recipients of the 2025 Hall of Distinguished Alumni Awards.
‘ONCE A WILDCAT, ALWAYS A WILDCAT’
Look at the photos we captured from the Homecoming 2025 activities where alumni celebrated at class reunions, met students and received awards. The celebration brought alumni together from around the world.
BUILDING UP RESISTANCE
By Dan Knapp
A UK alumnus is weathering the storm of Kentucky’s increasingly severe natural disasters by pioneering 3D-printed concrete homes designed to withstand floods, tornadoes and whatever else nature throws at the Commonwealth.
WHO’S NEW TO THE HALL OF DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI?
From Kentucky to every corner of the globe, University of Kentucky alumni are shaping lives, advancing knowledge and creating change. Twenty of those leaders and innovators were inducted into the 2025 UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
THE NEED FOR SPEED
By Dan Knapp
A UK alumnus shifts into high gear as a NASCAR engineer, racing through the ranks from student projects to one of the sport’s most legendary teams. With his sights set on the crew chief seat, he’s proving that success isn’t just about horsepower.
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
By Savanna Emrick
The UK Alumni Association recently recognized 293 students who will receive scholarships totaling $386,750 in the 2025-2026 academic year during its annual Scholarship Dinner at the Gatton Student Center.
LETTERS FROM DAD
By Savanna Emrick
Every day that she was a student at the University of Kentucky, Rosie Paulik received a hand-written letter from her dad. Now she runs the Dad Letter Project so others can share in the magic.
A KING-SIZED LEGACY
By Ann Blackford
UK has always been “home” to many, if not most, members of Howard and Elizabeth King’s family. To date, the family spans three generations and includes 54 UK graduates, representing more than 70 degrees.
Photo by Tim Webb
Photo by Breven Walker
CREDITS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jill Holloway Smith ‘05 BE, ‘11 AFE: Associate Vice President for Stakeholder Engagement and Executive Director of the UK Alumni Association
EDITORS
Meredith Weber: Director of Marketing and Communications
Sally Scherer: Managing Editor
DESIGNER
Whitney Stamper: Graphic Designer, Alumni
CONTACT US
King Alumni House
400 Rose St. Lexington, KY 40506
859-257-8905
800-269-ALUM
Fax: 859-323-1063
Email: ukalumni@uky.edu
Web: www.ukalumni.net
ukalumni
@kentuckyalumni
@kentucky_alumni
ukalumni.net/linkedin
@kentuckyalumni
Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is published quarterly by the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington, Kentucky, for its members.
Wondering why you received Kentucky Alumni magazine?
All current Life and Active Members of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association automatically receive the Kentucky Alumni magazine quarterly. All who give $75 or more ($25 for recent graduates) to any UK fund, including UK Athletics/K Fund and DanceBlue, are recognized as Active Members regardless of alumni status.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL
Officers
Thomas K. Mathews ‘93 AS: President
Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS, ’98 ED: Presidentelect
Quentin R. Tyler ’02 ’05 AFE, ’11 AS: Treasurer
Jill Holloway Smith ’05 BE, ’11 AFE: Secretary
In-State Representatives
Michelle Bishop Allen ’06 ’10 BE
Christopher J. Crumrine ‘08 CI, ‘10 GS, ‘23 AS
Donna G. Dutton ‘87 BE
Emmanuel Dhemby Moussabou ‘24 HS
James F. Gilles, III ’10 AFE
Lee Jackson ’73 AS
Frank Kendrick ’90 ’92 DE
Scott Mason ‘94 AS, ’03 LAW
Maegan McDowell Mansfield ‘11 ‘13 EN
Michelle McDonald ‘84 AFE, ‘92 ED
Jennifer A. Parks ‘81 AS
Michaela R. Sheppard ‘19 HS, ‘23 LAW, ‘23 PH
Robin Simpson Smith ‘79 BE, ‘82 LAW
Sarah W. Smith ’05 CI
Anthony Thornton ’05 BE
Rachel Watts Webb ‘05 CI
Blake Broadbent Willoughby ‘11 ‘12 ‘12 BE
Out-of-State Representatives
Shane T. Carlin ‘95 AFE
Shiela D. Corley ‘94 AS, ‘95 AFE
Michael L. Hawks ’80 AS, ’85 DE
Anthony G. Hester ‘86 EN
Vincent M. Holloway ‘83 EN
Mark A. Ison ’99 FA
Susan L. Liszeski ‘84 AFE
Beatty London ’00 BE
Carlos Phillips ‘90 CI
Chad D. Polk ‘94 DES
Ronald Sampson ‘83 EN
Nicole M. Segneri ’91 CI
Tanner W. Thompson ‘23 BE
Winn F. Williams ‘71 AS
Dominique Renee Wright ‘08 EN
Stephanie D. Wurth ‘05 CI
Alumni Trustees
Brenda B. Gosney ‘70 HS, ‘75 ED
Hannah M. Myers ‘93 ED
Paula L. Pope ‘73 ‘75 ED
Living Past Presidents
Richard A. Bean ’69 BE
Michael A. Burleson ’74 PHA
Bruce K. Davis ‘71 LAW
Scott E. Davis ‘73 BE
Robert “Rob” L. Crady III ’94 BE Marianne Smith Edge ’77 AFE
Franklin H. Farris Jr. ’72 BE
William G. Francis ’68 AS, ’73 LAW
Dan Gipson ’69 EN
Brenda B. Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED
Cammie DeShields Grant ’77 LCC, ’79 ED
John R. Guthrie ’63 CI
Antoine Huffman ’05 CI
Diane M. Massie ’79 CI
Janie McKenzie-Wells ’83 AS, ’86 LAW
Robert E. Miller
Susan V. Mustian ’84 BE
Hannah Miner Myers ’93 ED
John C. Nichols II ’53 BE
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 K. Shelman ’81 EN
David L. Shelton ’66 BE
J. Fritz Skeen ’72 ’73 BE
J. Tim Skinner ’80 DES
Hank B. Thompson Jr. ’71 CI
Elaine A. Wilson ‘68 ‘23 SW
Leadership Advisory Council
In-State Representatives
Jacob Broderick ’05 BE
John S. Cain ‘86 BE
Kevin L. Collins ’84 EN
Emily C. Henderson ’01 PHA
LuAnn Holmes ‘79 DES
Shelia Key ’91 PHA
Julia Little ‘19 ED
Jason Marcus ‘ 24 AS
Kent Mills ’83 BE
Tonya B. Parsons ’91 AS
Jonell Tobin ‘69 ‘70 ‘95 ED
Kendra Wadsworth ’06 ED
Lori E. Wells ’96 BE
Allen O. Wilson ’03 AFE, ’06 LAW
Out-of-State Representatives
Nicole Blackwelder ’86 AS, ‘87 PHA
R. Michael Gray ‘80 ‘81 BE
James F. Hardymon Jr. ‘87 BE
Erin Carr Logan ’06 BE
Michael McNeely ’98 AS, ’03 PH
Michaela Mineer Steverson ’98 AS, ’03 PH
Peter T. Shattuck ‘86 ED
College Representatives
Will Nash ‘06 AS: College of Arts & Sciences
Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 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
La Tasha A. Buckner ‘97 AS, ‘00 LAW: Lewis Honors College
Michaela Mineer Steverson ‘18 CI, ‘18 AFE, ‘21 GS: Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Dr. Debra J. Sowell ’82 MED: College of Medicine
Tukea L. Talbert ‘89 ‘94 ‘06 NUR: College of Nursing
Dr. Joseph R. Mashni ‘91 ‘92 PHA: College of Pharmacy
Amna Al-Jumaily ‘19 EN: Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
Emily Clear ‘06 ED, ‘09 ‘13 PH: College of Public Health
Shaye Page Johnson ‘02 AS, ‘05 LAW: J. David Rosenberg College of Law
Cheryl Talbert ‘95 ‘00 ‘23 SW: College of Social Work
Constituency Group Representatives
James R. Aaron ’04 CI: PrideCats
Lillian Bland ‘83 CC: Lyman T. Johnson Alumni Constituency Group
Bryce Dexter, ‘22 AS; DanceBlue
Katie Caccavari ’87, ’90 ED: Alumni Band
Natalee Feese ’89 ’92 ED: Alumni Band
Appointed
Jackson Baird: Student Government Association
Dr. Michael A. Christian ’76 AS, ’80 DE: Honorary
Jo Hern Curris ’63 AS, ’75 LAW: Honorary
Katie Eiserman ’01 ED: Athletics
Thomas W. Harris ‘85 AS: Honorary
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
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From the President
Every fall brings with it a sense of return — to familiar places, shared memories and the stories that remind us of who we are. This issue captures that spirit.
You’ll read about Eric Wooldridge, who’s leading Floodbuster I, an effort that blends creativity and purpose to design homes strong enough to stand through disaster. You’ll follow Monon Rahman as he accelerates through the ranks of NASCAR in hopes of becoming a crew chief, driven by the same curiosity and grit that fueled his days at UK. And you’ll see how Rosie Paulik turned a college memory — letters from her dad — into the Dad Letter Project, connecting volunteers and strangers through simple words of encouragement.
You will also find moments from our Hall of Distinguished Alumni celebration, where we celebrated 20 exceptional graduates with the university’s highest honor. Since 1965, the Hall of Distinguished Alumni has recognized Wildcats whose leadership and service exemplify the power of a UK education, with each of our inductees carrying forward our university’s values into their communities.
The annual Scholarship Dinner and the joy of Homecoming are also captured in photos here that speak louder than words.
Each page of this magazine tells the same story in its own way — of Wildcats who build with heart and lead with purpose.
You remind us that the Kentucky spirit endures in service and in community, bound by a promise more than 160 years old.
Thank you for staying close, for sharing your gifts and for helping uphold our mission to advance Kentucky in all that we do.
Sincerely,
Eli Capilouto President
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto addressed those attending the 2025 UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni event in September.
Photo by Tim Webb
Pride in Blue
Greetings again from sunny Houston! I must begin this dispatch by sharing my thoughts about the 2025 Hall of Distinguished Alumni induction ceremony. It was an unforgettable event. This year we added 20 inductees from a wide range of backgrounds, with career and personal accomplishments that in many cases left me stunned.
This class of distinguished alumni was filled with people who have reached the very pinnacle of their professions. We had university presidents (plural), ambassadors (plural), and titans of industry (let’s say several). Each alum who crossed the stage at the ceremony has contributed in a major way to the enrichment of their local communities and the world at large. It was humbling to get to spend a few minutes with several of them, to hear the stories of their time in Lexington and to learn how their University of Kentucky education prepared them for “lives of meaning and purpose.”
At the event I gained more insight into two gentlemen who I was already familiar with through their service on the UK Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. I thought it would be impossible to hold Willis Bright and David Ratterman in any higher esteem. But being able to learn more about their efforts, not just in philanthropy but also in service to our country, well as I said, it was very humbling.
It was also quite inspirational to hear about the challenges that many of the inductees had to overcome. More than a few were from the rural parts of Kentucky or came from families without many resources. In many cases, they enrolled at UK without a clear vision of what they wanted to pursue in life. I always get a special kick out of our alumni who find their true calling just a bit farther along life’s path when compared to others. You might call them late bloomers. I think they’re special.
My only regret was not having more time to sit down with the entire group because I’m convinced there was something special to be gleaned from everyone. I strongly encourage you to read more about each of these inductees – beginning on page 20 of this magazine – because you will most certainly find a path that motivates you in some small way. Let me share one brief conversation that made a personal impact. I was so impressed with Dr. Xiangming “Jack” Cheng. He is the founder of AA metals, which is now a global enterprise with nearly 600 employees. He earned his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from UK in 2000.
I asked Dr. Cheng if there was a specific natural talent, a learned skill, or a character trait that he felt contributed most to his business success. After a brief pause, he simply replied, “focus.” He said it wasn’t necessarily the overall effort that he applied to his work, which I’m sure was Herculean, but rather his ability to stay on task and minimize the distractions.
University of Kentucky Alumni Association President Tom Mathews congratulates Dr. Xiangming “Jack” Cheng on being inducted to the 2025 Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
This is a basic concept, right? But it can be profound when applied correctly. It’s a message perhaps all of us need to hear more often, especially when the entire world is now at our virtual and endlessly scrolling fingertips. It calls to my (occasionally still scientific) mind the process of distillation, which I was first introduced to at UK’s legendary Chem-Phys building.
You’re probably at least familiar with the term distillation as it relates to our Commonwealth’s multibillion-dollar bourbon industry, a source of jobs and pride for many. It is a separation and purification technique that exploits differences in boiling points to separate components of a liquid mixture. In short, distillation allows us to concentrate, to clarify, and to refine.
Whether it’s in a laboratory or in our personal and professional lives, shouldn’t we all take the opportunity to do just that?
The UK Alumni Association mission says we are focused on “supporting the University of Kentucky and its students by fostering lifelong alumni engagement, providing benefits and services and encouraging alumni to stay connected to the university and each other through programs and events.”
With that focus, we can improve the lives of alumni and Kentuckians today and in the future.
UK Alumni Association President
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Photo
Tim Webb
THE BIG BLUE NATION.
FINAL BEAM PLACED AT NEW HEALTH EDUCATION BUILDING
In August, UK celebrated the ceremonial “topping out” of the new Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building. 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.
Construction began October 2023 on the 509,000-square-foot facility located at the intersection of University and Huguelet Drives. “Topping out” is the construction term used to indicate that the final steel beam is being placed on the building and topping out ceremonies are a symbolic milestone that celebrates the building’s progress and the hard work put in by the construction and design teams.
UK alumni, faculty, staff and students from the health colleges had the chance to sign the beam prior to the ceremony.
“Today’s milestone is about more than steel and concrete — it represents our unwavering commitment to the health of Kentucky,” said UK President Eli Capilouto at the celebration. “This structure rising behind us is a symbol of collaboration and progress, and it represents the future of health care for our state. It is here that students from across disciplines will come together to train, solve problems and discover solutions that make health care stronger for every community in our Commonwealth.” ■
SKYTALK BRINGS THE UNIVERSE TO THE COMMUNITY
When the sun dips below the horizon and the stars emerge over Lexington, the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ SkyTalk program invites the community to gather, look up and wonder — together.
For nearly two decades, the monthly talks have drawn people of all ages — from middle school students to retirees — to UK’s MacAdam Student Observatory to explore the mysteries of the cosmos. Hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the program blends accessible presentations with eye-catching visuals and, weather permitting, telescope viewings of the night sky.
