category. Covering all aspects of agriculture, the KY Ag Matters podcast reaches agricultural producers and consumers with timely information and tips. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension agents for agriculture and natural resources in Webster, Hopkins and McLean counties host the podcast including Vikki Shadrick, Webster County; David Fourqurean, McLean County and Jay Stone, Hopkins County. Stone said the team is still prioritizing and learning the best ways to communicate with clientele. “Being able to provide information in a format where it can be accessed anywhere at any time has allowed us to reach a broader audience than just our traditional extension clientele,” he said.

Photo submitted

AG PODCAST WINS NATIONAL AWARD

With more than 75 episodes, KY Ag Matters recent topics include cover crops and tillage practices, efficient beef production, fall soil fertility, forages and equipment management. Podcast guests range from UK Cooperative Extension specialists to commodity group leaders, extension agents and law enforcement officers. To listen or subscribe to KY Ag Matters, visit jstonet.podbean.com. ■ w w w. u ka l umni . net

ALUMNUS NAMED CHIEF CURATOR AT ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM

Photo by Abby Warhola

Alumnus Aaron Levi Garvey ’00 AS, ’03 BE has been named the chief curator at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Garvey has created an expansive career after completing his master’s degree in arts administration and museum studies at UK. He specializes in modern and contemporary art which has led him to curate exhibits and lecture at universities across the country. His most notable exhibits include “We Are What You Eat” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, “Ephemera Obscura” at the Contemporary Art Center of New Orleans, and “Ark of Life/Ark of Bones” at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University.

Garvey’s mission as a contemporary curator and historian is to create exhibits that focus on supporting underrepresented artists as part of marginalized communities to engage the public that art is something accessible to everyone, regardless of sex, gender, race or sexuality. “Warhol’s forecasting of trends, full immersion into the moment, constant curiosity and always working with what was current, new or experimental, really broadened the landscape for artists to further experiment in their own studio practices. Warhol touched on so many themes, styles and processes of working and continues to morph through media and technology,” Garvey said. ■

NEW CENTER TO RESEARCH TOBACCO REGULATIONS A new research center focused on tobacco regulations in Kentucky, the Appalachian Tobacco Regulatory Science Team, will call UK home. AppalTRuST is funded over five years with a $19 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse under the National Institutes of Health, the Office of the Director of the NIH and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products. The goal of AppalTRuST is to investigate the impact of federal regulatory policies in rural communities through collaboration, education and pioneering regulatory scientific research. “When I look at the landscape of Kentucky, I’m confronted with the evidence that this is a state with its own struggles and health disparities associated with tobacco use, particularly in Appalachian Kentucky,” said Dr. Seth Himelhoch, chair of the department of psychiatry in the UK College of Medicine and principal investigator of the award.

“While America has overall reduced its use of combustible tobacco, Appalachian Kentucky, in particular, has not moved along at the same pace,” he added. Historically, Kentucky has had high

10 K ENTU CKY A LUM NI MAGAZ I NE Winter 2023

rates of tobacco use and continues to hold one of the highest smoking rates among adults — 19.6% in 2021 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ■

Research The Herculaneum scrolls are among the most iconic and inaccessible of the world’s vast collection of damaged manuscripts. Since being burned and carbonized by the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE, they’ve been deemed “unreadable.” Brent Seales, a computer science professor at the University of Kentucky, (in partnership with EduceLab: A Digital Restoration Initiative, the Library of the Institut de France and founders of the Vesuvius Challenge) announced this fall that an entire word has been read from part of the still-closed Herculaneum scrolls. “These texts were written by human hands at a time when world religions were emergent, the Roman Empire still ruled and many parts of the world were unexplored,” Seales said. “Much of the writing from this period is lost. But today,

Photo provided by EduceLab

“UNREADABLE” ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS NOW READABLE

the Herculaneum scrolls are unlost.” The Greek characters, πορφύραc, revealed as meaning “purple dye” or “clothes of purple,” are among the multiple characters and lines of text that have been extracted. The two unopened scrolls, belonging to the Institut de France in Paris, are among hundreds unearthed in the 1750s when excavations at the buried villa revealed an extravagant library of

Epicurean philosophical text. They are believed to have belonged to a Roman statesman — possibly Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. Even after being in the ground for 1,700 years, the carbonized papyri did not decay. Rather, they were entombed in the solid volcanic flow of mud, dirt, water and gasses, then desiccated by the heat, carbonized and preserved. ■

Photo by Jeremy Blackburn, UK Research Communications

RESEARCHERS: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DRUG CAN BE USED AS ALZHEIMER’S THERAPY A team of researchers at the University of Kentucky has found that a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis is potentially effective as a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a progressive and irreversible neurological disorder. It’s estimated 6.2 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with the disease that affects cognitive function, memory and behavior. “We stand at the threshold of a critical endeavor to develop new treatment strategies against Alzheimer’s disease,” said Erhard Bieberich, a professor in the department of physiology in the UK College of Medicine. “We’ve uncovered that a medication already on the market, ponesimod (brand name ‘Ponvory’), can reduce one of the hallmarks of this disease: neuroinflammation.” Bieberich is the principal investigator on a series of grants from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that funded the study. The findings were published in the journal eBioMedicine, part of The Lancet Discovery Science this summer. ■ W W W.RE SE ARCH.UK Y.EDU

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WE NEED YOUR

VOTE

The election of a new alumni representative to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees will be held in December. As a graduate of the university, your vote is important. Your opinion is valued. Your ballot will be distributed by email on November 30. If you need additional information, please call 800-269-2586. This is an opportunity to participate in the university’s governance through the election of a graduate to serve as an Alumni Trustee on the university’s Board of Trustees. Of the 21 seats on the UK Board of Trustees, three are elected by UK graduates. They are currently Rachel Watts Webb of Nicholasville (through June 30, 2024), Paula L. Pope of Lexington (through June 30, 2026) and Brenda B. Gosney of Butler (through June 30, 2028). The names of three graduates receiving the highest number of votes will be submitted to the governor of Kentucky, who will appoint one of the three to fill the six-year term to begin July 1, 2024.

UK reaches transformative campaign goal By Sarah Geegan, Jenny Wells-Hosley and Amy Jones-Timoney

n October 27, the University of Kentucky, along with donors and community partners, celebrated the achievement of the $2.1 billion goal for Kentucky Can: The 21st Century Campaign — the largest fundraising campaign in the Commonwealth’s history. The comprehensive campaign focused on raising support to fuel all parts of the institution’s mission: education, research, service and care. Since the launch of Kentucky Can in 2018, the university has created opportunities for students through scholarships, conducted world-class research to address the state’s most challenging issues and helped build healthier communities across the Commonwealth. “When we embarked on this campaign, we recognized with both humility and fortitude that these efforts would help write the next chapter for this university and the communities it uplifts,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “That is our north star — to advance Kentucky. This campaign fuels those efforts; it always has been about empowering the incredible talent and impassioned hearts on our campus, so determined and equipped to build a better future for the Commonwealth.” Although the campaign reached its conclusion, the work is just beginning. “This campaign demonstrated the grace, grit and vision that define this community,” said Jake Lemon, UK’s vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement. “That same unwavering commitment to advancing Kentucky will fuel our next chapter, as

14 K ENTU CKY A LUM NI MAGAZ I NE Winter 2023

we have more lives to touch and more communities to serve. This is just the beginning.” It is a beginning that has garnered widespread participation and engagement. More than 162,500 unique donors contributed to Kentucky Can. This number includes nearly 71,000 UK alumni (including nearly 22,000 new alumni) and represents supporters from all 120 Kentucky counties, all 50 states and 50 countries from around the globe. More than half of these supporters made their first gift to UK during the last five years of the public campaign. Support from these donors can be seen across campus, impacting every student, faculty and staff member, as well as the Kentucky communities the university serves. The impact is especially evident in the following three areas:

One of the campaign’s most significant impacts has been increasing student access to higher education and cultivating Kentucky’s best and brightest minds. More than 53,500 donors contributed to student support as part of Kentucky Can, giving more than $495 million to support students with financial needs. By providing scholarships to students who need them most, the university has been able to recruit, retain and graduate more students. This includes first-generation college students — the first in their families to attend and graduate college — who account for 25 percent of all UK students. More than $26.9 million in donor funds were awarded to first-generation students during the entirety of the campaign. The university also launched UK LEADS — a nationallyrecognized program — to reduce unmet financial need by using data-informed analytics to better understand the impact of financial need on student success. In all, more than $24.5 million has been raised by donors to support the LEADS program, with more than 1,500 donor-supported LEADS scholarships awarded to students. With the support of these scholarships and programs made possible through Kentucky Can, UK, for the first time in its history, marked a six-year graduation rate of 70 percent this fall, placing the institution among the top 20 percent of universities in the country. “We often describe our success in numbers,” Capilouto said. “But it is important to remember that those numbers represent lives — lives that have been transformed by the attainment of a college degree. They are lives that build up the workforce Kentucky so desperately needs. They are our brothers and sisters who will use their education to serve communities across our Commonwealth.”

UK continues to attract and retain the finest faculty and establish state-of-the-art facilities and programs, enhancing the university’s academic standing and overall campus experiences. Kentucky Can raised more than $559 million to support faculty endowments and academic programs, which are critical to students’ experiences while earning their degrees. Additionally, the campaign was designed to inspire collaboration among academic colleges and disciplines. This transdisciplinary approach to education, research and service is central to both the campaign and the university’s mission of advancing Kentucky. This is evident through UK’s health care enterprise, where UK’s world-class faculty and researchers are helping treat more patients, ensuring clinical excellence and providing advanced, sub-specialty care to the Commonwealth. More than $4 billion has also been invested in infrastructure across the campus — including more than 8 million square feet of new and renovated construction. Philanthropic support has significantly helped UK in taking creative approaches to make these infrastructure improvements over the last several years, holding down costs and increasing access. These investments — made both in the physical transformation of campus and in endowments for named colleges, departments and professorships — further drive UK in attracting, retaining and graduating more students. And it’s just the beginning. With state and community support, UK is planning for the construction of even more facilities, including a $380 million Health Education Building, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027. These investments continue to set the foundation for UK’s students, faculty and staff to achieve greatly.

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Research at UK has incredible momentum. In fiscal year 2023, grant and contract awards totaled $479.3 million — a record high. By fostering innovation and advancing interdisciplinary research, UK faculty, staff, providers and even students are rendering world-class care and developing solutions to improve the lives of all Kentuckians. Kentucky Can has played a critical role in supporting UK’s research mission, from health care to industry and workforce development. By endowing chairs and professorships, philanthropic donors are helping UK attract and retain top researchers who are contributing to fields that matter most to Kentucky, represented in UK’s eight Research Priority Areas — cancer; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes and obesity; equity; energy; materials science; neuroscience; and substance use disorders. For example, philanthropy is vital to UK’s Markey Cancer Center, as donors were key players in the center’s 10-year effort to achieve Comprehensive Cancer Center status, the National Cancer Institute’s top designation. At the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, philanthropic gifts enabled the center to expand their capabilities with a multi-photon microscope, allowing researchers to see nuances of how the brain functions, offering new insights into devastating diseases like

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Alzheimer’s. Sanders-Brown was then able to leverage this gift to attract more than $35 million in grant money from the National Institutes of Health — a huge return on an investment. Support for UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research has given undergraduate researchers a distinctive opportunity to explore their own research ideas and receive entrepreneurial mentorship through the Lee T. Todd, Jr. Student Innovation Scholarship. The first student to receive this scholarship, Lucas Bertucci, not only had the chance to conduct groundbreaking research, but helped launch a new Kentucky company, Verdant Beneficiated Resources, which is working to recycle solar panels. Verdant is hoping to build a new industry here in Kentucky and employ a new generation of Kentuckians. And the new James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits is educating the next generation of distillers, providing hands-on training and research in a variety of fields, including marketing, horticulture, hospitality, law, science, engineering, creative writing and business. The institute’s cooperation across disciplines, with faculty and philanthropic support, allows it to be a one-stop shop for a Kentucky industry seeking both UK talent and sustainable solutions.