“SkyTalk is very likely one of the most visible public outreach programs of our college,” said Tom Troland, UK professor emeritus of physics and astronomy.
“The series offers a unique opportunity for our community to learn about interesting and sometimes late-breaking astronomical concepts from experts in the field. The emphasis is on ideas that can be described in layperson terms — it’s for anyone curious about the universe.”
Speakers include UK physics and astronomy faculty, post-doctoral researchers and graduate students. Presentations often spark questions from children and adults alike, followed by a visit to the observatory’s research-grade telescope — a rare resource for a university campus that’s open to the public thanks to an endowment from the late UK professor Keith MacAdam.
Even if clouds obscure the stars, guests can still tour the observatory, learn about its technology and see how UK astronomers use it for research.
Each talk is also livestreamed on YouTube and archived for on-demand viewing, broadening access beyond campus. ■
Photo provided
Photos by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo
PATTERSON SCHOOL MOVES INTO RENOVATED SPACE
The Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, in collaboration with the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and the Henry Clay Center, celebrated the grand opening of the newly renovated Miller Hall.
Located in the heart of the University of Kentucky’s campus, Miller Hall provides students with state-of-the-art facilities that will elevate the learning experience for years to come. The building features upgraded classrooms, expanded resources, and modern technology – all designed to support the next generation of leaders in diplomacy and international affairs.
In addition to academic spaces, the renovation includes newly designed office spaces for faculty and staff, as well as conference rooms and study rooms that foster collaboration, research, and engagement.
This milestone reflects both the University of Kentucky and the Patterson School’s commitment to excellence and innovation in preparing students for global leadership. The 66th Patterson Cohort has 27 new students this fall. The varied group includes international students, individuals returning after earning their Ph.D., and even a Donovan Scholar who is fully enrolled in the program. The class is made up of non-UK students, with students coming from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, among others. ■
DENTISTRY MOBILE CLINIC GETS NEW LOOK
The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry’s mobile dental clinic has a fresh new look designed to make children feel more comfortable and less nervous.
“Our mobile clinic is very important because it allows us to go to many underserved communities throughout Kentucky,” said Dr. Ron Singer, division chief of public health dentistry at UK’s College of Dentistry. “Having the mobile clinic allows us to provide great care without having to set up an entire clinic inside the school or community center. It’s convenient for everyone.”
UK’s College of Dentistry currently operates mobile dental clinics and a dental outreach program serving elementary school children and Head Start children in various Kentucky counties. The program celebrates 35 years of service and has received several national awards for collaboration and community engagement. After
years of service, it was time to give the mobile clinic a fresh look.
The goal is for the fun design to also make children feel more comfortable and less nervous to enter the clinic environment since the Wildcat colors are something they typically recognize.
“The excitement when people see anything related to UK, especially in a lot of these rural areas around the state, is amazing,” said Dr. Kenny Nusbacher, ’08 DE, ’22 PH, assistant chief medical officer for ambulatory dentistry at UK HealthCare. “Many of these students have never had dental care before. They can be very nervous, scared and not sure what to expect. We hope seeing the UK logo and colors can help alleviate some of their worries.”
This year, the mobile clinic will bring care to hundreds of students across Kentucky. ■
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Photos
Carter Skaggs, UK Photo
ALUMNA HELPS EMPOWER THE FUTURE OF SPORTS
Emily Guimond’s experiences at the University of Kentucky College of Education Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion set her on a path she never could have imagined just a few years ago. She is part of a groundbreaking movement in sports as head of strength and conditioning for Athletes Unlimited — a professional women’s sports league founded in 2020. It comprises softball, volleyball and basketball leagues.
Guimond’s journey from university weight rooms to professional arenas is proof that taking chances, networking and putting in the effort can lead to extraordinary opportunities. For the athletes she now serves, her work is not only building strength and resilience but also helping build the future of sports.
In her role with Athletes Unlimited, Guimond ’23 ED ensures athletes are prepared to compete at the highest level. That expertise was built on a foundation of experience and opportunity she gained at UK. It was a volunteer strength and conditioning internship that brought Guimond to Kentucky in the summer of 2019.
“After that summer, I became a graduate assistant for the UK Athletics strength and conditioning program for Olympic sports. This provided me with a fantastic opportunity to assist as a full-time strength and conditioning coach while also pursuing my master’s degree at a highly regarded school with a strong athletics and academics program,” Guimond said.
Her role at UK included assisting with the softball team, where she worked with players Erin Coffel and Kayla Kowalik.
AQUARIUM JELLYFISH EXHIBIT TRANSFORMS SPACE
Families visit aquariums to marvel at glowing jellyfish, flock to theme parks for thrills and gather at festivals to celebrate traditions. For Mallory Hall ’09 DES, ’13 AFE, these aren’t just attractions — they are carefully designed experiences meant to spark wonder and joy.
This perspective has been the driving force for Hall’s career in experiential design, a multidisciplinary field that combines space, storytelling and sensory detail to create memorable and engaging visitor experiences. Hall currently puts this philosophy in action as a creative director for Herschend, the largest family-held, themed-attractions company in the U.S.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into creating an authentic guest experience,” Hall said. “When you talk about design,
Today, both are excelling in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) — Kowalik finished first in the league’s All-Star Cup and Coffel placed fourth. For Guimond, it is a full-circle moment, blending her time at Kentucky with her current work with the professional league. ■
there are so many different elements that tie into it. Lighting, spatial layout and other design choices all influence how people feel in an environment. It all comes together to shape the experience.”
Since joining Herschend in 2023, Hall has worked on projects such as organizing the inaugural Christmas festival at Kentucky Kingdom and overseeing the construction of one of Herschend’s largest underwater sculptures, a 10-foothigh octopus sculpture made entirely of pumpkins for Newport (Kentucky) Aquarium’s “Underwater Pumpkin Glow” festival.
One of Hall’s most recent projects is Newport Aquarium’s “Jellies: Go With The Flow” exhibit, which marked the first expansion of the aquarium’s footprint in 17 years. The space had previously been used for back-of-house functions. Drawing on her interior design expertise, Hall and her team transformed the space by installing a grid system 8-9 feet above the floor, running LED chasing tubes to
mimic ocean currents, and hanging fiber optic jelly lights. Visitors are immediately immersed in a dynamic jellyfish bloom, with shimmering lights, moving waves and subtly shifting floors, turning a challenging space into a memorable centerpiece of the aquarium. ■
Photo provided
provided
Photo
HOSPITAL RECEIVES GRANT FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH
The Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund awarded $2.5 million to Kentucky Children’s Hospital to support research aimed at reducing the morbidity, mortality and long-term complications of pediatric cancer.
“This grant will allow the University of Kentucky College of Medicine to push forward innovative treatments from the lab to the patient bedside,” said Dr. Chipper Griffith, III, ’95 PH, dean of the UK College of Medicine. “With this support, we can fuel breakthroughs that bring hope and healing to families across Kentucky who are facing cancer.”
Previous grants funded the development of Project Inherited Cancer Risk, which evaluates patients for genetic predispositions that increase pediatric cancer risk. Through genetic testing, physicians can develop care plans to detect tumors early at a more treatable stage through personalized surveillance both for the child and for affected family members.
In the four years since the project
RESEARCHERS DISCOVER KEY BRAIN CELL BREAKDOWN IN ALZHEIMER’S
was launched, more than 250 patients have been sequenced and several examples of how discovering inherited cancer syndromes have been identified. The program has expanded to include Norton Children’s Hospital to make the project a state-wide effort.
“Kentucky is a national leader in providing support for children with cancer, and we are thrilled to be able to attract pediatric oncology researchers
Researchers at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging now have a better understanding of how the brain’s support cells communicate with blood vessels — a process that goes awry in Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was recently featured on the cover of The Journal of Neuroscience. The cover image was taken by Blaine Weiss, first author on the paper and a graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences in the UK College of Medicine.
The team revealed a critical weak link that may help explain why and how the brain’s energy supply short-circuits in people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
“This study pinpoints a crucial breakdown in communication between brain cells and
to the Commonwealth to reduce the burden of childhood cancer in our state,” said Dr. John D’Orazio, division chief of the division of pediatric oncology and hematology at KCH, who also serves as the vice chair of the KPCRF.
Kentucky ranks among the highest in pediatric cancer incidence rates in the country. ■
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blood vessels in Alzheimer’s,” said Chris Norris, professor of pharmacology and nutritional sciences, associate director at Sanders-Brown and senior author of the study. “It opens the door to new ways of thinking about astrocyte-centric therapies to help restore normal blood flow and metabolic health in the aging brain.”
Norris and the team looked at astrocytes — star-shaped support cells that help the brain’s blood vessels deliver energy where it’s needed and that maintain healthy communication between nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s, astrocytes become reactive — changing how they function in ways that are still not fully understood. ■
Photo
Mark Cornelison, UK
Photo
CONNECTIONS
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
HOMECOMING HOMECOMING
2025
‘ONCE
A WILDCAT, ALWAYS A WILDCAT’
Thousands of alumni were welcomed home to the University of Kentucky for Homecoming 2025.
The theme, “Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat,” was reflected in every gathering of friends, every awards presentation and every moment shared between alumni, students and friends.
Highlights included the Swag Cab cruising through campus with special guests and plenty of Homecoming swag, the Homecoming Royalty Showcase where royalty was crowned, the Golden Wildcat Society Induction Ceremony and Dinner, the Lyman T. Johnson Awards Luncheon, a Young Alumni Homecoming Happy Hour at Local Taco and Tin Roof, Big Blue Day at Keeneland, and a Homecoming tailgate before the football game against Texas.
Everywhere you looked, Wildcat alumni were donning blue and white and enjoying being back on campus, remembering the good times and creating new memories. We look forward to seeing you in 2026, Wildcats!
From left to right are Nathan Hocker and Aniah Coleman who were crowned Mr. and Ms. Black UK and Olivia Kitts and Carson Kitts who were crowned 2025 University of Kentucky Homecoming king and queen.
Photos by Joe Bandy, Logan Briscoe, Carter Skaggs, Breven Walker and Tim Webb.
SHELTERING KENTUCKY, LAYER BY LAYER
By Dan Knapp
FUK alumnus Eric Wooldridge uses a little concrete, a little technology and a lot of ingenuity as he constructs houses for Kentuckians that can take a real wallop.
or architect and engineer Eric Wooldridge, it’s a frustratingly familiar story. Season after season, as natural disasters sweep across the Commonwealth, outdated construction practices lead to the same devastating result: homes are reduced to matchsticks and communities are left in ruins.
In May, an EF4 tornado carved a 60-mile swath through Somerset and London in Southern Kentucky, killing 19, injuring more than 100 and inflicting close to $350 million in damages. Fourth-generation farmer Wooldridge — whose family’s ties run deep and who lives on the same acreage where he grew up — was on the ground the next morning, surveying the devastation.
Among the torn-apart homes, splintered trees and demolished cars that had been spun like tops before being dumped yards away, all Wooldridge could do was think about how to stop the cycle of destruction and loss.
“We saw exactly why the buildings failed…and to be truthful, we’ve known why buildings fail for a long, long time,” laments Wooldridge, who earned his B.S. in biosystems engineering and M.S. in manufacturing systems engineering (with an additive manufacturing focus) from the UK’s Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. “It isn’t a mystery as to why they failed. We’ve had the engineering data and computer models for years. The problem is that every time we rebuild, we use the exact same materials and the exact same building processes.”
The devastation mirrored scenes Wooldridge had witnessed before: tornadoes and floods across the Commonwealth in recent
years. The storms seem to be intensifying. With each season, the question grows louder: how do we build something that lasts?
Wooldridge has asked that question for years. From his base at Somerset Community College, where he serves as director of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System’s Additive Manufacturing Center, he leads a team that is rethinking housing from the ground up — literally.
Kentucky’s unique position makes it a bullseye for severe weather — storms that, according to UK Agricultural Weather Center Senior Meteorologist Matthew Dixon, will only intensify and strike more often.
“Kentucky is in a unique spot,” Dixon explains. “Here in the lower Ohio Valley, different air masses collide. We have cold, dry air dropping in from Canada. We have warm, moist air rising from the Gulf. That mix makes Kentucky the perfect place for storms to ignite, sometimes leading to major disasters. Their frequency has surged in recent decades, taken to another level as our weather patterns become more extreme.”
Using 3D-printed concrete, Wooldridge is rewriting the rules of reconstruction and challenging the very cycle of destruction.
A month after the tornadoes ripped through their community, Wooldridge and his team turned their ideas into reality, casting Kentucky’s first 3D-printed concrete home. Students, faculty, contractors, government officials and the media watched as the house rose — a model of homes engineered to endure whatever nature throws at them.
by Eric R. Sanders
“Our Additive Manufacturing Center has been partnering with the Kentucky USDA Rural Development office for many years, and when they came to us with the question of what could be possible with concrete and 3D-printing,” Wooldridge recounts, explaining how that conversation led to the grant that set the project in motion. “We said, ‘Well, a lot could be possible.’”
With additional funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, that possibility came to life in June with the 3D printing of Kentucky’s first house. The robotic nozzle swept in arcs, drawing concrete walls line by line. With each layer, walls emerged in slow motion, like geological strata taking shape. “Slow” is relative, though. Wooldridge notes that once the machinery is in place, printing a home should take just 3-4 days — a fraction of the weeks traditional construction requires.
Constructed without any wood framing, the project was dubbed “Floodbuster 1,” built to endure tornadoes and floods that threaten lives and livelihoods across the state.
“Stress tends to collect in the corners,” Wooldridge explains, pointing to one of the strategies behind the design. Using his engineering and architectural expertise, additive manufacturing experience and artificial intelligence, he creates structures with rounded, amorphous corners and other innovations concealed within the walls that act as built-in, geometric countermeasures, reinforcing the building where it is most vulnerable.
“That’s why we call this design the ‘Floodbuster,’ because it’s a shaping of the critical points to keep it from failing,” says Wooldridge, who created KCTCS’s first statewide 3D printing technician certificate program and whose additive manufacturing courses are taken by thousands of high school and community college students across Kentucky and beyond.
These homes represent a convergence: old-school engineering principles meet inventive design and cutting-edge technology.
“We know where the stresses of a high wind are going to be placed on a building,” Wooldridge continues. “We know where the forces of a flood are going to be, so if you say, ‘Hey, we’re going to have a Class 4 flood rating in this area.’ Our team can take the calculated forces to see where the failure points are going to be. Then we program the concrete printer to add more material precisely at those failure points and take it away from other areas.”
The intricate – and traditionally impossible – geometry inside the walls is what makes them “super, super strong,” Wooldridge explains. Because the design is so precise, builders use reinforcement only where needed, minimizing material waste and keeping costs down.
By identifying exactly where stress and water are likely to accumulate, Wooldridge’s designs don’t just make homes stronger — they make them easier to recover. After a flood, residents can reoccupy a Floodbuster much faster, avoiding the long-term damage and health hazards that plague conventional wood-framed houses.
“With the ability to use these printers, I can use AI and advanced engineering to design houses that won’t get knocked over,” Wooldridge explains. “They might get flooded, but we can go in and
Clorox them out, so to speak, move back in pretty fast, which is essentially what they do in wood ones…except that moisture damage to the wood is associated with long-term respiratory issues, mold and other issues for the rest of the life of the house.”
The economics are compelling, too.
“Modern, wood-frame houses don’t last as long as they used to,” Wooldridge explains, citing the changes in material quality and performance often found in contemporary construction. “After 40 to 50 years, they’re going to need maintenance depending on climatic region. Modern developments more often than not involve bulldozing existing older homes so that new ones can be built. Compare that 50-year investment to a house that can be concrete 3D-printed — that could last 100, maybe even 150 years.”
Energy savings are another advantage, though the reason may be surprising.
“They’re definitely more efficient, but not in the way most people think,” Wooldridge teases. “Since a concrete 3D-printed house is built by a machine that is very precise, it creates a tighter seal and can be draft-free. That’s what’s going to make the significant energy performance difference compared to traditionally framed houses — not just because of our ability to improve the insulation value in the walls, but because it’s completely sealed.”
Combine the longevity with lower building costs and energy savings, and Wooldridge says the choice is clear. But the real reason to embrace 3D-printed concrete homes still boils down to safety and having a place to call home.
Ryan Thigpen, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in UK’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, studies the effects of devastating weather events. He says the innovative work by Wooldridge and his team at SCC offers a rare, practical response to some of the region’s toughest challenges.
“I love the small towns and the river valleys in the Appalachians and the mountain communities,” explains Thigpen, a Tennessee native. “I think that’s what makes Appalachia Appalachian. If all these people get flooded out, many will leave town because they just can’t take it anymore. What’s Appalachia going to become? Eric’s an Appalachian kid, too. He loves this place — it means everything to him. What he’s trying to do is take the most pragmatic approach to solving some of the biggest problems we’re facing.”
Now that Floodbuster 1 is a reality, Wooldridge and his team are turning their attention from prototypes to real-world applications. The next phase will bring these resilient homes to people who need them most. He is already partnering with others across the nation for concrete 3D-printed residential developments, and soon, he will help Skyland 3D print houses for veterans transitioning to civilian life at Bluegrass Veterans Ranch, part of the Connect Community Village in Somerset, providing not just shelter but stability and a foundation for new beginnings.
The storms will only grow fiercer, and the winds will blow harder. But Wooldridge and his students will keep designing homes that can withstand them — giving Kentuckians the resilience to weather whatever comes next. ■
WE NEED YOUR
VOTE
Announcing the 2025 Alumni Trustee Election Candidates
Six University of Kentucky graduates are candidates to represent alumni on the UK Board of Trustees:
Robert L. Crady, III (Louisville, KY)
Ruth Cecelia Day (Madisonville, KY / Jacksonville Beach, FL)
Vincent M. Holloway (Fleming Island, FL)
Susan Van Buren Mustian (Hebron, KY)
J. Fritz Skeen (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL)
Thomas M. Smith (Prestonsburg, KY)
Voting opens in December 2025. Alumni will receive their ballot by email on Nov. 30.
UK graduates have the opportunity to help shape the university’s future by electing one of these candidates to serve a six-year term on the Board of Trustees beginning July 1, 2026. The elected trustee will serve as one of three alumni representatives on the 21-member board.
For more information, call 800-269-2586.
Hall of Distinguished Alumni 2025
UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni inducts new class
The University of Kentucky’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni pays tribute to those UK alumni who have distinguished themselves and their alma mater through their contribution to the welfare of the Commonwealth and the nation. Established in 1965, 353 alumni have been inducted, including the 20 who were recognized in 2025.
This class includes engineers, lawyers, college presidents, two ambassadors, a chef, a broadcaster, a songwriter and entrepreneurs who have excelled across the arts, sciences, public service, business, education and beyond.
“The newest members of the Hall of Distinguished Alumni are not simply graduates of this institution, they are the keepers of our legacy and the teachers of what it means to live our mission of advancing Kentucky,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “They remind us that the value of a University of Kentucky education is not measured in accolades alone, but in the lives made stronger and the futures made brighter because of their influence.”
The Hall of Distinguished Alumni induction ceremony is held every five years. On the following pages, you’ll meet the remarkable alumni whose stories and achievements earned them a place among UK’s most distinguished graduates.
Photos by Joe Bandy, Logan Briscoe, Mark Cornelison and Tim Webb.
Dr. Terry L. Birdwhistell*
M.A. ’74 – History, College of Arts and Sciences
M.A. ’78 – Library Science, College of Communication and Information
Ed.D. ’94 – Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, College of Education
Dr. Terry L. Birdwhistell of Lexington, Kentucky, dedicated more than 50 years to UK, becoming one of the nation’s foremost oral historians and a treasured chronicler of the Commonwealth’s history. He was the founding director of both the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center, bringing national recognition to UK Libraries. His career included service as associate dean for Special Collections and Digital Programs, university archivist, and seven years as Dean of UK Libraries and William T. Young Endowed Chair, overseeing a $20 million budget and 11 libraries housing millions of volumes and resources.
A prolific author and editor, Birdwhistell co-edited the oral history series, “Kentucky Remembered,” and authored or co-authored 15 books. He conducted nearly 1,000 oral history interviews with figures ranging from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lady Bird Johnson to Kentucky governors and UK presidents. His work documented both prominent leaders and everyday Kentuckians, capturing stories of race relations, women’s history, veterans and rural health care workers.
A native of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, Birdwhistell served as president of the National Oral History Association and held leadership roles in several other professional organizations. He received numerous honors, including the UK Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award, the Outstanding Alumni Award from the UK School of Library and Information Science and induction into the UK College of Education Hall of Fame.
Even after retiring as Senior Oral Historian in 2022, he continued his work of preserving history. At his passing in 2023, UK described him as “Kentucky’s keeper of stories,” a fitting tribute to a life devoted to safeguarding the voices of the past for future generations.
His work captured Kentucky’s soul across every kind of life. He gave voice to the voiceless, made space for stories that might have been forgotten and helped shape UK’s institutional memory in ways that we’re still discovering. And through his work, his students, friends and family, his voice and his laugh, continue to echo.
Willis K. Bright, Jr., of Indianapolis, Indiana, has devoted more than 50 years to higher education, community leadership and philanthropy. His career began in student services, counseling and child development at Iowa State University, and he later served as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. After six years with the Public Affairs and Honeywell Foundation, he joined the Lilly Endowment where he spent 27 years advancing major philanthropic initiatives until his retirement in 2017.
Bright’s leadership and impact have been widely recognized, including being named Grantmaker of the Year by the Indiana Grantmaker Alliance and serving as the Ambassador James Joseph Lecturer for the Association of Black Foundation Executives. He is president of Bright Visions Inc., an organizational development consulting firm, and cofounder and chair of the African American Coalition of Indianapolis, a 20+ member alliance advocating for the city’s African American/Black community. Since 2021, he has co-directed a $100 million grant initiative aimed at improving quality of life for the African American/Black community in Indianapolis.
A dedicated UK alumnus, Bright received the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Medallion and has served on the UK College of Social Work Advisory Committee, UK Alumni Association Board of Directors and Leadership Advisory Council. His family supports future social work professionals through the Bright Family Scholarship Fund.
Bright was inducted into the UK College of Social Work Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the UK Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award in 2019. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for his strategic vision, collaborative leadership and steadfast commitment to advancing educational and community opportunities for others.
Coming to the school of social work, I got a lot of the theory, the practice and values, such as, start where people are, understand their life, understand their context and you’ll be better able to intervene in their lives and make a difference.
These notions have guided me throughout my career, and I appreciate the foundations that they have provided throughout.
Clyde R. Carpenter*
Clyde R. Carpenter of Lexington, Kentucky, was a celebrated architect, educator and preservationist whose 57-year teaching career at UK shaped generations of design professionals. A Lexington native, Carpenter’s passion for architecture began at age eight with a book on Frank Lloyd Wright. He earned his bachelor’s degree from UK, a master’s in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and studied in Europe through the Schenck-Woodman Traveling Fellowship. After returning to Lexington, he joined the UK architectural school staff, beginning a teaching career that would span more than five decades.
Carpenter joined UK’s architecture faculty, later serving as assistant to the dean, associate dean and acting dean of the College of Architecture. During his tenure as acting dean (1991-1993), he oversaw the approval of the graduate program in historic preservation. In 2003, he became chair of the Department of Historic Preservation and Clay Lancaster Endowed Professor in Historic Preservation in the newly formed College of Design, a role he held until 2010 while continuing to teach.
An accomplished architect, Carpenter specialized in historic preservation, adaptive reuse and residential design. His work was featured in Architectural Digest, on HGTV and in other publications. He earned several accolades from the Kentucky Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Kentucky Heritage Council/Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation, the Lexington-Fayette Historic Commission and the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, which established the annual Clyde Carpenter Award for Adaptive Reuse in his honor.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Carpenter was a fixture in Lexington’s historic Gratz Park neighborhood and a leader in civic preservation organizations. Recognized with numerous honors, including the C. Julian Oberwarth Gold Medal from AIA Kentucky, Carpenter’s legacy endures in the students he mentored, the buildings he designed and the historic treasures he helped preserve. Carpenter passed away in 2022 at the age of 84, leaving a lasting impact on the city he loved and the field he advanced.
Architecture is what drove the man. It was his life. It was his passion. It was his extended family and his outlet for creativity. He loved his students. It was his way of making a difference in something he excelled in. I am so fortunate to have had Clyde as my brother. Hey Clyde, you rocked, man. Your star is still burning bright.
B.S. ’59 – Civil Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
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Dr. Xiangming “Jack” Cheng
Ph.D. ’00 – Materials Science and Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
.B.A. ’03 – Business Administration, Gatton College of Business and Economics
Dr. Xiangming “Jack” Cheng of Windermere, Florida, is a visionary entrepreneur whose journey spans continents, disciplines and industries. A first-generation Chinese immigrant, Cheng earned degrees in metallurgy and steelmaking in China before coming to UK, where he completed a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering in 2000. He later earned an MBA from UK’s Gatton College of Business and Economics while working as a senior research associate at the Center for Aluminum Technology.
In 2003, Cheng founded AA Metals from his Lexington home with just $600 in savings. Under his leadership, the company has grown into a global enterprise with nearly 600 employees, $1.6 billion in annual revenue, and operations across North America, South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. AA Metals now supplies more than 600 million pounds of aluminum and steel annually to over 500 customers around the world and has been recognized among Central Florida’s largest privately held companies.
Cheng’s achievements have earned international acclaim, including the Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida. His story has been featured on Bloomberg TV’s The American Dream.
A dedicated UK supporter, Cheng serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Pigman College of Engineering and has financially supported research and teaching. He is also an active philanthropist for cancer research and the Chinese American community in Orlando.
Inducted into the Pigman College of Engineering Hall of Distinction in 2023, Cheng’s career reflects his belief in innovation, resilience and giving back to the communities that shaped his success.
In 2003, I paid off my credit card debt, finished my MBA at UK and also received my green card. I knew it was time to start a business. Today we are $1.6 billion in revenue, over 600 employees globally. What an amazing journey. This is truly an American dream. I cannot say enough of my appreciation and gratitude to the University of Kentucky. I am lucky to be a Wildcat.
Rebecca M. Cowen-Hirsch
B.S. ’88 – Electrical Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
Rebecca M. Cowen-Hirsch of Aldie, Virginia, is senior vice president for government strategy and policy for global affairs at Viasat, Inc. She shapes Viasat’s commercial and national security policy in the space and communications domains, with a focus on space sustainability, commercial integration and strategic initiatives. She also provides strategic counsel across the company’s government and commercial sectors.
A decorated member of the U.S. Department of Defense Senior Executive Service, Cowen-Hirsch served as program executive officer for SATCOM, Teleport and Services at the Defense Information Systems Agency, and as the agency’s first vice component acquisition executive. She established and directed the Defense Spectrum Office, overseeing national security spectrum policy, strategic planning and international negotiations. Her career has encompassed systems engineering, experimental flight testing, program and spectrum management, and multiple high-level leadership roles.
She was the first female civilian mission commander for the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft mission and is a recipient of the Department of Defense Exemplary Service Medal. Her industry honors include recognition from the Mobile Satellite Users Association, Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Women in Technology, and inclusion on WashingtonExec’s Top 30 Space Execs to Watch. She serves as chairman of the Mobile Satellite Users Association, on the advisory board of Slingshot Aerospace, and represents Viasat in leading industry associations.
She serves on the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering Advisory Board and is a member of the Pigman College of Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction. CowenHirsch is also a graduate of the University of Tennessee Space Institute Experimental Flight Test Program, the Department of Defense’s Acquisition Management Program and the Cambridge Senior Executive Leadership Program.
When I first walked on to this campus, I had no idea where the education and the foundation from this university and from the College of Engineering would ultimately take me and how that would define a lifetime of service. I could not have possibly imagined the privilege to be able to serve this nation, this world, to innovate and explore and bring to all of us in our daily lives the benefits from space.
Ambassador Kelly Craft
B.A. ’85 – Topical Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Ambassador Kelly Craft of Lexington, Kentucky, served as the Representative of the United States to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021, leading American engagement on global issues during a period of historic diplomatic achievement. Most notably, she was instrumental in the negotiation and implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — the most significant turning point in the Middle East peace process in 50 years.
From 2017 to 2019, Ambassador Craft was U.S. Ambassador to Canada, where she helped navigate the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement into the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, advancing economic growth and labor protections across all three countries.