At the beginning of a new chapter, Lemon invites the UK community to envision, together, what the next chapter may entail. “There is a great deal of power in the question, ‘What’s next?’” Lemon said. “Imagine the impact of continuing our trajectory of scholarship support. After all, Kentucky is welcoming incredible economic opportunity and billions in investments. But to continue that pipeline of opportunity, our state must significantly increase its skilled and educated workforce. Imagine how many lives can be changed by equipping the next generation with financial literacy and a head start on investing in their own futures, through programs like ‘UK Invests.’ Imagine the difference we can make in the health outcomes of our citizens if we continue leading the way in training more new medical professionals and in providing advanced subspecialty care that offers healing and hope. Imagine the solutions we can develop by further investing in our researchers who are on the cutting-edge of discovery. Our friends and partners are committed to helping us build this future for Kentucky.” Lemon, who became vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement in May 2023, will lead the institution’s efforts in developing this next chapter, in alignment with the university’s strategic plan. “I invite everyone — with bold aspirations and steadfast belief in the power of this place — to join me in asking ourselves one question, ‘What’s next?” ■

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The

Future is Bright

By Stacey Gish

This year, the UK Alumni Association has been highlighting the lives and experiences of women who have made a significant impact upon the university and in their respective fields since Belle C. Gunn became the first female graduate 135 years ago. These stories have offered a glimpse at how women sought access to academic equality, pursued a culture of social acceptance and continued to achieve in the face of what was often a hostile, male-centered environment. While today’s UK woman may not know all the struggles of their predecessors, they realize they carry a responsibility to those who come behind them. These vignettes represent a small portion of women leaders who either currently serve the university or who have recently graduated. These women share their experiences and what they think the future holds for women at the University of Kentucky.

Madeline Duff

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“TO BE WHERE I AM TODAY, THERE WERE BRILLIANT WOMEN WHO PAVED THE WAY.”

Madeline Duff, a junior from Prestonsburg, Kentucky, is a student in the Lewis Honors College majoring in neuroscience and minoring in Appalachian studies. Duff is the president of the Appalachian Health Initiative and the ACTION Program, student organizations designed to offer Appalachian undergraduate students an opportunity to enrich their interest in pursuing careers in health. She participates in numerous other student organizations and served as a member of the 2023 Homecoming Court. Duff was inspired to be a leader when she realized she was the only student from her small high school in Eastern Kentucky to attend UK. She wants to make sure the fellow students in her hometown realize all that is “wildly possible” for them at UK and she works to prepare others who follow her. “One of the biggest responsibilities I feel as a leader is recognizing another’s struggles and efforts. To be where I am today, there were brilliant women who paved the way. Making sure to stay on that path and continue their great work is special to me so that the next generation of little girls who want to do big things can achieve just that, even if they are from a small town in Eastern Kentucky. Anything is possible.” Her optimism about how women will impact the university in the future is evident. “The future is bright for women at the University of Kentucky. There are more women than men attending the University of Kentucky, which means women, now more than ever, have more of an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of others. I can’t wait to not only be a part of this but also observe it for years to come.” Duff said she’s inspired by a quote attributed to NBA star Stephen Curry: “Love the journey and good things will happen.” “Being a leader can be difficult and challenging, but having the ability to make a difference is an immeasurable feeling. While my time as an undergraduate student has been filled with many obstacles, I can wholeheartedly say I have loved the journey and am excited to see where it takes me next.”

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Princess Magor Agbozo Princess Magor Agbozo is a senior from Ghana, West Africa, and a student in the Lewis Honors College pursuing a degree in public health. Agbozo plans to pursue a career in the global health field with the aim of enhancing health equity and eliminating health disparities to improve quality access to health care for all. She was named the 2023 Homecoming Queen for the University of Kentucky and she is a 2022 Lyman T. Johnson Torch Bearer recipient. She holds several leadership positions on campus including vice president of internal affairs for UK’s Student Activities Board, which has allowed her to improve the lives of her fellow students. “I love the work that SAB does in enriching students’ college experience and bringing the campus community together through events,” she said. “I wanted to play a role in that and use my leadership skills to help students feel at home here at UK through SAB events. Seeing students leave events, having had fun, learn something new or make a friend or two encourages me to continue to serve the community even more.” Her plans have been inspired by her travels and her faith. “I have had the privilege to live in different areas of the world, which has enabled me to witness the difference in healthcare globally. I have realized that the state of a nation’s healthcare affects the wellbeing of the nation, be it economically, politically or socially. I believe each and every individual should have access to quality healthcare regardless of where you reside.” For Agbozo, her struggles in leadership stem from being a woman of color. “At times, being a Black woman, I feel like I always have to work 20 times as hard to prove myself and my abilities. That used to hinder me in my leadership – but not anymore. I find power and strength in being a Black woman who is able to be confident in myself knowing I have what it takes to lead, have my voice heard and create a positive, uplifting environment around me. That is my Black girl magic.”

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“AT TIMES, BEING A BLACK WOMAN, I FEEL LIKE I ALWAYS HAVE TO WORK 20 TIMES AS HARD TO PROVE MYSELF AND MY ABILITIES.”

Dani Jaffe

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“I MOSTLY WANT TO CONVEY TO YOUNG WOMEN THAT THEY CAN FEEL AND ACT WITH CONFIDENCE, WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY.”

Dani Jaffe is a 2022 graduate of the College of Communication and Information and serves on the executive communications team in the UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications office. She credits some of her female professors for being a source of inspiration to her as she continued her graduate academic career. “Dr. Sarah Geegan in CI’s Department of Integrated Strategic Communication has absolutely changed my life. Without her kind guidance, encouragement and mentorship, I am not sure where I would be today. She has inspired me in ways of research, teaching and my career in public relations. I strive to be as great as her in everything I do.” Jaffe wants to continue Geegan’s legacy of mentoring. “Because of the profound impact that women have had on me in my life, I feel a very strong sense of responsibility to lead those who come after me. In many ways, we are continuing the legacy of the women who came before us. I mostly want to convey to young women that they can feel and act with confidence, without feeling guilty. This was something I struggled with for a long time, and it could be a barrier to a woman’s success.” Jaffe is eager to watch her generation and the following generations succeed at the university. “I am so excited to become increasingly involved on campus and to see what this next generation of women will achieve. Gen Z is incredibly special – they are trailblazers and are continually breaking the mold. These women will continue to learn, research and develop in ways that will advance our state and the world. Whether that is through engineering, medicine, agriculture or communications (like me!). I am looking forward to being continually impressed by them!”

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UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

HOMECOMING 2023 M O R E W I L D C AT F U N T H A N E V E R We welcomed alumni from far and near for the 108th Homecoming celebration at UK in early October. Hundreds of Wildcats joined in the fun of being back home in Lexington by reconnecting with friends, sharing memories, visiting campus — with all its new features — and attending the alumni tailgate and football game. From Wednesday evening’s block party at the new Alumni Commons to the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen at Saturday’s game, Homecoming 2023 was like no other. We honored the class of 1973 Golden Wildcats at the Golden Wildcat Induction Dinner and Pinning Ceremony. We celebrated Black students and alumni from each of UK’s colleges at the Lyman T. Johnson Awards Luncheon. Between those two milestone events, reunions were held, the UK Alumni Association’s Swag Cab made the rounds, Wildcats attended the races at Keeneland and danced the night away at Lexington’s Thursday Night Live. Throughout the entire celebration, we enjoyed traditions and reinforced the bonds between students, alumni and friends. WE CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

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Photos by Arden Barnes, Mark Cornelison, Shelly Fryman, Stacey Gish, Scott Hayes and Breven Walker.

SHE’S DETERMINED TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION New National Designation at Markey Cancer Center Elevates Student Researcher’s Mission By Elizabeth Chapin

Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

Susanna Goggans became interested in pursuing a career in oncology when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Now she’s a third-year medical student.

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he summer after Susanna Goggans’ freshman year at UK, her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer through UK Markey Cancer Center’s Ovarian Cancer Screening Program, a long-running research program that offers free annual screening to women across Kentucky. Because cancer was detected early, she was able to make a full recovery and is now cancer free. But as her mother went through treatment, Susanna became interested in pursuing a career in oncology. Coming from Johnson County in Eastern Kentucky, a region with some of the nation’s highest cancer rates, a cancer diagnosis was all too common for family, friends and neighbors she grew up with. Susanna was determined to be part of the solution. “Why did my mom, who does everything she can to stay healthy, end up getting cancer?” she said. “And why do so many people in Eastern Kentucky get cancer? These questions are what really threw me into my journey with oncology.” At UK, Susanna was introduced to Markey’s Appalachian Career Training in Oncology program, an education and research opportunity for UK undergraduates from Appalachia. Through ACTION, she was able to gain hands-on experience in clinical shadowing, cancer outreach and research. The program helped her develop a passion for cancer research and discover her potential as a physician and scientist. “Coming from a little town with a little high school, the concept of research seemed terrifying and unachievable for me, as I had never even known someone to work in a scientific lab,” Susanna said. “The ACTION program pushed me to get involved in the labs of researchers at UK, where I discovered the thrill of being at the edge of science and the sense of fulfillment of contributing to the knowledge that can one day potentially influence cancer care.” Today, Susanna is a third-year medical student in UK’s College of Medicine, where she continues to be involved in cancer research on her way to becoming oncologist.

UK EARNS NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE’S COMPREHENSIVE CANCER DESIGNATION When UK Markey Cancer Center Director B. Mark Evers, M.D., began his role in 2009, he set out a vision that Markey would attain National Cancer Institute designation. That goal

Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo

was achieved in just four years when Markey received its establishes Markey among the top cancer centers in the initial NCI designation in 2013. nation. With this comes increased ability to attract top-tier reFor the past decade, Markey’s status as an NCI-designated searchers and clinicians, secure additional research funding, cancer center has been transforming lives and changing the and collaborate with national and international partners. This future of cancer care in Kentucky. will further enhance Markey’s ability to provide Kentuckians The designation recognizes excellence in cancer treatwith the best possible cancer care and develop new and ment, diagnosis and prevention. It also opens doors to innovative cancer treatments. additional funding to support cancer research, outreach and Comprehensive designation also came with $13.5 million training programs—including programs like ACTION, which through a five-year renewal of Markey’s NCI Cancer Center was launched with funding available to NCI cancer centers Support Grant, which will strengthen Markey’s research footonly. print by supporting research programs, shared equipment This September, Markey and resources. attained designation as a Today, more than 250 faculty “Comprehensive” Cancer from 11 of UK’s 16 colleges are Center, the highest level of actively working on cutting-edge recognition awarded by the cancer research in the lab, the NCI. The first and only center clinic and the community - includin Kentucky to achieve this ing population-based studies that designation, Markey is one of address the environmental and only 56 Comprehensive Canbehavioral factors that contribute cer Centers in the U.S., putting to cancer. Markey researchers it in elite company. are actively addressing health To earn designation, Comdisparities among populations prehensive Cancer Centers disproportionately impacted by must demonstrate strong cancer including communities of laboratory, clinical and popucolor, and rural and Appalachian lation-based cancer research Kentucky. programs – including transdisThrough programs like ACTION, ciplinary research that bridges Markey is also educating and trainthese areas. ing the next generation of cancer “NCI designation in 2013 researchers and clinicians. Many, was an important milestone, like Susanna, are dedicated to but not the final destination. staying in the Commonwealth to The elevation to Compreaddress the region’s high cancer hensive Cancer Center is an burden. achievement that underscores At the press event to announce our commitment to addressComprehensive designation this ing the health care needs of past fall, hundreds in the Markey the people of Kentucky, a state community – including staff, faculDr. B. Mark Evers celebrated with a new T-shirt burdened by the highest canty, patients, clinicians, researchers, the day it was announced that the Markey cer incidence and death rates donors, students, community Cancer Center attained designation as a in the nation,” said Evers. members and community lead“Comprehensive” Cancer Center, the highest “As a Comprehensive Cancer ers – gathered to celebrate the level of recognition awarded by the NCI. Center, we are strengthened milestone. in our mission to lead the charge against cancer through Susanna was also there to share her story, too, saying her groundbreaking research, innovative treatments and family’s experience is just one example of the transformative outreach efforts to bring vital resources and care to every impact of cancer research. corner of Kentucky. Together, we will turn the tide against this “When I started research, I was an overwhelmed and disease to conquer cancer in the Commonwealth.” scared undergrad with a mom going through chemo, and I Comprehensive designation ensures Markey patients – am honored to continue research as a medical student at a 97% of whom come from Kentucky – continue to get access now Comprehensive Cancer Center with my healthy canto the highest level of cancer care without having to leave the cer-free mom proof of the difference research can make,” she state. This includes access to new drugs, treatment options said. “As a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Markey Cancer and clinical trials offered only at NCI-designated centers. Center has even more opportunities to impact and change The new status as a Comprehensive Cancer Center also lives, just as they did for my family.” ■

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THE GATES OPEN AT ALUMNI COMMONS DEDICATION The dedication of Alumni Commons took place in late September. From left, Jill Smith, associate vice president for alumni engagement and executive director of the UK Alumni Association, was joined by Wildcat; Jason Marcus, student body vice president; Jake Lemon, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement; and Janie McKenzie-Wells, president of the UK Alumni Association, as they celebrated opening the Alumni Commons gate at the

Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

intersection of Rose Street and Columbia Avenue.

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Alumni Commons: The Heart of Campus By Sally Scherer

Photos by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

crowd of alumni and friends gathered on a beautiful fall afternoon in September to dedicate Alumni Commons. A pedestrian corridor, Alumni Commons runs through the heart of campus connecting Columbia Avenue to Huguelet Drive along Rose Street with downtown Lexington at one end and Chandler Hospital on the other. What was once a busy and well-traveled street that ran through campus, is now a landscaped pathway for pedestrians with seats, swings, tables and chairs, fountains, lighting and even electrical outlets to charge phones and computers. For Jill Smith, associate vice president for alumni engagement and executive director of the University of Kentucky

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Alumni Association, the new project is evidence that the members of the UK Alumni Association, which began on campus 134 years ago, continue to work to leave things better on UK’s campus than they found them. “As we celebrate today’s project, I say thank you to the donors, volunteer leaders, past presidents, past alumni trustees, past executive directors and staff who invested wisely when they had the opportunity so that one day, projects like this could be possible. Your generosity and forward thinking have aided in enhancing the UK Alumni Association’s purpose, providing a space for activity and engagement that will be on campus for generations to come.”

1. Jill Smith, associate vice president for alumni engagement and executive director of the UK Alumni Association, shared remarks at the Alumni Commons Dedication Ceremony. 2. George L. Atkins Jr. ‘63 BE, past president of the UK Alumni Association, posed for a family photo at the dedication. 3. Amanda Mills Cutright ‘06 CI enjoyed the swings at Alumni Commons with her daughter Iris and her mom Emily Mills. 4. Wildcat listened to the speakers during the dedication ceremony.

For Jake Lemon, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement, what was referred to as “the Rose Street problem” in more than 70 articles written in the Kentucky Kernel student newspaper between 1958 to 2008, has been solved with “the best solution.” “Alumni Commons will enrich and unite this area,” he said. “This new, beautiful space offers another way for our campus community to gather.” For Student Body Vice President Jason Marcus, the space enhances his college experience. “Alumni Commons creates an environment that enriches our experience as students,” he said. “The green space, gardens and outdoor seating areas provide places for us to study, meet up with friends or just take a quiet moment to ourselves between classes. “This area helps nurture a greater sense of belonging among all. The opportunity to utilize this space is endless, and I cannot wait to see what is wildly possible for the future of Alumni Commons.” ■

“Alumni Commons is dedicated to our alumni family, reflecting the deep and resounding appreciation that the University of Kentucky holds for its graduates.”

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Alumni Commons

Design Created by Alumnus By Sally Scherer His design is based on historic archetypal spaces: the country lane, the central allée and the Italian piazza. Each inspired a central corridor with intersecting pathways creating a gathering place which incorporates the diverse architecture of the buildings that line it whether they be mid-century modern or postmodern. The design includes gathering spaces, outdoor learning spaces, lawn and landscape areas and feature elements including foundations and blue spheres. Arnold and his team chose specific stone types throughout Alumni Commons as a nod to the Mining and Minerals Resources Building that is on the southeast side of Alumni Commons. The dedication wall is made of river marble. Hand selected stone from Rowan County is featured in the stair seating to showcase Kentucky. The transformation of the space took several years. Portions of the street were first closed in 2014 for construction of a science building (now Don and Cathy Jacobs Science Building). By 2016, UK was proposing permanent closure of the portion between Columbia Avenue and Huguelet Drive. In 2020, infrastructure improvements were taking place and the Chemistry-Physics Building along Rose Street was being modernized. The design was well underway when the UK Alumni Association pledged $3 million to the $9 million project in 2022

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Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

ark Arnold is familiar with the University of Kentucky campus. Perhaps more familiar than most. Not only was Arnold a student here — twice — in the 1980s, but as a local landscape architect with Bell Engineering he has spent many hours studying the environmental factors of the campus. “I loved college,” he said. “I tried to be there for as many years as I could.” From the walkways near the president’s home at Maxwell Place to the outdoor spaces between Woodland Glen residence halls and the area adjacent to the newly renovated Cooper House and the recently opened James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirts, Arnold knows the converging sight lines, the patterns and lots of the details. “I was in art school, but I wasn’t a very good artist. I loved tactical things and I loved artists who worked in landscapes, like Christo,” Arnold said about the artist who was known for large-scale site-specific environmental installations. When the opportunity to work on the Alumni Commons project came his way, Arnold ’81 FA, ’84 AFE knew that he was looking at more than a simple conversion of a roadway into a pedestrian walk. The project needed to serve as a pedestrian “Main Street” connecting numerous established pedestrian paths, convergence zones and sight lines, he said.

and named the area Alumni Commons. “It was a blessing,” said Arnold. “The UK Alumni Association brought usability to the design. They requested plugs for electrical outlets so vendors using the space would be able to plug in. They suggested branding it as Alumni Commons and giving it some heart. The wall wasn’t there when we started. The UK Alumni Association suggested the wall with the signage.” Arnold describes what he created as “a nice tabletop for a meal where he can let the chefs do the rest.” That could include adding sculptures, more and different types of seating or other features. Arnold’s work has taken him throughout the state with design projects at the campus of Western Kentucky University, a master plan for the recovery of Mayfield, Kentucky, following tornado devastation in 2021, and to Eastern Kentucky to help communities in Perry, Letcher and Jenkins counties as they recover from flooding of 2022. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do,” Arnold said. “I love this career. I’m happy every day I work.” ■

Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo

Photo courtesy of DanceBlue

Photo by Arden Barnes, UK Photo

1. Landscape architect Mark Arnold poses at the dedication wall at Alumni Commons following the dedication ceremony. 2. Wildcat Welcome in August proved to have the perfect weather for a cornhole game. 3. The DanceBlue 5K included its start and finish lines at Alumni Commons this fall. DanceBlue is a studentrun organization that fundraises year-round for the DanceBlue Hematology/Oncology Clinic at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. 4. Students who attended the Block Party at Alumni Commons during Homecoming week enjoyed having their photo taken at the big UK. 5. Students walk across Alumni Commons on their way to class, the library or their dorm. w w w. u ka l umni . net

Scholarship Celebration A TIME TO REMEMBER By Sally Scherer

K Alumni Ambassadors President Dasha Boikov readily admitted that she didn’t really want to attend the University of Kentucky. “I wanted to go somewhere different, where no one from my hometown was going,” said the senior from Nicholasville, Kentucky, who’s majoring in human nutrition and on the pre-med track. “So, I applied to multiple out of state schools while also applying to UK. I was excited when all my acceptance letters started coming in the mail, and even though I had thought about going out of state and leaving Kentucky, I found myself only touring one college,” she explained. That one college? The University of Kentucky. “It felt like my home away from home as soon as I stepped on campus. So much so, that I toured it not once, but twice,” she said. Boikov shared her story with a crowd of more than 300 attendees at the annual UK Alumni Association Scholarship Celebration held at the end of September. Boikov was one of nearly 200 students who received scholarships from the UK Alumni Association, local UK Alumni Association clubs and individual alumni scholarship funds totaling $273,450. The scholarships will be received in the fall and spring semester 2023-2024. In the last year, alumni clubs contributed more than $198,386. Another $67,181 was contributed by the UK Alumni Association, individual donors and alumni constituent groups. The total gifts to scholarships during the 2022-2023 fiscal year was $265,568. The Scholarship Celebration gave recipients and donors the opportunity to meet one another, providing a chance for the donor to learn more about the student who benefits from their support. It also allowed recipients, like

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Boikov, to express gratitude to donors. “To all the donors, alumni and faculty here today, I want to thank you for all of your support and the timeless work you put in to helping this university grow and be the best it can be. I think that I can speak for every scholarship recipient and student here that without you and your generosity, we would not get to experience all the amazing opportunities that the university has to offer.” In addition to being president of the UK Alumni Ambassadors, Boikov is involved with her sorority, Delta Delta Delta. She has also had the opportunity to shadow doctors and surgeons through UK HealthCare to help her on her journey to becoming a physician. “If it wasn’t for the University of Kentucky, I wouldn’t have had these opportunities. They not only helped me get involved around campus, but they contributed to my personal growth tremendously, which prepares me for my time after I graduate,” Boikov said. UK Provost Dr. Robert S. DiPaola shared with the celebration attendees some of the university’s recent accomplishments including record growth and enrollment numbers with nearly 6,500 first-year students attending this fall bringing the total number of students on campus to more than 34,000. “This fall, for the first time in our history, we are marking a six-year graduation rate of 70 percent,” he said. “This number places us among the top 100 public institutions and top 20 percent in the country amongst universities that grant bachelor’s or higher. It’s an incredible accomplishment and we’re continuing to work to go farther.” DiPaola also shared the news of UK’s Markey Cancer Center recently attaining the National Cancer Institute’s highest status as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. There