Ambassador Craft has served on numerous boards, including the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship and the Institute for the Study of War. With a deep commitment to education, she co-founded the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics at Morehead State University and served on the UK Board of Trustees.
An active voice in international policy, Ambassador Craft has spoken at global forums including the Munich Security Conference, Doha Forum and GZero Japan Summit. A staunch defender of Taiwan, she also spoke at the Ketagalan Forum on the importance of regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Ambassador Craft is a leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist who has made community service and improving education the cornerstone of her career.
My life, since becoming a Wildcat, has taken me to so many amazing places from South Sudan to Syria. But there’s one thing I know; no matter where I am in this world, Kentucky is my home. None of these achievements would have been possible without this institution.
Brian L. Cury
B.A. ’81
– Topical Studies, College of Fine Arts
Brian L. Cury of Alpine, New Jersey, is an American technology entrepreneur and founder of EarthCam, a global leader in live camera technology. EarthCam’s content is watched in 190 countries and garners billions of views each year. His passion for blending art and technology began at UK where he studied computer science and filmmaking, earning two Oswald Research and Creativity Awards. His thesis film, The Estate, premiered at the Kentucky Theater, leading to opportunities at Saturday Night Live and collaborations with comedy legends including Eddie Murphy, Joan Rivers, John Candy, Paul Reubens and Rodney Dangerfield.
At 23, Cury managed comedians including Calvert DeForest (“Larry ‘Bud’ Melman” from Late Night with David Letterman) and produced the documentary Spring Broke. A conversation with pop artist Andy Warhol inspired his vision for EarthCam — Warhol observed that “placing a camera on anything can make it famous.” Cury launched EarthCam in 1996, premiering the first live webcam in Times Square for New Year’s Eve, eventually building a worldwide network of cameras.
Following the 9/11 attacks, he installed a camera to document rescue, recovery and construction at Ground Zero, producing one of history’s longest continuous time-lapse projects and establishing EarthCam’s leadership in construction documentation.
Cury holds 12 patents, including the first outdoor gigapixel panoramic camera system, and EarthCam has documented over $1 trillion in construction projects, including major sports stadiums, museums, critical infrastructure and important landmarks worldwide. With millions engaging daily through its apps and TV broadcasts, EarthCam remains a pioneer in visual technology, preserving history and offering unparalleled perspectives of the world.
How do you thank a university that has given you so much? I’ve had a lifelong love affair with UK. I wanted to be a filmmaker. They laid out a program for me that set me on a course for where I am today. In life you need to be innovative, and you need to be flexible. And that’s exactly what UK did for me. They set me on a path to what I do today, and I love what I do.
Jimmy Dunne
B.A.
– Topical Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Jimmy Dunne of Pacific Palisades, California, is a modern-day Renaissance man whose career spans music, television, literature, branding and civic leadership. His songs appear on more than 28 million hit records worldwide, with themes, scores and compositions featured in over 1,000 television episodes, major motion pictures, university alma maters, national sports federations, presidential campaigns and the Olympic Games.
His songs have earned Grammy and Emmy nominations, along with Billboard, CMA, Cashbox, ACM, Juno, Big Country Awards and BMI Songwriter Awards. Dunne’s compositions have achieved multiple gold, platinum and multi-platinum records across the globe. Notable credits include collaborations with Whitney Houston, Kenny Rogers, Janet Jackson, Loverboy, Jermaine Jackson, Anne Murray and productions such as Pretty Woman, Princess Diaries II, Nothing in Common and Fame. As a television writer and producer, he contributed to Paramount Pictures’ Happy Days and developed screenplays for major studios.
Dunne is the author of the award-winning children’s book The Shepherd’s Story and a memoir, Jimmy Dunne Says, distributed by Simon & Schuster. He is the founder of Inspire, a music and branding firm known for creating national campaigns for leading retailers, corporations and universities.
In higher education, Dunne serves as Director of Traditions at Pepperdine University and holds a similar role at Southern Methodist University, developing signature cultural, athletic and fundraising programs. As founder of USA Bocce, he has introduced the sport to clubs, hotels, parks and community spaces nationwide.
Dedicated to youth development, Dunne has established multiple youth sports conferences in Chicago and Los Angeles. His civic engagement has been recognized by Pacific Palisades’ “Citizen of the Year” award.
How grateful I am for my days at the University of Kentucky. For incredible, lifelong Kentucky friends. For teachers who opened my eyes to the wonder of the arts and sciences. For the Lewis Honors College for giving me a gift of confidence. To my old Kentucky home, never far away.
’77
Michael T. Eaves
B.A. ’94 – Journalism, College of Communication and Information
Michael T. Eaves of Bristol, Connecticut, is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, recognized as one of the most prominent voices in sports media. Currently a studio anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter, he has earned a Telly Award and seven Emmy Awards over a career spanning more than 30 years.
Since joining ESPN in 2015, Eaves has anchored coverage of the Olympic Games, Super Bowl, NBA Playoffs, The Masters, PGA Championship, Rose Bowl and historic events including the passing of Kobe Bryant and the funeral of Muhammad Ali. His SportsCenter team earned Emmy Awards in 2021 and 2023 for Outstanding Studio Show.
Previously, Eaves served as lead sports anchor, and later news anchor, at Al Jazeera America, and as a host and reporter for FOX Sports West and Prime Ticket in Los Angeles, covering the Lakers, Dodgers, Clippers and Angels. His work on Clippers Live, Angels Live and original series such as In My Own Words earned five LA-area Emmy Awards and recognition as Best Television Anchor in Southern California by the LA Press Club.
A Kentucky native, Eaves excelled in basketball and golf, becoming the first Black golfer to qualify for the Kentucky High School State Golf Championship. He attended UK on a full academic scholarship, began his broadcasting career while in school, and spent seven years with WKYT/WDKY-TV in Lexington. He is a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and the National Association of Black Journalists.
I hope that my career and my overall life up until this point have paid back that scholarship, and then some. I’m extremely honored and flattered by this recognition which was completely unexpected. I mean, no one enrolls in college thinking they’re going to be in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni. Having said that, it is truly one of the greatest honors of my life.
Ambassador Christine Elder
B.A. ’89 – German, College of Arts & Sciences
Ambassador Christine Elder of Washington, D.C. is the Foreign Policy Advisor to the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, she previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia (2016–2020), earning a U.S. Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service and Liberia’s Order of the Star of Africa.
Her overseas assignments include Consul General in Sydney, Australia; Deputy Chief of Mission in Mozambique; and Cultural Attaché in Germany and Hungary. In Washington, D.C., she has held key roles as Director for Southern African Affairs, Deputy Director for Near Eastern Regional Affairs, and Senior Watch Officer in the State Department’s Operations Center, in addition to positions in the Bureaus of European Affairs, Economic and Business Affairs, and International Information Programs.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Ambassador Elder played a critical role in the resettlement of Afghans with U.S. ties. She began her federal career in 1990 with the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.
In addition to her degree from UK, Ambassador Elder has a master’s in International Relations from The George Washington University. She serves on the Lewis Honors College Advisory Board and, in 2023, received the UK Alumni Global Impact Award.
What a privilege to have been at a university large enough to offer any subject one could want, yet also have smaller communities within it. For me, the College of Arts & Sciences was complemented by an Honors Program which, through cross-disciplinary study and in small groups, instilled in students the invaluable art of civil discourse.
Robert “Bob” Hall Jr.
B.S. ’53 – Agriculture, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Robert “Bob” Hall, Jr. of Georgetown, Kentucky, has devoted his life to agriculture. A sixth-generation farmer, he continues to steward the family farm purchased by his grandfather in the 1860s. His professional path has included service in the U.S. Army, work as a beef cattle herdsman at UK and leadership as owner and president of Farmers Feed Mill, Inc., manufacturer of Hallway Feeds.
Under Hall’s direction, Hallway Feeds has become the trusted supplier for 17 Kentucky Derby winners since 1997, including Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify. Hall has served on numerous boards at the local, state and national levels, earning respect for his humility, integrity and generosity. Over the decades, he has mentored, coached and supported countless individuals, fostering opportunities in agricultural endeavors, business ventures and community leadership.
In 1987, Hall became the first alumnus inducted into the UK Animal Sciences Hall of Fame. His many accolades include the UK College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumni Award (2016), Alpha Gamma Rho–Omicron Chapter Hall of Fame Award (2023) and the livestock industry’s highest honor, induction into the Saddle and Sirloin Club (2019).
At 95, Hall remains active on the farm and in business, inspiring others with his simple wisdom, positive outlook and zest for life.
The university helped me form my foundation for my career and introduced me to professors that became mentors and friends and fellow students who became life-long relationships. Most of all, I want to thank my family for the support and encouragement throughout my life. Thank you for recognizing me for my life’s work.
Samuel “Sam” N. Hazen
B.B.A. ’82 – Business Administration, Gatton College of Business and Economics
Samuel “Sam” N. Hazen of Nashville, Tennessee, is chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the company operates 190 hospitals and approximately 2,500 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 20 states and the United Kingdom. HCA Healthcare and its 300,000 employees provide roughly six percent of all U.S. inpatient hospital services.
Since joining HCA Healthcare, Hazen has served in several senior leadership positions and various positions in the company’s hospitals. His career began in one of the company’s financial management training programs.
Hazen serves on the boards of the Nashville Health Care Council, the Federation of American Hospitals and the HCA Healthcare Foundation. He was inducted into the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics Hall of Fame in 2016.
He holds an MBA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is recognized for his leadership in expanding access to care, advancing healthcare quality and strengthening communities.
It’s hard to believe I graduated from the University of Kentucky 43 years ago. It was a portfolio management class that I took in my senior year and information in the career placement office related to a training program that introduced me to my entry level opportunity with HCA Healthcare. I will cherish this honor always.
by Daniel Brown
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Dr. Rebecca B. Liebert
Dr. Rebecca B. Liebert from Paintsville, Kentucky, is president and chief executive officer of The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company and a global leader in specialty chemicals. Under her leadership, Lubrizol pursues its mission to deliver sustainable solutions that advance mobility, improve well-being and enhance modern life.
Previously, Liebert served as executive vice president at PPG Industries, where she led the global industrial segment, oversaw the Asia Pacific region and managed global procurement, resin and manufacturing functions. She joined PPG in 2018 to lead the automotive OEM coatings business and advance the company’s mobility initiatives.
Her prior leadership roles include president and CEO of Honeywell UOP, an international supplier to the petroleum refining, gas processing and petrochemical production and major manufacturing industries. During her tenure with Honeywell, she also served as senior vice president and general manager across multiple business lines. Earlier in her career, Liebert was president of Reynolds Food Packaging, Alcoa KAMA. Liebert began her career as a development engineer with Nova Chemicals, where she held several positions of increasing responsibility during her tenure.
Liebert serves on the boards of Dow, the American Chemistry Council and the National Association of Manufacturers, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In addition to her chemical engineering degree from UK, she has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
I became the engineer and the leader that I am today at UK. It was such an impressive time for me. I solidified friendships from Paintsville and built lifelong friendships, especially with professors. I love speaking to classes and encouraging students to strive for excellence, lead with integrity and support one another.
B.S. ’90 – Chemical Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
Michael “Mike” L. Marberry
B.S. ’81 – Chemical Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
M.S. ’83 – Chemical Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
Michael L. Marberry of Sarasota, Florida, retired in July 2022 after 25 years as a senior executive with J.M. Huber Corporation, including 13 years as corporate president and chief executive officer. Huber, a sixth-generation diversified family-owned corporation, operates in specialty chemicals, agricultural materials, engineered minerals, food ingredients and structural wood products. Under Marberry’s leadership, the company achieved the strongest growth and financial performance in its 140-year history, earning recognition as one of the most successful family enterprises in the world and as a global leader in environmental sustainability.
Prior to becoming CEO, Marberry served in several senior roles at Huber, including vice president of corporate strategy and mergers/acquisitions, chief financial officer, and president of Huber’s global chemical and specialty materials business. Before joining Huber, he served as director of corporate strategy for PolyOne Corporation, leading acquisitions to drive international expansion; as a business strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, advising corporate leadership teams worldwide; and as a product development engineer with Procter & Gamble, where he was awarded a U.S. patent for a key product formulation within the Health & Personal Care division.
Marberry has extensive corporate governance experience, including a decade as board chair of CP Kelco, as well as long-term service as a director for multiple public companies including leadership roles for executive compensation, management development, and environmental sustainability committees. He currently serves as a director of American Water Works and chairs its Safety, Environment, Technology, and Operations Committee. In addition to his degrees from UK, Marberry received an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 1990.
When I first set foot on the UK campus in 1978, I knew it was going to change my life. My hope back then was quite simple: I just wanted UK to give me a gateway into engineering. Looking back, it certainly did that, but it did so much more. My time in Lexington instilled in me a desire to give back and help students harness the power of a UK education. Over time, my gratitude grew as did my philanthropy to UK, and elsewhere. It has now become a very important aspect of my family life.
Earl “Marty” F. Martin III
B.A. ’84 – Communication, College of Communication & Information
J.D. ’87 – Law, J. David Rosenberg College of Law
Earl F. Martin III of Des Moines, Iowa, began his legal career as a Judge Advocate General Officer in the United States Air Force, serving on active duty from 1987 to 1995 and in the reserves until retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2007. His military service included assignments as a circuit defense counsel for the European Circuit and as an assistant staff judge advocate for the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Following his service, Martin earned an LL.M. degree from Yale Law School in 1996 and embarked on a career in higher education. He held faculty positions at the University of Illinois College of Law and Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, where he served as associate dean for academic affairs. In 2005, he became dean of Gonzaga University School of Law and later served as the university’s executive vice president.
Since 2015, Martin has served as the 13th president of Drake University. His tenure has been marked by the creation of John Dee Bright College, major campus redevelopment, the most successful fundraising campaign in the institution’s history, and national recognition for Drake’s athletics program.
I’m in my 64th year of life and I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s only really one thing in life that matters, and it is love. I would not be here tonight without the love of so many people. I take it as my responsibility now, as the president of a university, as a leader, to reflect that back in my work. It’s what inspires me every single day.
Ouita K. Michel
B.A.