Photos by Tim Webb

are only 56 NCI comprehensive centers in the United States and UK’s is the only one in Kentucky, said DiPaola who also serves as the co-executive vice president for Health Affairs at UK HealthCare. DiPaola congratulated the students on their scholarships and their academic achievements saying, “To the students here: We are tremendously proud of you and your hard work. You’ve achieved so much in your lives and we cannot wait to see all that you do in your future careers. Whether you will serve others as engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers or trauma surgeons, what matters is that you serve. When you pursue what gives you purpose and what makes you passionate, you will find success in all that you do. “When you persist in spite of life’s challenges, you will grow into the best version of yourself. When you dedicate your life to service, decency, goodness, citizenship, you will leave an indelible mark on this world.” Alumna Morgan Cornelius encouraged the scholarship recipients to enjoy all they’ve accomplished and to remember

the moments of their days. “I remember being at this award ceremony last year,” said Cornelius, the recipient of the 2023 Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Service Award and a student at Lincoln Memorial University studying veterinary medicine. “Please try to revel in this moment. Take this in. This is something very special. And the people who gave these scholarships are very special people. Learn from them.” Cornelius said she came to UK from a town of 2,000 people, Pineville, Kentucky. She said she didn’t know her purpose when she started at UK, but by being involved in organizations on campus and serving the university, she discovered it. She said she never met anyone at UK who wasn’t willing to help her. And while graduate school has kept her very busy, she has not forgotten all that UK gave her. “Take this day and remember it,” she said. “You were chosen out of all these students. Take it and know that you are special. Have pride with your degree.” ■

UK Alumni Association Awards Committee Chair Kelly Sullivan Holland (left) and UK Alumni Association President Janie McKenzie-Wells (right) hold the check that totals alumni scholarship funds.

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Club News

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1. The second annual Fayette County/ Cumberland Valley East UK Alumni Clubs tailgate took place in September before the Eastern Kentucky University football game. About 50 people attended and a raffle of a Dr. Michael Huang autographed UK athlete prints was held.

2. The Greater Atlanta UK Alumni Club hosted its fourth annual Braves outing on June 17 when the Braves took on the Colorado Rockies. About 45 attendees from clubs around the Southeast enjoyed the event. 3. The Northern Alabama UK Alumni Club had a great time getting together for a game watch party for the first UK football game of the season. 4. The Sarasota Suncoast UK Alumni Club represented the Big Blue Nation at the Wellen Downtown “Tailgate Tuesday” in Venice, Florida in September winning the “Best Tailgate” award and a gift certificate to a local restaurant. In the photo are Mike and Mary Ware.

8 5. The newly formed Florida Space Coast UK Alumni Club has been busy. The club had a pre-season meetup and has had game watch parties for all games so far this season. 6. Members of the Chicagoland UK Alumni Club took part in the SEC Flag Football Tournament in Chicago. The club team once again won the title with a little help from Ole Miss alumni.

7. The Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati UK Alumni Club held its annual golf outing in July. The event raised more than $14,000 which will go toward the UK Alumni Association Scholarship Endowment Fund. 8. The Greater Birmingham UK Alumni Club participated in the Boiling’ and Braggin’ charity event in August for the Critical Care team at Children’s of Alabama Pediatric Hospital. President Mike Kendrach received an award for best drink, a Kentucky mint julep. 9. Deep in enemy territory, the Tampa Bay UK Alumni Club gathered to cheer, build friendships and watch the Wildcats defeat the Florida Gators. The get together was held at Beef O’Brady’s, Palma Ceia, Tampa.

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10. The Greater Nashville UK Alumni Club presented a MVP trophy at the UK vs. Vandy football game on September 23. UK alum Adam Badaracco and Erin Connolly gave the trophy to defensive back Maxwell Hairston. w w w. u ka l umni . net

2022-2023

ANNUAL REPORT UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT WWW.UKALUMNI.NET/ANNUALREPORT TO VIEW THE 2022-2023 UK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT

MEMORIES ARE MADE IN FLIP-FLOPS SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT WWW.UKALUMNI.NET/TRAVEL TO LEARN MORE

ITS ALL ABOUT

CONNECTIONS A Big Blue thanks to all our new Life Members! We are pleased to recognize your commitment to the Wildcat family and intention to stay connected to the University of Kentucky for life.

Mark Adams Nancy Albright Yessenia Alvarez-Perez Holly Amerman D. Ashworth Kenneth Austin George Bauer Kevin Behr Mary Biegert Shannon Bland Barry Bleidt Susan Blue John Borders Sandra Borders Andrea Boylin Desni Brannon Jacqueline Brannon Ruth Brewer Kristine Brower Julie Brown Patrick Brown Erin Bryant Ella Burnett Charmayne Carter Nancy Coleman Matthew Cox Cindy Crittenden John Crittenden Jeffrey Cross Amy Davis Mark Davis Bernard Dirnberger Jason Disney Kathryn Disney

Heather Donohue Sean Donohue Zengyu Du Carl Edwards Justin Ewing David Feinauer Nancy Feldman Jorge Figueroa Michael Fisher Constance Ford Eldred Ford Adrian Garmestani Jeremy Gillett Edward Gilson Susie Gilson Anne Gorman John Gorman William Graham C. Grayson Donna Grayson Gary Gross Nancy Gross Clark Hall Audra Hamlin Bettye Hanks Dudley Hanks Dal Harper Sara Harper Jason Headrick Irvin Henriquez Ida Hermansdorfer Mark Hermansdorfer Charles Hitch Lee Hitch Daniel Hogan

YOU CAN MAKE A

DIFFERENCE 34

K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Fall 2022

Juliana Hogan Linda Holtzclaw Mark Honaker Gordon Hunt Kim Jackson Edward Kelsey Lisa Kelsey Courtney Kihlberg Brynn Kindlesparker Heather Koenig Jeffrey Kunkle Kristen Lawson Dawn Lecrenski Ted Lecrenski Diana Lincks Barbara Mabry Danielle Mains Ira Mains Elizabeth Marcum John Marcum Jim Master Michael Maynard Tamara Maynard Gail McDaniel Gerald McDaniel Jeffery McIntosh Sheila McIntosh Lindsey McKendry Sarah McMahan Thaddeus Miller Anthony Mills Diana Mitchen Mekesha Montgomery Merideth Moore Randy Moulder

Gerald Mozur Tiina Mozur Heather Naas Matthew Naas J. Noss John Orinuela Samantha Orinuela Debby Pacholewski Roger Pacholewski Bonnie Pagan Kathy Panther Robert Panther Melanie Paulsen Teble Peterson William Porter Javid Pour-Ghasemi Robert Prather Sean Rekeny Yvonne Rekeny Kyle Reynolds Scott Richardson Michael Riney Trina Riney Christy Roberts Jason Roberts George Roeder Aaron Rogers Jennifer Rogers Christien Russell Mitzi Russell Katherine Scheser Mike Scheser Barry Schmidt Kelly Schmidt Sherri Schmonsky

Cynthia Scornavacco Daniel Slusher Jason Smith Kimberly Smith Patrick Smith Hollie Steil Warren Steil Jeffrey Stein Joel Stephenson Leslie Stokes Erin Stoll Amanda Sutton Ralph Szygenda Shelby Szygenda Marcy Thomas Jeffrey Townsend Juliana Toyloy-Stanton John Tucker Martha Vaughn Sandi Verbois Fred Waddell Larry Wellman Kristine Wescott Jon Whalen Glen Whisler Mary Faye Whisler Amanda Whitaker Katherine Willour Troy Winters Rebecca Wydman Dongmei Xu Jackie Zimmerman *New paid in full Life Members May 23, 2023 – October 12, 2023

Family watches out for family. When you become a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association, you help open doors of opportunity to transform the lives of students, serve alumni and improve the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond!

www.ukalumni.net/membership or call 800-269-ALUM (2586)

Sports TEN WILDCATS INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME The Lexington African American Sports Hall of Fame inducted 23 into its ranks in September, including 10 former Kentucky Wildcats. The 2023 inductees were nominated by the public and selected by the founding members of LAASHOF. Those with ties to UK Athletics are below: • George Adams was a running back for the Wildcats from 1981-1984. He led the Wildcats in rushing and all-purpose yardage as a sophomore, junior and senior. Adams was Kentucky’s MVP of the 1983 bowl game. • Derek Bryant was the first African American baseball player in UK athletics history and he finished his Kentucky career as a two-time All-SEC honoree with a career batting average of .369. He was drafted by the Oakland A’s in 1973, where he played until 1981. • Cornell Burbage, a wide receiver, had a good career with the Wildcats that led him to 23 career NFL games with the Dallas Cowboys. He also played with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings. • Leroy Byrd played three seasons for the UK men’s basketball program. He played in 38 career games, hitting 58.3 percent from the field. Byrd played professionally for the Harlem Magicians and in the World Basketball League for the Vancouver Night Hawks. • Chris Chenault, who was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023, is the second-leading tackler in

school history for UK football. He totaled 482 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss and three interceptions in his career, returning one for a touchdown. • Bebe Croley was one of the best scorers and rebounders in UK women’s basketball history, ranking top-10 all-time in each category. Croley played two years with USA Select in Europe. • Dawn Duncan Walters, an accomplished cheerleader for the Wildcats as a student, helped UK claim its first national championship in the sport in 1985. She is the head coach of UK’s nationally recognized dance team. She is the program’s first African American head coach. • Leslie Nichols-Carter, a member of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame, remains one of UK’s greatest performers as a three-time All-SEC honoree by the league’s coaches. She still ranks top-10 all-time on UK’s career scoring chart with 1,797 career points. • Melvin Turpin, an All-American center, played at UK from 1981-1984 and ranks 16th in UK history with 1,509 career points. He went on to play five seasons in the NBA. • Bethel Ward won the 1981 SEC outdoor triple jump championship and was named first-team All-SEC as a Wildcat. He was a first-team all-state triple jumper in high school and helped Lexington’s Lafayette High School win the 1978 state championship. ■

DANCE TEAM MEMBERS NOW PERFORM WITH NFL/NBA Fourteen former members of the University of Kentucky Dance Team will be representing professional sports teams during the 2023-2024 season. • Lily Johnson, a member of the Dance Team from 2014-2018, will begin her third season with the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders. • Holly Michel is in her third season as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals Cheerleaders. Michel danced at Kentucky from 20142018. • UK alumna River Banks is in her second season as a Tennessee Titans cheerleader. Banks danced at UK from 2014-2018. • Joining Michel on the Ben-gals again this season is Olivia Medley, who was on the UK Dance Team from 2016-2019. This is her second

season with the Ben-gals. • Kleine Powell begins her third season as a member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Powell was at UK from 2017-2021. Eight former UK Dance Team members will be making their professional debuts this season. • Felicia Marino will dance for the Cincinnati Ben-gals joining Michel and Medley. Marino danced at UK from 2017-2021. • DaVanna Lockett will dance with the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders. Lockett danced at UK from 2018-2022. • Madelyn Anderson will dance with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader. She was with the UK Dance Team from 2019-2023.