– Political Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Ouita K. Michel of Midway, Kentucky, is an awardwinning chef, restaurateur, author and food advocate whose culinary enterprises have transformed Central Kentucky’s dining landscape. Founder of Holly Hill & Co., Michel leads a family of seven restaurants — including the fine-dining Holly Hill Inn and the iconic Wallace Station — along with a bakery, a bar, an events business and a cooking studio.
Michel is an eight-time James Beard Award semifinalist and a Culinary Ambassador in the U.S. State Department Culinary Corps. She has been nationally recognized for her commitment to Kentucky’s farmers, fishermen, butchers and agricultural stewards, purchasing more than $10 million in Kentucky Proud products over the past two decades.
Michel co-founded FoodChain, a nonprofit dedicated to improving food access, and opened Smithtown Seafood as its public gateway. She is the author of “Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes from Our Favorite Places,” the executive producer of “You Belong Here,” and her Holly Hill Cooking Studio celebrates Kentucky’s people, places and ingredients.
A dedicated mentor to young chefs, Michel is also a passionate collector of cookbooks and a lifelong caretaker of cast iron.
It leaves me speechless to have been selected among this year’s group of inductees. Attending the University of Kentucky changed my life. It’s amazing to see where the university is today. To receive an award like this for making an impact in my community is more meaningful than anything else that has happened in my life professionally.
’87
Photo by Mark Cornelison
Dr. Caroline R. Pogge
M.S. ’99 – Health Administration, College of Public Health
Dr. Caroline R. Pogge of Hopewell Junction, New York, serves as director of the Master of Science in Health Administration program at Fordham University. She is an accomplished healthcare and management consultant, advising on organizational change, enhancing care delivery and evaluating performance both domestically and internationally.
Her consulting experience includes supporting the Public Consulting Group’s independent mid-point assessment of the MassHealth Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program; advising a global NGO on the intersection of human and ocean health, with a focus on shark conservation; and assisting the Chilean Ministry of Health in developing care coordination models to improve efficiency in cancer care across the nation.
Previously, Pogge held leadership positions at Geisinger Health System, including associate vice president of the ProvenCare program and administrative director for the Comprehensive Spine Center, in addition to service line leadership roles in Neuroscience, Pediatrics and Orthopaedics. She began her career at Guthrie Health’s Robert Packer Hospital as an Administrative Resident and Fellow, and later directed women’s health, pediatrics and labor-delivery services, while leading HIPAA implementation and corporate compliance programs.
Parallel to her civilian career, Pogge has served with distinction as a colonel in the U.S. Army, deploying to Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Europe. Her assignments have focused on capacity building, counterterrorism, NATO interoperability and strategic engagement, including an 18-month mobilization at the Pentagon as strategic engagements and policy chief for the Army Recruiting and Retention Task Force.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, a Master of Health Administration from UK, a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a Doctor of Public Health from Harvard University.
During my time here at UK, I learned to become both an empathetic and passionate healthcare leader through the guidance of folks like — I’ll call him the Greatest of All Time professor — Dr. Tom Samuels and also the late Dr. Joel Lee. It translated into over 20 years of experience in the US and abroad. I’d like to think that Dr. Samuels, who pushed us out 26 years ago to “do great things,” looks at our current generation of leaders and remains confident in saying “Hey, healthcare is in good hands.”
David B. Ratterman
B.S. ’68 – Mechanical Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering
David B. Ratterman of Louisville, Kentucky, built an international career in construction law after becoming one of the first in his family to attend high school. He worked as a construction laborer through high school before earning a construction industry scholarship to UK. Following service as a naval engineering and intelligence officer, he earned both a Juris Doctor and an MBA from the University of Louisville.
From his Kentucky offices, Ratterman developed a global practice representing the structural steel industry in the United States and advising counterpart industries in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. He served as an advisor to FEMA on structural failures stemming from the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Cener towers. His work encompassed major infrastructure and industrial projects, including nuclear, gas turbine and coal-fired power generating stations; professional sports venues; landmark bridges and large-scale mining operations.
In recognition of his commitment to the industry, the American Institute of Steel Construction established the David B. Ratterman Undergraduate Scholarship in 2013, which has awarded 216 need-based scholarships to children of construction workers.
I thank the University of Kentucky where the energy and spark and curiosity and quest of youth grows and matures, where youth can dream, new dreams are challenged by new ideas and are exposed to new cultures. Graduates of the University of Kentucky can compete with anyone anywhere in the world and take a back seat to no one.
J. David Rosenberg
J.D. ’74 – Law, Rosenberg College of Law
J. David Rosenberg of Cincinnati, Ohio, is a senior partner at the Cincinnati law firm of Keating, Muething & Klekamp, where he has practiced since 1974. A Lexington native, Rosenberg grew up working in his parents’ small business and graduated from Henry Clay High School, where he excelled in leadership, debate and public speaking.
He earned his undergraduate degree cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from the J. David Rosenberg College of Law, where he was named to the Order of the Coif and received the Brown, Todd & Heyburn Prize in corporate law.
Guided by his Jewish faith and family values, Rosenberg has been an active philanthropist and community leader, supporting education, justice and the arts. He and his wife, Dianne, have supported initiatives ranging from preschool literacy to the Ohio Innocence Project, as well as civic, cultural and Jewish organizations such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. Rosenberg has served on boards or committees of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, Isaac M. Wise Temple, the Music Hall Revitalization Company and the UK Rosenberg College of Law Visiting Committee.
Rosenberg played a pivotal role in the Kentucky Bar Association’s rural practice initiative and has served on numerous nonprofit boards. In 2019, the Rosenbergs made a $20 million gift to the UK College of Law, which now bears his name. He was inducted into the College of Law’s Hall of Fame in 2024.
Growing up in Lexington, the University of Kentucky was a major influence in this city and certainly on everything educational. In high school, my contact with the University of Kentucky began with the summer high school debate institute. I then had the good fortune to attend the College of Law. UK gave me the greatest investment value of any investment I’ve ever made.
Dr. Pamela Whitten
Communication, College of Communication and Information
Pamela Whitten is the 19th president of Indiana University, one of the nation’s leading public research universities with nine campuses across the state. She spearheads IU 2030, an ambitious plan focused on advancing student success and opportunity, pursuing world-class research and creative activity, and strengthening service to Indiana and beyond.
Under Whitten’s leadership, IU has expanded student access and affordability by reducing fees and holding tuition flat. She has championed initiatives that equip students for success, including new tools to help them plan their degree programs and graduate on time. The university has also aligned academic programs with workforce needs, creating immersive, paid co-ops and other experiential learning opportunities that prepare students for thriving careers.
Whitten has guided the university to historic research milestones, including surpassing $1 billion in annual research expenditures and earning R1 status for IU Indianapolis. Together with IU Bloomington’s R1 designation, IU now joins an elite group of universities nationwide distinguished by multiple campuses recognized at the highest level of research activity. This commitment to research that benefits the state is exemplified by the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences (IU LAB). Fueled by a transformative $138 million grant from Lilly Endowment, IU LAB brings together students, faculty, and industry leaders to drive innovation and position Indiana as a life sciences hub.
Before joining Indiana University, Whitten held senior leadership roles at Michigan State University, the University of Georgia, and Kennesaw State University. An internationally recognized pioneering scholar in telemedicine, she holds a Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky, and a bachelor’s degree in management from Tulane University.
Many of the decisions I make as a university leader are grounded in the lessons I learned at UK — that when we invest in our students, we shape not only their futures but the future of our communities. While my career has taken me to different campuses, I will always carry a deep appreciation for my time at Kentucky.
M.A. ’86 –
Photo by Chris Meyer
Refusing to put his career on cruise control, Monon Rahman is engineering his way through NASCAR’s ranks while racing toward the crew chief’s seat.
By Dan Knapp
It’s that wonderful time of year again.
The air’s crisp. Everyone’s waiting to see who’s on the nice list and who’s getting the boot. Smoke doesn’t just curl from chimneys as nights grow short — it rises from engine dynos and welding sparks as teams tinker, tweak and twist every nut and bolt for the season ahead. Instead of partridges in a pear tree, it’s new paint schemes, sponsor swaps and awkward goodbyes. This isn’t Christmas — it’s Silly Season, NASCAR’s annual game of musical chairs where the only constant is change.
The clock flashes 12:59 p.m. as Monon Rahman ‘19 EN roars into a nearly deserted parking lot on the north side of Charlotte, the epicenter of stock car racing in North Carolina. It’s a rare Thursday afternoon off for the team. He pulls in for a one o’clock pit stop to reflect on his passions, achievements and ambitions. Arriving seconds early, his timing is as precise as the work he oversees in the garage with its brutal fluorescent lights reflecting off polished tools and oil-stained concrete. Coolly stepping out of his GR86 coupe and sporting his team’s Toyota-branded racing attire, he resembles the high-octane star of some tires-and-checkered-flag flick like “Days of Thunder” or “F1” as he gallops toward the entrance.
Rahman’s been with the legendary Joe Gibbs Racing team for nearly two years. Just 26, he’s already risen to the primary race engineer for car No. 54 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driven by Taylor Gray. It’s a dream job for the Frankfort, Kentucky, native. Still, during Silly Season, he keeps his eyes open for opportunities that could lead to his ultimate ambition: crew chief.
For the uninitiated, NASCAR is part science experiment, part demolition derby, and part traveling roadshow. Forty stock cars outfitted with fire-breathing V8s hurl around an oval track at nearly 200 mph while crews juggle math, mechanics and mayhem on pit road in the pressure cooker of more than 70,000 fans each week. Beneath the spectacle lies an engineering arms race where fractions of a second decide who’s a hero and who’s packing up the hauler by sundown.
The sport is built like a set of stepping stones, each series shaping drivers and engineers for the next level. Many crew members start in ARCA — the Automobile Racing Club of America — a proving ground where rookies, part-timers and hungry up-and-comers learn the ropes on everything from short tracks to superspeedways. That’s where Rahman got his start. From there, many climb into the Xfinity Series, a national
by Matt Wishart
Photo
Eyes locked on the numbers, Monon Rahman studies timing and scoring during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway, April 19, 2025 — proof that precision, not luck, drives his rise through NASCAR’s ranks.
stage packed with rising stars and seasoned racers. At the top sits the Cup Series — NASCAR’s crown jewel — where the sport’s best teams chase glory under the brightest lights.
“By the time I’m 30, I want to be leading a car full time — that’s the goal,” he says.
He explains that NASCAR is “definitely a hard industry to break into,” but believes his youth gives him time to learn, fail and grow.
Rahman’s knack for problem-solving, paired with a curiosity for how things work — virtues inherited from his parents — runs through everything he does, always pushing his limits to the redline, from childhood play to his first real taste of racing. He fell for the sport the way many kids do: with matchbox sized toys that roared across linoleum floor and movies that made cars feel alive.
“My friends and I, we played with Hot Wheels all the time,” remembers Rahman with a victory-lane grin. “Then ‘Cars’ came out. We all kind of point to ‘Cars’ as a pivot in culture for us … it made racing cool. It made NASCAR cool.”
Video games sealed the deal.
“Gran Turismo … Need for Speed … even Mario Kart,” recounts Rahman, rattling off some of the influential titles, several of which he continues to enjoy as an adult.
Drawn in by the competitive nature, ever-changing technology and continuous challenges of motorsports, Rahman was hooked on NASCAR by the time he reached high school.
“It was maybe 2010. 2011? … I just remember really starting to watch it on TV a lot more,” he says. “Once I got introduced to that, I was like, ‘How do I go work in this?’”
Realizing that he’d likely not be in the driver’s seat due to the stiff competition and the fact that others his age were already seasoned behind the wheel, Rahman looked at options that would allow him to be part of the action, part of a winning team.
Mechanical engineering looked like the best all-around route to the garage, so he set his sights on UK — helped by a full-ride pathway via the Governor’s School for the Arts scholarship.
“Ultimately, Kentucky was my best bet,” he says. “I ended up getting everything I needed to succeed right at home.”
On campus, between classes and studying, Rahman split his time between hands-on engineering teams and creative projects. He managed the Solar Car Team and led aero and body work for the Formula Kentucky racing (FSAE) program, all while exploring screenwriting and short-film work with friends.
His parents are computer science engineers, but Rahman attributes his creativity to his mother, who is also an accomplished artist.
“It was a good release from the engineering … just enjoyable work,” he says of the university’s Media Depot, where he worked in college and honed his creativity and multimedia skills. “The creative part opens up your thought process a little bit more and you see a bigger picture.
That creative outlet turned out to be more than just a pastime — it became his first bridge into professional racing. Rahman says that former UK mathematics Professor Molly Fisher invited
NASCAR driver Ben Rhodes to campus to meet the student racing teams. Rhodes suggested reaching out to Venturini Motorsports for opportunities.
“I had camera experience, and when I was cold-emailing teams, Emily Venturini — the wife of team owner Billy Venturini — noticed it on my résumé,” Rahman explains. “They didn’t have any engineering positions open at the time, but because of my camera work, I was able to intern and help them out with some camera tools in practice, then shadow the rest of the weekend. It turned out to be my first real link to the NASCAR world in college — and obviously, we’ve seen where that ended up taking me!”
Looking back on his time at UK, however, Rahman points to Stanley Pigman — namesake of the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering — as one of the most formative influences on where he is today.
Rahman recalls how Pigman became a steady source of encouragement and support from Rahman’s freshman year.
“I wouldn't be where I’m at without Stan,” Rahman says plainly. “He gave us the belief and the backing to make things happen. He's so genuine. Every interaction I’ve ever had with him, I've felt like he truly cares about you as a student and your individual goals.”
Pigman’s passion for engineering and cars was infectious, inspiring Rahman and his peers to push the limits of their student-built vehicles. Beyond generous financial support he offered the motorsports teams, Rahman says Pigman offered practical guidance and insight, helping the teams turn ambitious ideas into competitive reality.
Rahman’s time juggling engineering teams and creative projects laid the groundwork for the career he’d build. He says the problem-solving and teamwork demanded by these student organizations taught lessons he still carries into NASCAR today.
“I can’t emphasize enough how much I valued the student org experience at UK,” Rahman says. “The teamwork and analytical thinking we needed on both solar car and FSAE helped shape my expectations through my career in NASCAR so far. There were definitely some tough days, but some of the most fun moments and best learning opportunities I’ve had came with those groups.”