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• Kennedy Grieman will join the Arizona Cardinals cheerleaders. She danced at UK from 2019-2023. • Marlee Scholten will join Lockett on the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders. She danced at UK from 2019-2023. • Annie Walton, a member of the UK team from 2019-2023, will join the Cleveland Cavaliers dance team. • Allison Broadhurst, a member of the UK team from 2019-2023, will dance for the Indianapolis Colts. • Joining Broadhurst in Indianapolis is former member Janelle McKinney, who danced at UK from 2019-2023. • Christie Horan is in her first season as the head coach of the Command Force, the dance team for the NFL’s Washington Commanders. Horan danced at UK from 2010-2014. ■

SWIMMING AND DIVING NAMES NEW COACH Bret Lundgaard, the 2023 Ivy League Coach of the Year for the Princeton University women’s swimming and diving team, was named head coach of the UK men’s and women’s program this summer. Lundgaard swam at the University of Washington from 2004-2008, where he was a twoyear team captain and 2008 Olympic Trials qualifier in the 100-meter butterfly. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in journalism and was a Pac-10 All-Academic Team member all four years as a Husky. Lundgaard continued his education at the University of Tennessee, earning his Master of Science in kinesiology with a focus on sports psychology and motor behavior. ■

NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS, 7 FOOTERS CRITICAL TO SEASON SUCCESS

ELZY SAYS IT’S A NEW DAY FOR WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM

For the first time in the John Calipari era at Kentucky, the men’s basketball team begins its season ranked outside of the Top 15 in the Preseason AP Poll. The Cats are ranked No. 16, behind three other SEC teams: Tennessee (No. 9), Arkansas (No. 14), and Texas A&M (No. 15). The team is predicted to finish fourth in SEC play. Kentucky boasts the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class with seven first-year signees including five top-25 prospects in Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner. Jordan Burks and Joey Hart were spring additions and Zvonimir Ivisic was added to the roster in August. The Cats return Co-SEC Sixth Man of the Year Antonio Reeves as well as sophomores Ugonna Onyenso and Adou Thiero. Veteran experience will come from graduate transfer Tre Mitchell. Reeves said he and Mitchell are getting the new talent ready physically and mentally for the upcoming season. “We got a lot of young guys that are just learning,” Reeves said. “It’s not going to be easy out there. Go out there, compete and play together is our mindset.” Injuries to big men Bradshaw and Onyenso have made the arrival of 7-foot-2 Ivisic even more crucial inside the paint. Calipari expects Ivisic — aka “Big Z” — to impact the game from the three-point line to the rim as an elite shot blocker. “He’s a piece to the puzzle for us,” Calipari said. ■

Team chemistry and competitive spirit are two reasons why Wildcats Head Coach Kyra Elzy is optimistic about the 20232024 season. While the team finished last season with an overall record of 12-19 and 2-14 in Southeastern Conference play, Elzy insists that it’s a new day. “I’m excited about this team and staff,” she said. “As of today, we are 0-0. A new year, a new team, a new staff, a new mindset, new goals.” One of the roster additions for this season includes 2021 Miss Basketball Brooklyn Miles, who transferred to UK after two years at Tennessee. The 5-foot-4 point guard was a star for Franklin County High School before committing to the Lady Vols. But Miles struggled during her years in Knoxville, averaging just over 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game. Miles is expected to provide veteran leadership alongside senior guard Maddie Scherr, who was third on the team last season in scoring with 11.6 points per game. Scherr said she likes how the team’s chemistry has developed this season. “With this team, we have every girl who buys into their role, especially when it comes to leadership and accountability and what the team needs from a chemistry aspect.” ■ w w w. u ka l umni . net

Stephen Bright being arrested in 1970 in connection with antiwar protests that spring after invasion of Cambodia. Photo from the 1970 Kentuckian.

He has ‘been in the trenches’

By Jaci Carfagno

New book tells about UK activist’s work to make a difference By Jaci Carfagno

tephen Bright planned to be a journalist when he left his family’s farm in Boyle County in 1966 to come to the University of Kentucky. He’d worked for the Danville Advocate-Messenger through high school, gaining the wide experience a reporter — even a very young one — gets at a small newspaper. But those were turbulent times. The Civil Rights movement pushed for a more just society, the antiwar movement advocated for a more peaceful one and Bright ’71 AS, ’75 LAW was engaged in both movements (his parents were among the 10,000 people who marched to the capitol in Frankfort in 1964 to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak). Classes with political science professor Bradley Canon on constitutional law and civil liberties and his own experiences gave him the idea that “one of the ways you can make a difference is through the law.” Now, a half century later, Bright’s work at the Southern Center for Human Rights representing people in death penalty cases and on death row has received numerous accolades, including an honorary degree from UK and induction into the J. David Rosenberg College of Law’s Hall of Fame in 2000 and the University of Kentucky Alumni Association Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2015. It is also the subject of two books and a documentary.

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He won all four of the capital cases he took to the U.S. Supreme Court. Recently, Bright combined the two interests of his early years by writing, with co-author James Kwak: “The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts.” Writing about the book for The Guardian, Ed Pilkington called Bright “the doyen of death penalty lawyers,” who for decades “has gone to battle for prisoners the U.S. criminal justice system has abandoned, cases so tough no other lawyer would take them: mentally ill prisoners who have no idea what is happening to them, defendants so poor and poorly represented they were condemned before they entered the courtroom.” Although other books have been written about the profound problems presented by the death penalty and how it is administered in the United States, Bright said they were often written for legal audiences. He thought it was important to tell the story from the point of view of someone “who had been in the trenches.” Several chapter titles — The All-Powerful Prosecutor, A Poor Person’s Justice, The Whitewashed Jury, The Madness of Measuring Mental Disorders — reflect his real-life experience and most begin with a story from Bright’s practice.

Among those who have praised the book is best-selling author John Grisham, a lawyer himself, whose novels often explore the shortcomings of our criminal justice system. “Only Steve Bright could write such a clear and poignant indictment of criminal justice in America,” Grisham wrote. While this was not the career that Bright envisioned when he first came to UK, his time there carried the seeds of his later activism. In the spring of his junior year, 1970, he was elected student body president. Within days, President Richard Nixon invaded Cambodia, an expansion of the Vietnam War that set off demonstrations on campuses across the country, and UK was no exception. “One of the early demonstrations was a motley crew of hippies walking down Rose Avenue and at the front was Steve Bright in a white button-down shirt and a necktie,” recalled Sheryl Snyder, then a second-year law student at UK (and now, like Bright, a member of the college’s Hall of Fame.) Although Bright acted as a calming influence and engaged in negotiations with the administration as the protests grew, Gov. Louie Nunn decided to call out the National Guard. “Soldiers came in with live ammunition and fixed bayonets,” Bright recalled, saying Nunn had “established martial law” on campus. Ultimately several students, including Bright, were arrested and the university “tried to throw me out of school,” along with a few dozen other demonstrators. Bright reached out to Snyder to represent him and his was the first of several hearings for students facing expulsion proceedings. “The board had scheduled hearings an hour apart, thinking they would be done quickly,” Bright recalled. But Snyder “did a fantastic job,” defending him, calling witnesses and probing evidence against him, arguing passionately for his First Amendment right to express his political views. His hearing took five days and he remained in school. By the time he graduated, Bright had settled on going to law school and began at UK in the fall of 1971. “I hated it,” he said, and left after one semester to work in the presidential campaign of anti-war candidate Sen. George McGovern throughout 1972. When McGovern lost that fall to Nixon, Bright decided to return to the study of law. Bright knew he wanted to work for people underserved by the criminal legal system. Although he had taken criminal law in his first semester, he felt he hadn’t learned what he needed from his teacher and so asked respected professor Robert Lawson, a member of the UK College of Law Alumni Hall of Fame like Bright and Snyder, if he could sit in on his criminal law class for no credit. “He was the most serious student I had in the classroom,” Lawson recalled, adding Bright never missed a class and took the final exam (he did well) even though he wasn’t getting credit. “He was one of the best students that I ever had.” The admiration was mutual. “He was an excellent teacher,” Bright said of Lawson, and he took every class of Lawson’s that he could work into his schedule. In those days, Bright said, law school tuition was $250 a

semester and he graduated in December 1974 with only about $3,000 in debt. He’d worked during school for the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (Appalred) and took a job there after graduation. “I was paid $8,000 a year but continued to live like a student so I was able to pay off my debt in the first year,” he said, “that left me completely independent and then I could do whatever I wanted.” He stayed there for two years before joining the Public Defender’s Office in Washington, D.C. “It was like graduate school in defending criminal cases,” Bright said, a well-resourced office with reasonable case loads and learning opportunities. He was soon to learn that wasn’t the norm. After six years in Washington, D.C., an organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, that did prison reform and death row cases but was essentially bankrupt contacted Bright to see if he would be willing to come and try to revive it. He recruited a colleague from the public defender’s office, Bob Morin, to join him. They packed their things and drove south. “Not long after we got out of Washington, we said, ‘what in the hell have we done,’” Bright recalled. It was good he had learned to be thrifty in his years in Kentucky. He had to write a personal check for the first month’s office rent. Thus began Bright’s 33-year career at the organization now called the Southern Center for Human Rights. What he found were cases where Black people were convicted by all-white juries after they were represented by court-appointed lawyers who had no experience with capital cases, where the trial transcripts were too short for such grievous results. And he found that poor people, regardless of race, simply didn’t have much chance in the criminal legal system. People who got the death penalty, he said, didn’t commit the worst crime, they simply had “the worst lawyer.” Bright and his colleagues raced from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, filing appeals and more appeals, seeking new trials, trying to save lives. Sometimes they lost and Bright sat with clients he’d known for years as they awaited execution. After 23 years directing the center, Bright stepped back from that job but stayed on and began teaching a class at Yale Law School each year. He later also became an annual visiting professor at Georgetown Law. In 2016 he left the center altogether. “I didn’t want to be looking over anyone’s shoulder, but I still consult on cases when they call me,” he said. Bright also returned to Kentucky and has a home in Lexington not far from where he went to school, led marches and learned how to use the law to fight for justice. Among all the idealistic people he knew in college and in law school, Snyder said, “the person who lived true to his principles was Steve Bright.” Lawson, a two-time dean, agrees. “I’m just more satisfied with what he’s done as a graduate of the Law School than I am almost anybody…he’s one of the most highly respected lawyers in the whole country.” ■

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Class Notes 1950s James Akin ’58 ’60 AS was named honorary captain during the home opener of Northwestern State University’s football season. Akin served in the U. S. Army Security Agency. He is a Paintsville, Kentucky native. His son, Jonathan Akin, is a biology professor at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

1960s Bob Vaughn ’63 EN was recognized by the Bell County Chamber of Commerce with an award named for him. The Bob Vaughn Legacy Award honors the work he has done with the Bell County Historical Society. He was

president for many years and is now emeritus board member.

1970s Eugene Lacefield ’73 ’76 AFE has created the Eugene Lacefield Space Studio Endowment at Morehead State University. Lacefield and his wife Mary Margaret Lowe donated 342 acres in rural Henry County to the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves in 2019. John “Jack” Collins ’77 LAW has been acknowledged as the Top Pinnacle Professional for contributions to the field of law. He practiced law for 44 years in Eastern Kentucky and currently practices in his private firm.

David Mucci ’77 AS, ’80 BE received the University of Kansas Alumni Association’s 2023 Fred Ellsworth Medallion for dedicated service. Mucci directed KU Memorial Unions for 23 years. Mark Overstreet ’77 AS, ’80 LAW was named the Best Lawyers 2024 Administrative/Regulatory Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Lexington. Overstreet is a lawyer with Stites & Harbison PLLC. Gregory P. Parsons ’79 BE, ’82 LAW was named the Best Lawyers 2024 Construction Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Lexington. Parsons is a lawyer with Stites & Harbison PLLC.