After earning his engineering degree at 19, Rahman interned for NASCAR and was named Outstanding Intern of the Year at the 2020 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Awards. Soon after, he cut his professional teeth at Rick Ware Racing, analyzing driver and vehicle performance while learning the nuances of race strategy.
“Working there taught me how to adapt quickly — every car, every driver, every weekend was different,” he says.
Rahman quickly began working his way up from the back of the grid. During his three-year stint in ARCA — the gateway NASCAR subsidiary — he put the pedal to the metal at Venturini Motorsports, where he didn’t just engineer cars; he built up their entire simulation usage from the ground up and got his first taste of being a crew chief as a reward.
Rahman shifts into a higher gear as he recounts the story of a 2023 race in Kern County, California with driver Sean Hingorani at the wheel, a thrilling win earned with a makeshift crew comprised of himself (as crew chief), a couple of mechanics and his mentor, Billy Venturini, while the main team was off at Talladega.
“We’re borrowing someone else’s toolbox…had kind of a skeleton crew,” he laughs of the notorious Kern County race. “So, it was a little tough from the get-go, but we got through practice…and the car was flawless!”
A penalty put them a lap down; but by halfway, the rag-tag team was back on the lead lap — and then they finished the job.
“Somehow, Sean holds the others off and wins the race!” Rahman recalls. “That validated everything I’ve wanted to do, why I want to be crew chief. It was just special because, I mean, you put so much time and effort into it every single day, every single week, you kind of lose sight of it while you’re doing it. In those moments when you win, it makes up for all the days where everything’s been a pain.”
That stretch also reinforced the leadership model he wants to bring to a NASCAR Cup or Xfinity pit box someday. It’s about standards and resilience — attributes that guide every decision and define every action in high-pressure moments.
Racing isn't for the faint of heart; it demands everything you have and then some. The late nights, the escalating pressure, the constant travel — it weeds out anyone who isn’t dedicated to NASCAR.
“You have to be pretty passionate to want to do this,” Rahman confides. “You’re away from home every week from February through November. When it gets tough, when it's the 11th hour on a really late night, you find out who’s truly committed.”
That doesn’t leave much room for outside interests, a sacrifice Rahman is willing to make for what he calls "a performance-based sport where we're competing to be the best."
Rahman parallels his family’s early struggle with his drive to succeed.
“Being Bengali, being immigrants … they had to fight for a lot of the opportunities they had,” he explains. That experience shaped his approach: excellence isn't negotiable.
Despite the perks of his high-profile position on an A-list team —private jets, travel, celebrity connections — Rahman says the relentless demands on personal relationships keep many younger professionals from staying in the sport longterm. For him, that level of commitment isn’t optional — it’s in his DNA.
“I think that competition part of it definitely comes from my parents, just making sure I’m putting in 110%,” Rahman says.
At Gibbs, he’s in a place that puts those instincts to work. Describing the race engineer job as a “jack of all trades,” Rahman's typical week balances a gauntlet of tasks and challenges, each measured in tenths of a second and carrying real consequences on the track: modeling car setups on Monday and Tuesday during the season, then taking that data into the simulator to test and fine-tune. The challenge is translating abstract numbers into how the car actually feels for the driver, tuning everything from suspension stiffness to aero balance — all of it done fast enough to be ready for race day.
“Your goal is to make this car run as quickly as possible … while trying to keep the driver happy and executing strategy,” Monon explains of the constant mental puzzle that demands both precision and outside-the-box thinking.
Crew chief jobs are few and far between. To achieve his end goal, Rahman knows he may have to switch lanes maybe even to a new team. Someday. It’s not a move he’s eager to make, but it’s the nature of the sport. He beams like the red, green and gold lights on a track when he talks about the scale and camaraderie of the Gibbs program.
“We’re really grateful to have two engineers per car with the level of detail of work that we do,” he explains, not taking the organization’s logo overhead for granted. “Gibbs is one of those brands where it doesn’t get much better than this. The people here are top-of-the-line.”
Mid-sentence, as if on cue, one of the coworkers he talks about keeping happy pokes his head in to say hi. It’s Gray, the charismatic and spirited driver of car No. 54. Like Rahman, Gray — only 20 — has already found early success.
“Taylor has actually been one of the best people I’ve worked with … if we have a bad day, he doesn’t take it out on us … we all move on, go to next week,” Rahman says.
The shared history helps; they battled each other in ARCA and “now we’re working together,” Rahman adds, noting how much they bond over “what it’s like on the other side” and how to seize opportunities at Gibbs.
Ask what keeps him coming back, and Rahman talks about the creative challenge — finding elegant solutions under pressure, the fun nestling alongside the stakes.
“We do so many cool things on a daily basis,” he raves, and he wants the next generation to see it.
Although many people think of NASCAR as a uniquely American pastime — born on the dirt tracks and superspeedways of the South — it's grown into a global phenomenon. From Canada to Europe to Asia, fans follow the sport, its reach expanding season to season. Against that backdrop, Rahman sees himself as more than an engineer chasing wins. Carving out a career in a sport not traditionally associated with people with his experiences and background, he understands the power of representation. Rahman is often the first Bengali that many colleagues have met. His success doesn't just reflect his skills and commitment — it signals to others worldwide that there's a place for them in NASCAR, too.
“Parents immigrating to the U.S. sacrifice a lot for their first-gen children so that we can truly enjoy our lives, and I think that's the epitome of what the ‘American dream’ is,” Rahman says. “Let’s face
Rahman at his first NASCAR race — the Quaker State 400 at the now-closed Kentucky Speedway on June 30, 2012. His mother had surprised him with tickets she’d received through work — never imagining how that day would steer the course of their future.
it... I don't think many people could go from my back ground into what I do, but here I am.”
For Rahman, visibility is key. If a kid from a family like his sees him on the box or in the hauler, the path gets more real for them. The support and pride of his par ents back in Frankfort — parents who'd never heard of NASCAR before the Pixar cartoon — are the torque in his drive, pushing him faster toward his goals.
“They definitely want to see me crew chief at some point,” Rahman says. “I want to race in that role while they’re around.”
As he walks through the garage, past the skeletal frames of the team’s hollowed-out GR Supras lined up like gladiators resting up before battle, Rahman is reminded of what it takes to win — proof that the job is never "just engineering."
“The creative part opens your thought process…[and] engineering is figuring out how to solve a problem in the most efficient manner,” he says.
That's true whether he's tuning a virtual setup or talking strategy on a headset with forty laps left.
In the end, Rahman didn't have to wait for Silly Sea son's music to stop. Just weeks after that Thursday af ternoon in Charlotte, Joe Gibbs Racing moved him up to Performance Engineer for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series — the sport's pinnacle and a crucial step on his path to the crew chief seat. At 26, he’s made the leap from Xfinity to Cup while staying with the organization he calls home, sidestepping the difficult choice he thought he’d face.
The promotion puts him one step closer to the crew chief seat he's been chasing since those childhood days playing with Hot Wheels on the kitchen floor. It’s valida tion of everything his parents sacrificed for, proof that the late nights and relentless travel are leading exactly where he intended. More than that, it’s a signal to the next gen eration watching from the outside — the kids who don’t see themselves reflected in the garage yet — that the lane is real, and it’s open.
Climbing back into the pavement-gray fastback he calls Pluto, Rahman has fresh proof that focus pays off. In a sport built on fractions of a second and calculated risks, he's ahead of schedule. The crew chief seat is still the destination. But for now, he's exactly where he needs to be — racing full throttle toward it.
“I’ll give up anything else I’m doing to make sure what we’re doing is right," he says. "That’s what I've worked for ... I’m not gonna let anything else get in the way.” ■
Rahman (left) and driver Taylor Gray — who pilots the No. 54 NASCAR Xfinity Series car for Joe Gibbs Racing — review options before practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2025, a glimpse into the teamwork that powers every lap.
UK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
20 25
Scholarship Celebration
SCHOLARSHIP DINNER PROVIDES TIE THAT BINDS ALL WILDCATS
By Savanna Emrick
When Morgan David, president of the Student Alumni Association and Alumni Ambassadors, was growing up in Louisville, she never imagined that she would take a leap as large as attending her hometown university’s rival, the University of Kentucky.
But her brother did, and when the time came, she found herself following the same path.
She had seen something special bloom in her brother the longer he attended UK and she wanted to experience it, too.
In her first year, she learned to say yes to everything, including working with the Student Alumni Association. Opportunities such as these only augmented her love of the university.
“From planning philanthropy events, to captaining our DanceBlue team, I developed a deeper understanding of just how much the University of Kentucky pours into its community, staff, students and alumni,” she said at the annual UK Alumni Association Scholarship Dinner while sharing her story with fellow scholarship recipients and donors.
A fellow Louisville native turned UK student, Trinity Cross, made the journey to UK from her hometown and a family full of University of Louisville fans. She was especially happy that the scholarship boost from the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club allowed her to fully engage with student life.
UK Alumni Association President Tom Mathews ‘93 AS and Chad Polk ’94 DES, chair of the UK Alumni Association’s Awards Committee, hold the check that totals alumni scholarship funds.
“Even though I didn’t stay in Louisville, I still felt the support from the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club, so I was very grateful,” Cross shared in one of four short scholarship recipient videos shown at the event.
During its annual Scholarship Dinner at the Gatton Student Center in September, the UK Alumni Association recognized 293 students who will receive scholarships totaling $386,750 for the 2025-2026 academic year. The scholarships were made possible through the generosity of the UK Alumni Association, local alumni clubs, individual alumni donors and the collegiate plate alumni fund.
In another video, first-generation student and scholarship recipient Kauner Shacklette said he had worried about paying for college, but knew he wanted to be at UK.
“When it came to applying to UK, I realized I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself,” he said. “I thought that UK was going to offer me that and I haven’t regretted my choice ever since.”
Alumni Ambassador Cece Gregory echoed that sentiment, saying she had dreamed of coming to UK since she was little. She believes strongly that the alumni ambassadors embody UK’s very spirit, which is part of the reason she wanted to join and help strengthen the relationship between students and alumni.
“They’re giving back to me, and it has made me feel so much more connected. That’s always what I wanted to feel like, I always wanted to come to UK and find my place,” she said.
These kinds of experiences and sentiments were echoed by Zebulon “Zeb” Vance ‘13 EN who received the 2025 Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award.
In a video message, Vance talked about what his time studying at the university meant to him, as well as how being an involved alumnus led to him finding his community after moving to New York City to further his research career.
While the support system of the UK Alumni Association and its clubs have helped Vance, he also emphasized giving back. He is the president of the New York City UK Alumni Club.
“Community, it’s not something that you just take from.
It’s really something that you can contribute to as well,” Vance said. “There’s definitely opportunities for you to get involved, not only as an undergraduate with the Alumni Association. Once you graduate, there’s so many different ways to be involved.”
While many speakers expressed it over the course of the night, perhaps UK Alumni Association President Tom Mathews phrased it best: “One tie binds Wildcats of all generations together — a love for our cherished alma mater,” he said.
“One tie binds Wildcats of all generations together,” he said, “a love for our cherished alma mater.”
Chad Polk ‘94 DES, chair of the UK Alumni Association’s Awards Committee, shared specifics about the financial contributions made by the Alumni Association and club members. The value of scholarship endowments from the Alumni Association and its clubs as of 2025 was $8,285,897, showing a $5 million increase since 2015.
“We are delighted at the opportunity to meet and recognize the students who have earned what are most often very competitive scholarships,” Polk said. “Our alumni believe in the importance of this program and hope to be able to assist even more students in the future.” ■
by
Photos
Tim Webb
Alumni News
1. The Fayette County UK Alumni Club and the Cumberland Valley East UK Alumni Club had a combined tailgate outside Kroger Field in September.
2. & 3. The Arizona UK Alumni Club hosted watch parties for the South Carolina and Ole Miss football games.
4. The Cumberland Valley East UK Alumni Club visited “Boone’s Ridge,” land that was blazed by Daniel Boone nearly 250 years ago that is now being conserved by the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit. The club also hosted aspiring engineering and education students at its summer Student Sendoff.
5. & 6. The Sarasota/Suncoast UK Alumni Club celebrated its 20th anniversary in August with a gala that included dinner and dancing along with a performance by The “Big Blues Brothers”. Five members were recognized for being part of the club from its beginning: Tim Self, Brad Hanley, Jacque and Mike Murphy and Carol Von Allmen. Pictured are Club Founder Tim Self and his wife Beth and the “Big Blues Brothers” Brad Hanley and Pete Shattuck.
7. & 8. The Northern Alabama UK Alumni Club hosted high school students at the annual Student Sendoff and recently got together for a game watch party.
9. Pharmacy Around the World, an educational trip organized by the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, brought together alumni and faculty for 10 days of learning, connection and discovery. Unlike past exchanges focused on current students, this was a chance for graduates and faculty to deepen a partnership with Kitasato University that has thrived for 35 years.
10. The McCracken County UK Alumni Club participated in the Student Sendoff this summer with high school students from the Jackson Purchase Area.
11. Shelby County alumni met recently to discuss restarting the local alumni club which has been inactive for several years.
12. Sally and Bill Mattingly, Lu Ann Holmes and Carol Aitcheson enjoyed traveling on the Treasures of Southeast Asia Traveling Wildcats trip aboard the Eastern and Oriental Express train through Malaysia.
13. Will Lovan ’19 FA is the assistant bugler at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and Keeneland racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. He is the official bugler at the Red Mile in Lexington, too, and for the Ocala Horse Show in Florida in October.
Alumni News
14. The Greater Jacksonville UK Alumni Club cheered on the Cats at a game watch party in September.
15. & 16. The Fayette County UK Alumni Club is hosting the third annual Strikes for Scholars on January 25, 2026, in Lexington. The event is a scholarship fundraiser. In the past two years, the event has generated more than $13,000 with proceeds going to the club’s scholarship endowment. For more information, visit www.ukalumni.net/strikesforscholars26.
17. The second annual Homecoming luncheon of the University of Kentucky Asian/Asian American Pacific Islander Alumni Network was held during Homecoming weekend in October. The group had a wonderful time networking, connecting alumni, faculty and student leaders.