1980s Verna Lowe ’80 ’93 ED was named dean and national director for educator preparation of the Teachers College at Western Governors University’s School of Education. Previously, Lowe taught and was dean of the College of Education at Asbury University, served as dean of the College of Education at Eastern Kentucky University and was vice president for compliance at the University of the Cumberlands. Jan McKeel ’81 BE has been named to the board of trustees at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee. McKeel is the executive director of the South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance, a nonprofit that works to develop the workforce through efforts with economic development, education and employment.

Photos courtesy of Explore UK

Ashley W. Ward ’81 AS, ‘84 LAW, an attorney with Stites & Harbison PLLC, has been named the Best Lawyers 2024 Appellate Practice “Lawyer of the Year” in Lexington.

After 48 years at Stoll Field, the University of Kentucky Wildcats moved into Commonwealth Stadium on September 15, 1973. The stadium, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is located on what was once part of the UK Experimental Station Farm Grounds. At its opening, Commonwealth Stadium had a capacity of 57,800 and cost $12 million to build. The Wildcats won their first game 31-26, playing Virginia Tech Hokies. Fran Curci was the Wildcat coach. Stoll Field/ McLean Stadium, across from Memorial Coliseum, had been the home of Kentucky Wildcats football since 1916. The capacity of Stoll Field/McLean Stadium in its final years was 37,000. In 1999 both end zones were enclosed at Commonwealth Stadium during a $27.6 million expansion that raised capacity to 67,942. In May 2017, Commonwealth Stadium became known as Kroger Field, per an agreement between the university, UK Athletics and marketing partner JMI Sports.

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Trish Amason ’83 ED has been named the recipient of a research fellowship at the University of Arkansas Rome Center from the University of Arkansas Graduate School and International Education. She is an associate professor in the Department of Communication in the U of A Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Robin Fields Kinney ’86 AS, ’89 LAW has been named interim state commissioner of education by the Kentucky Board of Education. An associate commissioner who oversees the office of finance and operations for the Kentucky Department of Education, Kinney assumed the role in September. James Thornton ’86 BE, ’89 LAW an attorney with Cranfill Sumner LLP in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been named to “The Best Lawyers in America 2024.” Thornton has been a litigation attorney since 1989. Caroline Francis ’88 BE, ’94 ‘03 ED was honored with the Retirement Catalyst Award at the Retirement Coaches Association Conference. The honor recognizes industry change agents and impactful contributors to the retirement coaching industry. Francis is the director of Alumni Career Services at the University of Kentucky.

rights outreach and advocacy efforts. Marcia T. Eisenberg ’89 AS has been appointed to the Singular Genomics Systems Inc., board of directors. Eisenberg is senior vice president and enterprise chief scientific officer at Labcorp and brings more than 30 years of experience with molecular genetics, DNA testing. biotechnology and molecular oncology to the board.

1990s Brian P. Hale ’90 AS, ’03 GS has been hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, a public sector-focused management and technology consultancy, as vice president of public relations. Hale has more than 25 years of experience working for federal law enforcement, national intelligence agencies and private sector companies.

William T. Gorton III ’88 LAW, an attorney with Stites & Harbison PLLC, has been named the Best Lawyers 2024 Environmental Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Lexington.

Stacey Keller ’90 ED has joined the faculty at Mason Preparatory School in Charleston, South Carolina as a kindergarten associate teacher. She taught in the Charleston County School District in literary intervention.

James Waller ’88 AS joined the University of Connecticut’s faculty as the director of Dodd Human Rights Impact and as the first Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice – a blend of roles combining classroom with practice as he leads the university’s human

Carlos Phillips ’90 CI was elected chairman of the board of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. Phillips has served Louisville, Kentucky’s Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Most recently he was

A view of a field before the erection of Commonwealth Stadium near the E.S. Good Building. The photo was taken from the V.A. Hospital while it was under construction.

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

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Class Notes president of the Greenville (South Carolina) Chamber of Commerce. Marjorie A. Farris ’92 AS has been honored as managing partner of the year in Stites & Harbison’s 2023 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards. The award honors those who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law as well as commitment to diversity in the legal industry. DeNeia M. Thomas ’92 ’97 ’06 ED has been selected to serve as the dean of the college of professional studies at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri. She will oversee the university’s business, nursing and education schools. Thomas was most recently vice president for enrollment and student success at Texas Southern University.

Top New Franchise in 2013 and regularly in the Top 25 Fastest Growing Franchises list over the years. Richard Nazario-Colon ’93 AS has been hired as the State University of New York’s senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion/chief diversity officer. He has more than 30 years of experience in industry, higher education, business, U.S. military and state government. John Coke ’94 DES has been hired as a project manager at Esa, an architecture firm in Nashville. He was a project manager with Gresham Smith for the last six years. He has more than 20 years of experience with research laboratory design.

Chrisandrea Turner ‘95 AS, ’98 LAW has been selected as a member of the 2023-24 Leadership Lexington program. Turner is an attorney with Stites & Harbison. Carl Daley ’96 BE, ’98 ED has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer for Highmark Health based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was senior vice president of Medicare strategy and operations at Humana in Louisville, Kentucky. Chip Schrader ’96 ED is serving as principal at Owensboro Catholic Middle School. He recently retired from the Ohio County Public Schools.

Jennifer Cave ’97 AS has been appointed to the Kentucky Horse Park Commission by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. She will serve a four-year term. Cave is an attorney with Stites & Harbison, PLLC. Billy Van Pelt ’97 AFE has been named national director of strategic initiatives and senior advisor at American Farmland Trust, where he has worked since 2016. AFT is a national non-partisan, non-profit agricultural organization in Washington, D.C. Van Pelt is based in Kentucky and works throughout the nation. Mandy Wilson Decker ’98 AS, ’02 LAW has been elected by the Kentucky Intellectual Property Alliance

Tim Van Cleve ’92 BE has been named to the executive committee of the accounting firm Rodefer Moss. He has been the head of the Nashville office since it opened in 2008. Van Cleve joined the firm in 1997. Tony Lamb ’93 BE has been indicted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. The founder and CEO of Kona Ice and Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee, Lamb launched Kona Ice in 2007. Kona Ice has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List for several years running, rated the

An outdoor dinner was held at the opening of Commonwealth Stadium in 1973.

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as inaugural chair of its board of advisors. A registered patent attorney with Stites & Harbison, Decker has served on the group’s executive advisory committee since 2021. She has also been elected as 2023-2024 chairelect of the newly formed Kentucky Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section. Alan Bearman ’99 AS, vice president for strategic enrollment management and student success at Washburn University, recently was honored with the 2023 Ev Kohl’s Equal Opportunity Award. The Kansas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers presents the award. Diane Bruce ’97 ’98 BE was named the dean of the W. Fielding Rubel School of Business at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Bruce was the interim dean for the 20222023 academic year. She was the inaugural dean of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Paula Vissing ’99 BE, formerly chief operating officer at Little Ceasars, was promoted to president of Little Caesars global retail. Vissing has served in expanding roles at Little Caesars, joining the company as vice president of purchasing and quality assurance in 2011 and then elevating to senior vice president of international.

Cheerleaders posed at the new Commonwealth Stadium.

2000s Lisa Deaton Mahan ’01 BE has been named director of investor and sponsorship development for Commerce Lexington. Mahan had worked with UK HealthCare since 2007, most recently as senior director of philanthropy. She is a graduate of Commerce Lexington’s 2016 Leadership Lexington program. Jamie Sheeley O’Neill ’01 CI has been appointed the executive director of Student Support Services in Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky. She entered JCPS in 2002. She has also served as a teacher, coach and administrator.

Erin Woodall ’02 AFE has been named executive director of Equestrian Events, Inc. The non-profit charitable organization supports the development of equestrian sport through the staging of sporting events at the highest level including the Kentucky Three-Day Event, the Kentucky Invitational Grand Prix and the American Eventing Championships. Josh Bailey ’03 BE was appointed business manager for building envelope products, a newly created position, at Tarco. Bailey joins Tarco from the Henry Company where he was a senior building envelope manager. He has held positions with Typar and

James Hardie Building Products. Katie Meyer ’04 AS has been named president of Downtown Dayton Partnership. Since 2019 she has served as the policy and program manager for UniCity, altafiber’s smart city division based out of Dayton. Before that she served as the executive director of Renaissance Covington, focused on revitalizing historic downtown of Covington, Kentucky. Sara Bradley ’05 CI was named the winning chef on Food Network’s “Chopped: All-American Showdown” in August. Bradley, owner of Freight House in Paducah, w w w. u ka l umni . net

Career Corner blin

by Amy Gam

USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN YOUR JOB SEARCH? THESE TIPS WILL HELP Some may remember when the “world wide web” was a phenomenon and in 1994 on the “Today Show,” co-host Bryant Gumble famously asked, “What is the internet anyway?” We laugh about it now – and may be doing the same 30 years from now when we remember asking, “What is Artificial Intelligence anyway?” AI is gaining significance in many facets of our everyday world. Using AI as part of the job search strategy might be intimidating to some. It is important to know there are limitations to AI. It cannot replace human authenticity nor the significance of having a career professional throughout the process. Nevertheless, AI is a permanent part of our future, so here’s how to use it and embrace it. These five tips show how to use AI in your job search strategies and how a career professional can support you. 1. Resume writing – Insert your job responsibility description in an AI generative tool. Ask the question, “What is a better way to say (then include your job responsibility). Ensure what is generated accurately describes the tasks performed. How a career professional can help: Brainstorm creative approaches that articulate job responsibilities which emphasize specific and quantifiable tasks that set you apart from the competition. 2. Identify required skills for positions – Ask AI what skills are needed for a certain job position. For example, “What skills are needed for a training and development position?” How a career professional can help: Help create a plan for skill development. 3. Career pathing – Similarly, if you are interested in a particular career path, AI can recommend relevant training or educational resources for exploration. How a career professional can help: Create goals, a timeline, and offer accountability. 4. Interview preparation – Use AI to generate interview questions specific to a job description. For example, ask the AI tool, “What types of interview questions are asked for someone applying for a marketing job?” AI generates several types of questions, such as behavioral, performance-based and communication questions. How a career professional can help: Practice mock-interview scenarios and provide instant feedback and learning. 5. Market research – AI can pinpoint emerging career trends, anticipate upcoming industry shifts and provide insights into salary ranges, empowering job seekers to be well-informed about the present and future landscape. How a career professional can help: Provide guidance on identifying industries to explore which align with one’s interests and skills and coaching on adapting to industry changes. Some suggested AI generative tools to use for job search strategies: ChatGPT; Jobscan; LinkedIn Career Explorer; Kickresume; Rezi, Adzuna and CoverDoc.ai. Remember, it’s crucial to understand that while AI is a valuable tool, it isn’t flawless and cannot replace the human element. Success in the job search depends so much on one’s skills, experiences and determination to make things happen. When incorporating AI into your job search, it’s important to maintain authenticity and having a career professional in your corner will further support and refine your strategy. Amy Gamblin, CCC, CPRW is a Career Coach with UK Alumni Career Services. Visit www.ukalumni.net/career to learn more.

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Class Notes took on three other chefs. Bradley won a $50,000 prize. Susan Faus ’05 ED has been named interim executive director of the Fargo Park District, Fargo, North Dakota. Faus was deputy director of administration for the park district. She joined the Fargo Park District in 2022. John Hintz ’06 AS has been named interim dean of honors and interdisciplinary studies at Cumberland University. Hintz, an 18-year-veteran at the Commonwealth UniversityBloomsburg location, is a professor of environmental, geographical and geological sciences. Ryan Quarles ’06 ’06 ’07 AFE, ’07 GS, ’10 LAW has been chosen as the fourth president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. He is nearing the end of his second term as Kentucky agriculture commissioner. From 2010 to 2014 he served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Kentucky General Assembly. Shane Tomblin ’06 BE has joined the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology as a faculty member. Tomblin is an associate teaching professor. Prior to Penn State he was an associate professor of enterprise engineering at Harrisburg University of Science Technology.

Mehmet Saracoglu ‘07 ’13 EN has been named to the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty 2023 class of BJC Fellows. He has been active in interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding for the last 20 years. Mary Katherine “Katie” Bing ’08 AS, ’13 LAW has been named the new interim clerk of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. She served as the court’s deputy court administration for three years. Travis Edelen ’08 AFE is rejoining CARMAN, a leading landscape architecture and civil engineering firm, after previously working with CARMAN from 2013 to 2021. Throughout his career, Edelen has been involved in streetscapes, parks, schools, healthcare facilities, civic projects, mixed-use developments and multifamily projects. Jen O’Keefe ’09 AS received the distinguished researcher award from Morehead State University at its fall commencement ceremony. A geology and science professor, O’Keefe came to Morehead State in 2002.

2010s Kimberly Coghill ’11 LAW has been promoted to counsel at law firm Troutman Pepper. She is located in the Washington, D.C., office where she focuses her practice on intellectual property.

A’Dia Mathies ’13 AS was recently inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame. She was SEC Player of the Year for two seasons at the University of Kentucky and was a first-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. Jingkun Wang ’13 AS, ’17 MED has joined the team of providers at West Kentucky Surgical as a general surgeon. Thomas Bernal ’14 ’15 AFE has been named to the Paso Robles High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Bernal was team captain from 20132015 for the Wildcat baseball team where he played in 143 career games with a .316 batting average and a .980 fielding average. Danielle Griggs ’14 BE, ‘14 PHA has been promoted to chief pharmacy officer at UVA Health where he has worked since 2016. Griggs will oversee pharmacy services across all four of the health system’s medical centers. Lydia Shanklin Roll ’14 GS, ’16 ’21 AS was selected by the Association for the Advancement of Science as a Science & Technology Fellow. Her fellowship placement is with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Department of Compact Operations. Dr. Daniel C. Kim ‘15 MED has joined the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in

Birmingham, Alabama. Kim is a spine specialist. He was recognized by the North American Spine Society’s (NASS) SpineLine “20 Under 40” list of the top spine surgeons in the country in 2022. Timothy Bill ’16 CI has received an appointment at the College of Public Affairs and Education at the University of Illinois. Bill is an instructor and director of oral communication basic course in the School of Communication and Media. Dr. Karl Hempel ’16 AS is staffing a new primary care clinic in Danville, Kentucky. Hempel is board-eligible in internal medicine. He will be practicing at the same facility as his father, Dr. Richard Hempel ’81 AS, who will continue in an independent MDVIP affiliated practice. Corbin Blumberg ’17 AFE has been promoted to director of racing and bloodstock operations for Jack and Laurie Wolf’s Starlight Racing and StarLadies Racing. Jorge Pierce ’17 ED received an award from Arizona’s Mesa Community College as one of its 2023 Outstanding Adjunct Faculty. Pierce has been a member of the psychological science department since 2011. Since 1996 he has served as a full-time instructor at Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona.

A look at the inside of the new Commonwealth Stadium.

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Class Notes Pramudi Abeydeera ’18 AS has joined Nazdar Ink Technologies as a digital ink chemist. She will be responsible for researching and developing new and innovative inkjet products. Samuel Bruun ’18 ’21 AS has joined the faculty in the psychology department at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts as an assistant professor. Kyle Barron ’19 ED has been appointed to the Western Governors University Tennessee Advisory Board. Barron is the chief community development officer at the Greater Jackson Chamber, where he supervises public affairs, community development and small businesses. Danielle Chesney ’19 AFE joined Byrne Insurance Group in Louisville as a life insurance executive and the director of marketing and outreach. She is the founder and director of Young Hearts, a nonprofit that trains and pairs mentors with children who are recovering from the grief of losing a parent. Sarah Rainwater ’19 CI, ’21 ED has been named the softball coach at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Kentucky. She was assistant coach for her alma mater, East Jessamine High School in Nicholasville, Kentucky for the past two seasons.

2020s Kaitlyn June Lloyd ’21 ’22 SW is the only woman in the Nicholasville Police Department who works in the patrol division. She was recognized for that distinction during National Police Woman Day in September. Stephen Jakob Turner ’21 ’23 AS has joined the faculty at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, as a visiting assistant professor of Spanish. Richard Clark ‘22 ED, ’23 BE participated in the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Rio de Janeiro 2023. Clark competed in the 50m rifle, air rifle and mixed team events. Clark is the assistant rifle coach at Army West Point and he was a member of the UK rifle team from 2018 to 2022.

Rhyne Howard ’22 FA has had a street named for her in Cleveland, Tennessee. Two signs on a stretch of South Lee Highway by Bradley Central High School are now called Rhyne Howard Drive for the WNBA star who plays for the Atlanta Dream. Nolan Anderson ’23 AFE is a new Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist in Amarillo, Texas. Anderson, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, is working on wheat pathogens and viral issues such as wheat streak mosaic virus.

Northwest Health in LaPorte and serves in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence specialist. Isaac Oluk ’23 EN, co-founder of Badaye Technologies, was recognized in the August 2023 edition of Comstock’s magazine. Badaye Technologies, which the magazine called the “Startup of the Month,” designed a simple pedal system, like a bicycle, to help Ugandan farmers clean maize without electricity of fuel.

Natalie Kasberger ’23 SW has been hired as a social worker by the Porter County Sheriff’s Department in Valparaiso, Indiana. She has worked as a social worker for

An aerial view of Commonwealth Stadium and the parking lots that surrounded it during a home game not long after its opening in 1973. The image was used for the “University of Kentucky: Then and Now” book project.

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FIFTY YEARS AGO, SHE WAS THE FIRST HOMECOMING QUEEN CROWNED IN COMMONWEALTH STADIUM By Sally Scherer

he University of Kentucky’s football stadium is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It was known as Commonwealth Stadium when it opened in 1973. She remembers the new stadium being so big and so modern. He remembers how massive it felt and how clean the bathrooms were. “You have to understand, at Stoll Field the men’s restroom was big troughs,” he said. It was November 3, 1973. The University of Kentucky Wildcats were playing their first Homecoming game in the state-of-the-art Commonwealth Stadium. The Cats played Tulane. And won. Carol Elam, the Homecoming Queen that year, remembers it well. So does her escort, Alan Stein. Elam was a senior and the first person to be crowned Homecoming Queen in the new, big, beautiful, modern and oh, so clean stadium. “I made my skirt,” she remembered. It was a maxi-length rust and blue plaid wool skirt. Her roommate loaned her a turtleneck to wear with it. A navy-blue velvet jacket completed the ensemble. Oh, and she wore a fall in her hair to make her hair look fuller. Her Delta Delta Delta sisters helped her get ready. “It was just perfect,” said Elam ‘74 ‘79 AS, ‘90 ED. “My parents and brother came from Ashland. Alan had my arm and when we turned to exit, I could see them all in the stands.” Stein was president of the Student Center Board, the student-run organization that sponsored homecoming. Elam assumed her sweetheart, Frank Hollan, a member of Delta Tau Delta, would escort her. But the night before the ceremony when she mentioned to Frank how excited she was that he was escorting her on the field, he told her that he wouldn’t be. But Alan would. She knew that meant she had won. “Everybody knew Alan,” she said. “If it couldn’t be Frank, I

was so glad it was Alan.” University of Kentucky President Otis Singletary crowned Elam although without a crown. Instead, she received a dozen red roses and a silver-plate bowl she still has today. “It was the first time I’d ever met Dr. Singletary,” she recalls. Stein remembers escorting Elam though he wasn’t considered the Homecoming King. There wasn’t such a thing then. “It was a different time,” said Stein adding that in 1973, the Vietnam War was taking place as was a draft lottery. Both cast a shadow over campus. Just three years earlier fire destroyed the ROTC annex building after two days of protests following the killings of four Kent State University students by National Guardsmen. A long-standing Homecoming tradition, the Homecoming Court entering the stadium under a ceremonial arch of Pershing rifles held by members of the ROTC, was in question, Stein said. “The Student Center Board sponsored Homecoming. The war was a major focal point on campus,” Stein explained. “There was major backlash against ROTC at the time.” The board struggled with whether or not to keep the tradition in the new stadium, ultimately deciding to allow it. Elam and Stein remember comedian Bob Hope playing a role in the weekend because of his absence. Elam said that the football program the week following the Homecoming ceremony had pictures of her with information stating she had been crowned by Hope. Stein said he remembers that Hope was supposed to have been the Homecoming performance at Memorial Coliseum, but he had to cancel. Today, Elam is a professor in the Department of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine where she teaches firstyear medical students. Stein is a retired Lexington businessman who serves as a senior advisor to the Lexington Counter Clocks, a professional baseball team. ■ w w w. u ka l umni . net

In Memoriam Ellis R. Carter ‘50, ‘50 AS Frankfort, Ky.

James C. Hanks ‘60 ‘70 ED Lebanon, Ky.

Robert E. Tuttle ’51 BE Columbus, Ohio Life Member

Albert M. Thompson ‘61 EN Owensboro, Ky. Life Member

Hugh C. Evans ‘52 LAW Portland, Ore. Fellow

Vincent G. Vonderheide ‘62 EN Lafayette, La.

Dr. Morris L. Norfleet ‘52 AFE Nancy, Ky.

David Stone Lyle ’63 AFE Campbellsburg, Ky.

William A. Tucker ‘68 AFE Shelbyville, Ky. Fellow

Nancy B. Paris ‘63 ED Fredonia, Ky.

Robert L. McClain ‘70 AFE Taylorsville, Ky.

Anthony W. Thomas ‘63 EN Cadiz, Ky.

Julia K. Wade ‘70 AS Johnson City, Tenn.

John M. Webb ‘63 BE Lexington, Ky.

John C. Cranfill Jr. ‘71 EN Pewee Valley, Ky.

Paul F. Haggard ‘64 ‘66 EN Lexington, Ky.

Lynn C. Phifer ‘71 AS Memphis, Tenn.

Cecil R. Hamblin ‘65 EN Norton, Va.

Charles E. Roberts ‘71 AS Tucker, Ga.

Carl R. Lencke ‘57 ‘61 BE Greenwood, Ind. Life Member

Hugh A. Ward ‘65 ‘68 EN Overton, Nev.

Darrell M. Rose ‘71 BE Fountain Inn, S.C.

Joan W. Peyton ‘57 ED Owensboro, Ky.

Mary L. Cosby ‘67 FA Fishers, Ind.

Daniel A. Motley ‘72 BE Louisville, Ky.

Furman F. Wallace ’57 EN, ’64 BE Life Member Louisville, Ky.

Dr. Keith A. Edmonson ‘67 AS Mount Prospect, Ill.