18. Members of the Greater Nashville UK Alumni Club attended the UK Alumni Association Summer Workshop in Lexington. The club was recognized as the most improved out-of-state club and for its work in alumni engagement, community service and philanthropy, most improved, scholarships, and student recruitment and retention at the Alumni Service and Club Awards Banquet
This year, we hope you’ll consider making a gift to UK so we can educate more students, foster greater innovation in research and health care, advance economic growth and strengthen the individual communities we serve. Your generosity will make a lasting impact and give back to our Commonwealth and beyond for years to come. GIVE WITH PURPOSE. MAKE AN IMPACT. SUPPORT UK ON GIVING TUESDAY.
12.02.2025 TUESDAY
Sports
SIX UK ATHLETES INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME
The University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has chosen the following athletes for induction:
• Abbey Cheek-Ramsey ‘19 AFE was the 2019 SEC Player of the Year, the first UK softball player to win that honor. She currently sits second in UK history in RBI (202), runs scored (189), home runs (61), slugging percentage (.678) and third in total bases (454). She led UK to three NCAA Regional Championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Makayla Epps ’18 SW is sixth in UK women’s basketball history with 1,790 points, sixth in UK history in career games played (133), sixth in field goals made (668), eighth in assists (408), eighth in free throws made (353) and 10th in scoring average (13.5). She recorded a single-game high of 42 points. She helped lead UK to a four-year record of 97-38 and advance to four straight NCAA Tournaments. She played one year in the WNBA.
• Doug Flynn played baseball and basketball at UK before going on to an 11-year career in major league baseball. He played with the Cincinnati Reds and was a member of the 1975-1976 “Big Red Machine” that won back-to-back World Series. He also played for the New York Mets, Montreal, Texas and Detroit. Since 2004, has has served as an analyst for television broadcasts of Kentucky baseball and has called games for the Reds.
• Sonia Hahn ’89 CI was named a two-time singles All-American and a two-time doubles All-American. She won the 1987 ITA National Indoor Singles tennis
championship and the 1987 SEC No. 1 singles title. She compiled a career singles/doubles record of 14845, usually playing at the No. 1 position. She won the doubles gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games and was a 1987 World University Games bronze medalist.
• Josh Hines-Allen was a dominant defensive football player who won the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Lott Trophy in 2018. He was recognized by consensus as a First-Team All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He set a UK career record for sacks with 31.5 and tied a UK career record for forced fumbles at 11. He was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by Jacksonville set Jacksonville records for most sacks in a season and most sacks in a season by a rookie.
• Karl-Anthony Towns helped guide UK to a 38-1 season, a Final Four appearance and a No. 1 national ranking. He was the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He had a nine-year stint with Minnesota and is the leading scorer in franchise history. He plays for the New York Knicks and has a career average of 23.1 points per game and has started every game in which he has played.
The UK Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in September. ■
The Kentucky men’s basketball program entered the 2025-2026 season ranked in the Associated Press Top 10, coming in at No. 9. And Kenny Brooks’ University of Kentucky women’s basketball team ranked 24th in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25.
Men’s Basketball Team
This is the 58th time in program history that the men’s team is among the top-rated teams to open the season in 65 preseason AP polls. Kentucky leads all programs with 992 appearances in the weekly poll, which is in its 77th season.
UK’s opening exhibition foe, Purdue, began the season as the preseason No. 1 ranked team. Ten Kentucky regular-season opponents enter the 2025-2026 season ranked in the AP Top 25, including four nonconference opponents in St. John’s (No. 5), Louisville (No. 11), Gonzaga (No. 21) and Michigan State (No. 22).
In addition to the Wildcats, a nation-tying six Southeastern Conference programs rank among the AP Top 25 to begin the season including Florida (No. 3), Arkansas (No. 14), Alabama (No. 15), Tennessee (No. 18) and Auburn (No. 20).
UK will have 12 total regular-season matchups in 2025-2026 against preseason top 25 opponents.
GOLFER SECURES LPGA TOUR CARD
Women’s Basketball Team
It is the 12th time in the past 16 seasons that the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team has earned a preseason ranking from the AP, only missing out on early nods in the falls of 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023.
UK has been ranked in 22 straight AP Polls, a streak that began with the preseason poll in 2024.
The Wildcats opened up as the 22nd team in the preseason AP Poll last season, which wound up being their lowest ranking of the entire season. The Cats were ranked as high as eighth in Week 14, following a 19-2 start and back-to-back wins over ranked opponents in No. 22/22 Alabama and at No. 13/12 Oklahoma.
No. 8 marked the program’s highest ranking in the AP Poll since 2016. ■
The Wildcat, who graduated last spring as an All-American, concluded her first season on the Epson Tour finishing tied for ninth place at the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells (272, -16). Prior to the season finale, she was 14th in the Race for the Card rankings, needing to finish in at least 10th place at the Epson Tour Championship to
She did just that thanks to a 16-under-par 272 for T9, checking in at 15th in the Race for the Card rankings, the
It was a long rookie season on the Epson Tour leading up to that moment. Frye played in 19 tournaments, making 16 cuts and racking up six finishes inside the top 10. She earned as high as second place at the Great Lakes Championship in June.
“I am pumped,” said Frye. “It was a long week and a lot of emotion. So, to have it all come together to this point, it feels great.”
Frye finished her four-year career with the UK women’s golf program ranked first (2022-2023, 70.96) and second (2023-2024, 71.00) in single-season scoring averages in program history. She also finished with the 18-hole round school record (9-under-par 63 in the NCAA Pullman
She earned four All-America nods and three All-Southeastern Conference nods across her four seasons, while also being named a four-time All-American Scholar and the winner of the 2022-2023 Edith Cummings
University of Kentucky women’s golf alumna and Nicholasville, Kentucky, native Laney Frye ’24 BE will be an LPGA Tour rookie in 2026.
Photo by Thomas Lovelock, Augusta National
Showing Love to the World One Letter at a Time
By Savanna Emrick
The tradition started when Rosie Paulik ‘17 CI left home in fourth grade to go to sleepaway camp, and it continued through her seven semesters at the University of Kentucky (she is a proud early graduate).
It carries on with her son.
Paulik’s father, Buz Ecker, writes letters daily to his family and some close friends. They aren’t always about big, important news – sometimes they just talk about how he and Rosie’s mom Anne washed the windows or carried in groceries.
Paulik loves receiving them. She’s saved every single one that arrived over the years.
Ecker’s mother is the one who started the letter writing tradition in their family. She wrote her son Buz letters every day while he was away at camp and in college. He felt the love with each letter received.
“My mother inspired me to do that. Once I started when they went to sleepaway camp, I remembered how much it meant for me to get a letter, and I wanted to show that same thing to my children,” he said.
He showed it so well that receiving the letters became a part of his daughter’s identity. She became known among friends as the girl who got all the letters. She even penned an opinion piece for the UK student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, about how special an experience it was.
Ecker, a retired professor who taught at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier, finished his Ph.D. program in creative writing at Antioch University earlier this year and needed something
to fill his time. His daughter thought of all the letters that she received and that he still writes to his five grandchildren. She posted a TikTok in July asking if anyone could use a letter from a dad with hopes of expanding her dad’s reach. It quickly gained traction.
As the demand grew, the father-daughter duo found themselves searching for other dads who had the time, wisdom, empathy and dad jokes to write letters to people in need. They called it the Dad Letter Project.
News outlets reported about their project which led to an increase in requests for letters with every story or video posted. Ecker and Paulik had to recruit more and more dads.
Despite working full-time, Paulik interviews a dad or two each week to deal with over 3,000 letter requests in the queue.
“This is not for everybody,” she said. “The tediousness that some dads feel with getting a pen and paper, they want to help but can’t. Then there are some dads who are just like my dad. They’re so excited for this opportunity to help more people.”
While there is no official criteria to be a Dad Letter-writing dad, Paulik has gathered a variety of men who are writing for the project, from former dementia ward nurses to fourth grade classroom volunteers.
This helps her manually match each letter request to a letter writer, who will then write a letter at least partially based on the form filled out on the official site for the request.
Some dads may take a while to respond. Others, like Ecker, spend all day writing letters because of the joy it brings them.
Rosie Paulik and her dad Buz Ecker are the founders of the Dad Letter Project. Ecker has written Paulik a letter a day since she went to camp as a child. The duo are now looking for dads who are willing to write letters to those who'd like to receive one.
“I get way more out of writing the letters than the people who receive them,” Ecker said.
For some letter requesters, Ecker has even become an honorary dad. If he sees that someone is truly in need of a father, he takes up the mantle. He estimates that he’s adopted 50-60 people around the world in the months since the beginning of the Dad Letter Project.
One of these people, a girl from Michigan who lost her father in April, is a perfect example of how close they stay to his heart.
“I take it personally, and I love and cherish her as much as I would one of my own, because she’s in such great need and such great pain,” Ecker said.
Paulik appreciates the connections found through the project, too.
“It’s really sweet,” Paulik said. “I think a lot of the requests are from people missing their dads and so they want to hear from a dad, but in some way, they feel like they’re hearing from their own dad that passed away. Because even just seeing chicken scratch on a letter, it’s like, this feels like it came from beyond. It’s special.”
There are guidelines in place. Repeat letters are allowed. But that’s all it can be.
“As part of the rules, I can only write them letters. I can’t meet them or text them, and that’s the way it should be,” Ecker said.
As the queue for letters grew, so did Paulik’s resolve to solidify what she and her father are doing into something that will last to fulfill that need.
“I would think there’s an unending supply of people who need letters,” her father said, “especially when it’s all over the world.”
Their goal is to support more dads writing letters, but there have been talks of eventually adding moms to the letter-writing. It’s the second biggest demand they’ve seen.
And there’s no shortage of moms who are ready to meet that demand. Some have emailed Paulik, while others have applied as dads to the Dad Letter Project site. Paulik's mom contributes by putting together starter kits consisting of stationery, pens, envelopes and stamps for the dads who are writing letters.
“I think it’s interesting how much I took it for granted, until this project started,” Paulik said, adding that she still receives letters from her dad whom she lives 20 minutes away from. The demand for the letters and the positive response to the project surprised her.
“It was just a reminder of how unique getting a letter from my dad is, let alone every day.”
Now that she’s begun to share that experience with the world, she only appreciates it more. Paulik feels the support of many friends and family behind her as she prepares for the next steps of the Dad Letter Project, one of which will be finding funding for the organization.
Paulik wouldn’t exactly say hopeful, but she feels reassured that when the time comes, the funding will, too.
“It’s nice because so many people want it to happen and to be successful, and so a lot of people are helping with building the Dad Letter Project and making it successful in the future,” she said.
As for her dad, the letter-writing dad who started it all? He remains humble and dedicated to the cause.
“This is just our little way of showing love to the world.” ■
Class Notes
1960s
Robert C. Sparks ’68 BE has had an article titled “Leading Soldiers in Combat: Lessons in Fear From Vietnam” published in the September 2025 issue of ARMY Magazine, a professional journal devoted to the advancement of the military arts and sciences. Sparks is a retired US Army Lt. Col. having served 21 years with the Army, the U.S. Army Reserve and the Ohio National Guard.
1970s
Darwin Newton ’72 AFE has been inducted into the Farm Bureau’s Southeast Region Conservation Hall of Fame. He is the Cheatham County (Tennessee) Farm Bureau vice president and is a lifelong conservationist.
Dan Grigson ’74 ’86 AFE is the 2025 recipient of the Award for Meritorious Service by the American Jersey Cattle Association and National All-Jersey Inc. For more than four decades, Grigson has been an advocate for dairy producers, a tireless promoter of the Jersey breed and a driving force behind some of the country’s most prestigious dairy events.
1980s
Scott Parker ’85 BE has been appointed to the board of directors of Radiance Technologies. Parker is
the chief financial officer of Gray, Inc. He brings 35 years of financial leadership experience to the board, having started his career at Ernst & Young in Lexington.
Samuel Delaney ‘86 BE has become the new chief financial officer at the Bobby Dodd Institute. He held a similar role at WABE, a noncommercial educational FM radio station in Atlanta, for three years. He has more than 35 years of financial experience, both domestic and international.
James Thornton ’86 BE, ’89 LAW has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers of America 2026. Thornton is a litigation attorney with Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog in Raleigh, North Carolina.
1990s
Michelle Austin ’91 ED has joined the Lyon County (Kentucky) Board of Education. She is a former
elementary school teacher. She is a lifelong resident of Lyon County and real estate agent.
Jim Kemper ’91 BE has been named to the Midwest Real Estate News Hall of Fame for 2024. Kemper is vice president of NAI Isaac in Lexington, Kentucky. He has built a career specializing in the sales and leasing of retail and office properties.
Lisa Higgins-Hord ’92 ’99 AFE is filling a vacated seat on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Council. Higgins-Hord is the assistant vice president for community health at the University of Kentucky. This is the second time she has filled an unexpired council term.
DeNeia B. Thomas ’92 ’97 ’02 ED has been named the inaugural vice provost of the division of student success at Winston-Salem State University. She has more than 30 years of experience in education, spanning K-12,
state government and higher education.
Floyd Anthony Skeans ’94 AS, ’96 LAW has joined the Kentucky attorney general’s special prosecutions unit. Skeans, the former commonwealth’s attorney for Johnson, Lawrence and Martin counties, served as chief felony prosecutor for the 24th judicial circuit from 2019-2024.
Paul Cherukuri ’98 AS has become the University of Virginia’s Donna and Richard Tadler University Professor of Entrepreneurship and chief innovation officer. He spent more than a decade at Rice University as its inaugural vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer.
Brett Dawson ’98 AS has been named sports editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader. Dawson covered the Wildcats beat for The Louisville Courier Journal from 2006 to 2011. He was publisher of CatsIllustrated.com. He
The 2010 Hall of Distinguished Alumni ceremony was held in the spring at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington. The event recognized 20 inductees.
began his journalism career as a writer for The Cats’ Pause.
Maraskeshia Smith ’98 BE has been appointed Sacramento, California’s new city manager. She will become the first Black and the first woman to hold the position charged with overseeing the city’s nearly 6,000 employees and $1.6 billion operating budget.
2000s
Emily C. Henderson ’01
PHA received the 2025 Kentucky Pharmacists Association Bowl of Hygeia award for outstanding community service and dedication to the ideals of the pharmacy profession. Henderson is active in the UK Alumni Association, UK Women and Philanthropy Leadership Council and is actively involved in her church as a youth sponsor. She contributes to the PTO
Hospitality Committee at the Christian Academy of Louisville.
Julie M. Roberts ’02 ’04 BE has been named advocacy chair for the National Association of Women Business Owners – Kentucky chapter. Roberts is owner of SERVPRO Team Roberts.