Cecilia C. Bowers ‘73 ED Versailles, Ky.

James E. Hough ‘53 ‘58 AS Moores Hill, Ind. William C. Sutherland ‘55 AS Louisville, Ky. Margaret E. Adams ‘57 AS Chapel Hill, N.C. Sylvia B. Folk ‘57 AFE Summerville, S.C.

James R. Durall ‘58 EN Knoxville, Tenn. Sarah S. Kinney ‘59 ED, ‘62 AS Cynthiana, Ky. Fellow Frederick F. Frye ‘60 BE Bella Vista, Ark. Life Member

Dr. Paul T. Nugent ‘67 ED Franklin, Ind. Edwin H. Hackney III ‘68 AS, ‘88 SW Lexington, Ky. Linda L. Dempsey-Hall ‘72 CC, ‘81 ‘85 NUR Lexington, Ky.

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Freda C. Klotter ‘68 FA, ‘73 ED Lexington, Ky.

Dr. William C. Tapp ‘74 DE Evansville, Ind. Life Member

Dr. Melvin E. Liter ‘68 AS Lexington, Ky.

Jeffrey W. Noble ‘75 CI Jackson, Ky.

Gary D. Martin ‘68 EN Spring Hill, Tenn.

Anthony E. Stermer ‘75 AS Huntsville, Ala. Life Member

Kenneth L. Downs ‘73 EN Louisville, Ky. Life Member Rachel L. Hill ‘73 ED Arlington, Va. Kenneth R. Donahue ‘74 EN Fleming Island, Fla. Life Member J. Michael Gurnee ‘74 AS Dodge City, Kan.

Dr. Joseph F. Fiala ‘77 ED, ‘83 AS Frankfort, Ky. Randall M. Klinect ‘78 AS Lexington, Ky. Maurice Glynn Burke III ‘79 AS Lexington, Ky. Sue D. Meade ‘79 ED Lexington, Ky. Carla Christian ‘80 AS Duluth, Ga. Gayle E. Slaughter ‘80 LAW Lexington, Ky. Barbara H. Sauer ‘81 CC Saint Matthews, Ky. Elizabeth K. Senn ‘81 AFE Lexington, Ky. Brenda K. Simpson ‘81 EN Pleasureville, Ky. Donald H. Combs ‘82 LAW Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow Jocarol M. Silvers ‘82 AFE Monticello, Ky. Thomas R. Webb ‘83 AS Waco, Ky.

Dr. William W. Reeves ‘84 ED Athens, Ohio

Jonah K. Brown ‘07 AS, ‘10 LAW Lexington, Ky.

Elizabeth A. Shaw ‘85 LAW Richmond, Ky.

Annette Louise Hebbeler ‘07 ED Lexington, Ky.

Paula Kearns ’89 ’92 GS Powell, Tenn. Life Member

John Travis Whitaker ‘08 EN Utica, Ky.

Dr. Rosalyn A. Ruffner ‘91 ED Grayson, Ky.

Alan Kurre Elliott ‘14 ‘15 ED Colorado Springs, Colo. Life Member

David A. Hiles ‘92 ED Lexington, Ky.

Chi R. Woodrich ‘14 AS Salina, Kan.

Dr. Valerie L. Bryan ‘93 ‘99 ‘06 SW Mobile, Ala.

Colleen Augusta Hosmer ‘20 ‘20 AFE Lexington, Ky.

Chris B. Hollowell ‘93 AS Paducah, Ky.

FORMER STUDENTS AND FRIENDS

Debra B. Barlow ‘95 BE Lawrenceburg, Ky. Jody L. Schweitzer ‘97 ED Salem, Ore. Dr. Stephen A. Orey ‘98 ‘02 AS Loganville, Ga. Dr. Amey Lowdenback ‘99 ‘01 DE Minneapolis, Minn. David B. Biliter ‘01 AFE Nicholasville, Ky.

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Legacy and support the University of Kentucky with a Wildcat Alumni Plaza Paver.

Robert William Olson Seattle, Wash. Arnold J. Stromberg Lexington, Ky. John D. Shaw Lexington, Ky. William E. Gibbs Lexington, Ky. Charles F. Haywood Lexington, Ky.

Joseph Aaron Bott ‘03 BE Campbellsville, Ky. Rosemary H. Vance ‘03 LAW Danville, Ky. Fellow Bradley Nimrod Guilfoil ‘04 EN Smithfield, Ky.

www.wildcatalumniplaza.com 859-257-8905 (ALUM)

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Saving Lives COLLEGE OF PHARMACY RECEIVES FUNDING TO INCREASE ACCESS TO LIFESAVING TREATMENT FOR OPIOID USE DISORDER By Rosa Mejia-Cruz

he Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) has selected the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy as one of three higher education entities funded to improve access to medications for opioid use disorder in pharmacies and health care settings. Rural Appalachian communities in Kentucky have been highly impacted by substance use disorder and opioid overdose deaths. Buprenorphine is a Food and Drug Administration-approved medication that has been shown to decrease overdose mortality, increase remission and recovery, and improve quality of life for people with opioid use disorder. Yet, a study found that most pharmacies in 12 rural Appalachian counties were limiting their dispensing of buprenorphine or not dispensing it at all. The College of Pharmacy has been awarded nearly half a million dollars to develop and test a peer-to-peer education program for pharmacists to increase buprenorphine dispensing. The project, led by Trish Rippetoe Freeman, Ph.D., professor of pharmacy practice and science, aims to equip pharmacists with the information and understanding of buprenorphine treatment, guidelines, and regulations to feel confident dispensing medication for opioid use disorder. Through the project’s educational outreach and relationship-building, the College of Pharmacy will support Kentucky pharmacists’ crucial work to serve their communities and help save lives. Over the course of two years, Freeman’s team of pharmacists will focus on developing educational materials and visiting rural Appalachian pharmacies to mitigate dispensing barriers. The project will prioritize 20 Kentucky counties, including areas with both low and high buprenorphine dispensing rates relative to opioid overdose deaths. The team will conduct focus groups to identify facilitators and barriers to buprenorphine dispensing. This information will be used to develop tailored education for pharmacists and technicians. Pharmacists will deliver the education in person in the 20 priority counties in Appalachia, visiting community pharmacies in a series of brief encounters to discuss general information about buprenorphine and specific dispensing challenges at each pharmacy. To broaden the project’s reach and increase its impact, the team will develop webinars and educational

From left: Doug Oyler, Adrienne Matson, Trish Rippetoe Freeman, Laura Stinson, Monica Roberts, Dustin Miracle.

Buprenorphine has been shown to decrease overdose mortality, increase remission and recovery, and improve quality of life for people with opioid use disorder. materials that can be disseminated statewide. The ultimate goal is to create a framework to modify pharmacist behavior and increase access to buprenorphine. “There are many barriers to buprenorphine access for patients being treated for opioid use disorder, including stigma, federal and state regulations, and general lack of understanding on appropriate drug dispensing,” said Freeman. “We are partnering with the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy to ensure that all pharmacists have the information and understanding they need to feel confident in dispensing this lifesaving treatment to patients.” As a private national grant-making foundation, FORE supports innovative, evidence-based solutions to the opioid crisis at national, state and community levels. Their mission is to bring about long-term change by funding diverse projects that impact people experiencing opioid use disorder, their families and their communities. By partnering with organizations like FORE, the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy is helping to create a better future for the Commonwealth and those affected by the opioid epidemic.

Creative Juices Melissa Estes Blair ‘02 AS has written “Bringing Home the White House: The Hidden History of Women Who Shaped the Presidency in the 20th Century.” The book explores the work and lives of five women who directed the Women’s Division of the Democratic and Republican National committees from 1932 until 1960 and argues that these women were critical to national politics in this era. They actively worked to politicize the home and make women the grassroots troops of both parties. With the support of some of the most powerful politicians of the era, they made women the “saleswomen for the party” and helped swing elections throughout the midcentury. Despite their importance, these women and their work have been left out of the narratives of midcentury America. In telling the story of these five West Wing women, Blair reveals the ways that women were central to American politics from the depths of the Great Depression to the height of the Cold War.

Patrick Lee Lucas ’98 DES has authored “Athens on the Frontier: Grecian-Style Architecture in the Splendid Valley of the West, 1820-1860.” In 1811, architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe spurred American builders into action when he called for them to reject “the corrupt Age of Dioclesian, or the still more absurd and debased taste of Louis the XIV,” and to emulate instead the ancient temples of Greece. In response, people in the antebellum trans-Appalachian region embraced the clean lines, intricate details and stately symmetry of the Grecian style. Several antebellum cities and towns adopted the moniker of “Athens,” styling themselves as centers of culture, education and sophistication. As the trend grew, citizens understood the name as a link between the Grecian style and the founding principles of democracy, signaling a change of taste in service to the larger American cultural ideal. Lucas examines the material culture of Grecian-style buildings in antebellum America to help recover 19th-century regional identities.

Sherman Cahal ’08 BE has published “Abandoned Kentucky” along with Adam Paris and Michael Maes. The book transports readers to a bygone era in the Bluegrass State, showing life as it was back then and stirring in a sense of wonder and curiosity about those who have gone before us and the lives they lived. Readers can go inside the historic Columbia Theatre in downtown Paducah and the shuttered Union Station depot in Henderson. From the Old Crow bourbon distillery along Glenn’s Creek to the Parker Tobacco Company in Maysville and a once grand farmhouse in McLean County, photographs showcase the rich history and untold stories of abandoned places from one corner of Kentucky to the other. Their lens captures the essence of these forgotten locations, illuminating the elegance that time has woven into their very foundations. Paul E. Patton ‘59 EN, ‘08 HON has written “The Coal Miner Who Became Governor,” a personal memoir of his life with an emphasis on his time as governor of Kentucky. It was written with the assistance of University of Kentucky Oral Historian Jeffery Suchonek. Patton served as the 59th governor of Kentucky, from 1995 to 2003. Born in Fallsburg, Kentucky, he had a humble upbringing that held few clues about his future as one of the most prominent politicians in the history of the state. In this book, Patton details his personal, professional and political life in Kentucky, starting with his career in the coal industry. Carl Watson ’59 ’64 MED has published “Short Stories for Tall Tales” an assortment of short stories meant to captivate and enlighten readers. Watson writes about this collection, “Each short story is complete within itself. The terse captivating writing presents stories in short form without the length needed in the novel format to accomplish the same result. The stories are based on truths, memories, embellishments and fictional events all subject to the writers wide ranging creativity.” Each story introduces a new topic and new characters to keep readers engaged through the entire collection. Watson covers all topics within his selection. Dr. Watson died in October 2023. UK and the UK Alumni Association do not necessarily endorse books or other original material mentioned in Creative Juices. The University of Kentucky and the UK Alumni Association are not responsible for the content, views and opinions expressed on websites mentioned in Creative Juices or found via links off of those websites.

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Quick Take CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF UK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL In celebration of 50 years of UK women’s basketball, several of the program’s former head coaches attended Big Blue Madness in October. From left, Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kyra Elzy (2020-present) was joined by Bernadette Mattox (1995-2003), Mickie DeMoss (2003-2007), Sharon Fanning (1987-1995), Terry Hall (1980-1987) represented by her sister Marty, Sue Feamster (1971-1976) and Matthew Mitchell (2007-2020) on the court at Rupp Arena prior to the women’s team taking the floor at Big Blue Madness.

Photo by Ethan Rand, UK Athletics

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