Katie Jenner ’05 ’10 ED is leading Indiana’s K-12 and higher education agencies. She was unanimously confirmed in August. The appointment is part of Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s plan to streamline oversight of education from kindergarten through college.
Deviprasad Pentapati ’05 EN has been named director in construction, claims, and expert services practice for HKA, a risk and disputes consulting firm. Pentapati joins from FTI Consulting, where he was a senior director.
Elizabeth Franklin ’06 SW has been named executive director of the Cancer Policy Institute at the Cancer Support Community, Washington, D.C., the largest direct provider of social and emotional support services for cancer patients and their loved ones. She was previously senior director of policy and advocacy at CSC.
Joe Ross ’06 LAW has been named the 2025 Outstanding County Attorney for the state. He has been the county attorney in Logan County since 2010. Ross is the president of the Kentucky County Attorneys’ Association and is a member of the state Prosecutor’s Advisory Council.
Jacqueline Gordon Duvall ’08 CI is the new athletic director for the Fayette County Public Schools, Lexington, Kentucky. Duvall has served as associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at Kentucky State University and director of athletics, equity and extended learning at Frankfort Independent Schools. She ran track at UK.
Sally Carthcart Unger ’09 DES has been named director of interior design for Ware Malcomb, an awardwinning international design firm. She has 17 years of award-winning experience in commercial design.
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
The 2015 Hall of Distinguished Alumni ceremony took place in the spring at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Lexington. A total of 23 alumni were inducted.
Career Corner Career Corner
by Amy Gamblin
UNLOCKING THE POWER OF MULTIGENERATIONAL COLLABORATION
In today’s workforce, four generations are working side by side: Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Generation X (born 1965-1980), Millennials (born 1981-1996), and Generation Z (born 1997-2012). Each brings strengths, values, and communication styles which can transform team relationships. At the same time, these differences can spark misunderstandings. How can we all get together in a positive way? The key is learning to view each generation not as obstacles but as opportunities for renewed collaboration.
Strengths Across the Generations
Baby Boomers are known for their resilience, strong work ethic and ability to provide institutional knowledge that grounds organizations in history and context. Gen Xers are often described as pragmatic bridge-builders who balance independence with efficiency, making them effective problem solvers across teams. Millennials, the largest generation in the workforce, are innovative thinkers who are purpose driven and seek meaning in their work. Gen Z brings digital fluency, adapting quickly and value social impact.
Together, these strengths create a workplace where experience, creativity and innovation intersect.
Values and Communication Styles
While each generation values meaningful work, the way they approach it can differ. Baby Boomers often prefer face-to-face communication and value loyalty, stability and tradition. Gen X leans toward direct, concise exchanges and are comfortable with both digital and face-to-face communication while valuing autonomy. Millennials seek open collaboration and transparency, often preferring digital-first communication. Gen Z favors instant, visual communication through platforms and tools, expecting quick feedback and clarity.
These differences sometimes create friction — but they can also spark innovation when teams appreciate each other’s styles.
Busting the Myths
Stereotypes about generations often miss the mark. Baby Boomers are not “technologically challenged,” for example. They have adapted through every major workplace shift, from typewriters to AI as they continue learning. Gen X is sometimes labeled cynical or skeptical, yet their realistic perspective can mean they are able to figure things out and own results. Millennials have been unfairly branded as entitled, when in fact their desire for growth and purpose has proven productive when they feel engaged. Gen Z may be tagged as easily distracted or overly sensitive, but they are experts in processing information quickly across multiple platforms and emphasize psychological safety which supports a healthy workplace culture.
Collaboration in Action
So how do organizations unlock the power of generational diversity? It begins with intentional strategies:
• Reverse mentoring programs where younger employees share tech skills while seasoned professionals share wisdom and context.
• Flexible communication practices that balance digital platforms with in-person conversations.
• Recognition of contributions whether it is public acknowledgment, growth opportunities or meaningful feedback.
• Cross-generational teams that build upon strengths to tackle complex challenges.
Embracing multigenerational collaboration isn’t just about reducing friction — it’s about building stronger organizations so we can best prepare for a future where teamwork across ages is the norm.
UK Alumni Career Services are a benefit of Life and Active Membership with the UK Alumni Association. Explore options at www.ukalumni.net/ membership. Amy Gamblin, CCC, CPRW is a Career Coach with UK Alumni Career Services. Visit www.ukalumni.net/career to learn more.
Class Notes
2010s
Amber Smith ’11 CI has opened Transformative Skills Training, a mentorship business in Lexington, Kentucky, that trains basketball players of all ages. Smith played for four seasons with the Wildcats and helped them to an SEC title and to the postseason four times, including two trips to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Nicholas Rog ’12 AS has joined Cornett as a senior copywriter. Rog studied art direction at the Creative Circus before launching his career in New York as a copywriter.
Grant Epperson ’13 ED has been named assistant principal at Rossview Middle School, Clarksville, Tennessee. Before joining the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System he taught at Madisonville North Hopkins High School in Kentucky.
Travis Russell ’13 BE has been named regional president of German American Bank in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He has more than a decade of commercial banking experience.
Matthew J. Wheatley ’13 AS, ’16 LAW has been promoted to chief commercial officer at Priori, a leading legal technology platform. Before joining Priori, Wheatley worked at a leading legal search firm.
Amber Hale Ph.D. ’14 AS has joined the faculty at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, as an associate professor of biology. She established her research lab and taught biology courses across the curriculum at McNeese State University before joining Centre.
Paden Sickles ’16 AS is the founder of SickFit, a small direct-to-consumer sock brand and manufacturer of streetwear. The idea for the company came when she was looking for a solution to a problem: foot pain brought on by poor quality socks. Sickles spent 11 years as a U.S. Army Engineering Officer. Foot pain led her to leave the Army.
Alyson Ackerman ’18 AS has received the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee’s WCC/ Eli Lilly Fall 2025 Travel Award. She presented her research which is focused on analytical method development and medicinal discovery with an emphasis on natural products at a poster session at the American Chemical Society Fall 2025 conference in Washington, D.C.
2020s
Leslie Raybuck Malland ’21 AS has joined the faculty at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She is an assistant professor teaching Early Modern British Literature.
Xiomara Reina Arias ’25 AFE developed her training, riding and horsemanship skills in Puerto Rico this summer, learning more about the endangered horse breed, the Puerto Rican Paso Fino. Arias is pursuing a doctorate in veterinary science at UK.
Anthony Napolitano ’25 CI has been named a sportswriter at The Progress News in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.
Originally scheduled for 2020, this Hall of Distinguished Alumni ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19 and held in the fall of 2021 at the Gatton Student Center. The event honored 27 inductees.
Every Wildcat is part of the University of Kentucky’s rich history. Tell your story or honor a friend or loved one with a personalized brick paver in Wildcat Alumni Plaza. Each engraved paver leaves a lasting symbol of Big Blue pride.
Want to take a piece of campus home? Order a Bowman replica statue to display in your home or office.
THE HEART OF BIG BLUE NATION AT WORK
All net proceeds from paver purchases go to the UK Alumni Association Scholarship Endowment Fund to help raise money for scholarships and are 100 percent tax deductible.
www.wildcatalumniplaza.com
-SIZED LEGACYKing King A
Across three generations, the family now includes 54 UK graduates and more than 70 degrees.
By Ann Blackford
The University of Kentucky has always been “home” to many, if not most, members of Howard and Elizabeth King’s family, originally from Brandenburg, Kentucky. To date, the family spans three generations and includes 54 UK graduates, representing more than 70 degrees. Careers in the King family include bankers, financial advisors, accountants, attorneys, engineers, pharmacists, physicians, surgeons, dentists, physical therapists and one aeronautical engineer.
Howard King, now 99 years old, and wife the late Elizabeth King had 12 children: the late Jill King Thompson; Howard Patrick King Jr.; the late Phillip Terry King; Martha Jan King; Jennifer King Hobbs; Anthony Kevin King; Denis Gerard King; Jacqueline (Jackie) King Repass; Jonathan Shawn King; Kyle Joseph King; Karen King Morris; and Lisa King Babb.
Nine of the 12 children attended UK, with eight earning degrees. In addition to undergraduate degrees, there are two pharmacy degrees, two D.V.M.s, a law degree and a medical degree in the original nine.
Forty-three grandchildren followed and multiple great-grandchildren. Of the second and third generation and their spouses, there are 44 UK attendees earning more than 70 degrees or entrance into a professional program.
The immense number of UK graduates in the King family might be considered a phenomenon by some. But as Karen Morris, daughter of Howard and Elizabeth explains, “the decision for so many family members to attend UK naturally evolved over time as the older siblings paved the way to UK for future family members.
“We grew up Wildcat fans,” Morris continued. “I don’t think we thought UK was the only school, but the experience of the older siblings continued to be positive and had a great impact on family members to follow as they decided on a school. UK provided a great education; it was affordable and close to home.”
Current UK students from the King family include Lawson King and Benjamin Hobbs (both undergraduates in the UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering); Madeline Hobbs (in the College of Education); and Olivia Hamilton, Kaylee Morris and Kara Morris (all currently in the UK College of Dentistry).
“Growing up in a big family of Wildcats has instilled a deep sense of pride and tradition,” said Kaylee Morris. “As a little girl at UK football games, I dreamed of the day I’d walk onto campus as an official Wildcat
Howard King, now 99 years old, and wife the late Elizabeth King had 12 children — nine who attended UK.
The King family, originally from Bradenburg, Kentucky, spans three generations and includes 54 UK graduates, representing more than 70 degrees.
— and today, as a student in the UK College of Dentistry, that dream is my daily reality. The University of Kentucky has shaped who I am through its community, academics and the values my family has passed down.”
Morris says obtaining not only her bachelor’s degree, but also her DMD from UK is “beyond special.”
“The university that my family and I hold so dearly has been the place that has prepared me to become the dentist I have always aspired to be and to serve my fellow Kentuckians.”
Lawson King said he also knew he wanted to attend UK at a young age.
“I never really looked anywhere else or visited another school,” he said. “Both of my parents along with the majority of my family went here, so growing up, I was constantly surrounded by all things Kentucky. I remember going to football games and watching Randall Cobb when I was little and being obsessed with Kentucky ever since. What is most important to me as a current UK student and being part of a UK family is everyone up here feels like family. Also, knowing family is always close and they would drop anything for me if I needed them.”
A LEGACY OF PRIDE AND TRADITION
“We grew up in a large Catholic family and our faith has been very important in the way we’ve grown up,” said Jackie Repass, daughter of Howard and Elizabeth. “It’s a tribute to our mom and dad and the way they lived their lives. We have learned much from them and we’ve tried to emulate them.
“I have four kids, two physicians; three of them have MBAs, and one is in dental school. I would say they all bleed blue. I think if you ask any of my eight grandkids now, they would all say UK is where they want to go to school.”
Repass graduated from UK in 1981 with an associate’s degree and started pharmacy school in 1995. She graduated as part of UK’s first all-PharmD class in 1999.
“As I approach the end of my pharmacy career, I’m back at UK again, working in Central Pharmacy,” she said. “My love for UK
is deep — for the financial stability it has provided through my degree, to the love of memories created here, to seeing all of my children graduating from UK. It’s truly a great place to be.”
MEMORIES AND MATCHES MADE AT UK
Denis King, son of Howard and Elizabeth, and Jackie Repass say some of their fondest memories at UK are football games and tailgating.
“It was not unusual for us to have a tailgate with 35 people just spending time together before the game while Denis would cook,” Repass said. “Some of our nieces and nephews would bring their UK friends with them so we never knew how many hot dogs and hamburgers we were going to cook that day.”
Cameron Hamilton, Repass’s son, calls UK football games “mini family reunions.”
“All of my siblings went to UK, and now we get to give our eight kids the same experience together,” he said. “I helped tutor younger cousins or feed them dinner as a young graduate, and now the current students make great babysitters for my girls — some of the perks of building our family network around a stop at UK.”
UK has also been the site of multiple family members meeting their significant others and future spouses, including Hamilton and his wife Christie. The two met during UK’s K Week, where they each served as chairs of the annual event that welcomes new and returning students to campus. Hamilton says the experience was so much fun that he encouraged his cousin, Ryan Babb, to volunteer for K Week, where he met his future bride, Katherine.
“The rich tradition continues,” Karen Morris said. “We have been a blessed family where our question has not been, ‘Are you going to college’ but a proud, ‘I’m attending the University of Kentucky.’
“Our family continues to expand and yet there are dozens more to follow, looking for their turn at the University of Kentucky.” ■
In Memoriam
Harold E. Richardson Jr. ‘51 ‘57 AFE Richmond, Ky. Life Member
Frank K. Downing ‘52 AFE Georgetown, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Jerome Hunt Perkins ‘53 ‘55 AS Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Carolyn G. Taylor ‘53 ED Richmond, Ky.
Elizabeth H. Geddes ‘54 AFE Lexington, Ky.
Capp E. Turner ‘54 AS Salvisa, Ky.
Fielden Edward Faulkner II ‘55 BE Fallbrook, Calif.
Lewis W. Wheeler ‘55 PHA Frankfort, Ky.
Patricia O. Hampton ‘57 ED Versailles, Ky.
James W. Hoe ‘58 EN Austin, Texas
Roland R. McClain ‘58 AS Louisville, Ky.
Dr. Gerald E. Sullivan ‘58 MED Bowling Green, Ky.
Elmer D. Young ‘58 EN Nashville, Tenn.
Charles H. Helmetag ‘59 AS Newtown Square, Pa.
Howell Todd Livesay Jr. ‘59 BE Lexington, Ky.
Jean M. Matheny ‘59 ED Georgetown, Ky.
Jane C. King ‘61 ’69 AS Bethlehem, Pa.
John W. Kirk Jr. ‘61 BE Carmel, Ind.
David Fuller ’62 BE Louisville, Ky. Life Member
Jay L. Gregson II ‘62 EN Indianapolis, Ind.
Elizabeth E. Mills ‘62 AS Lexington, Ky.
Dr. Vincent G. Schulte ‘62 ’66 ’69 AS Miamisburg, Ohio Life Member
Anne A. Bordy ‘63 AS Viera, Fla. Life Member
Bradford S. Clark Jr. ‘63 EN Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Dr. Jack D. Pittillo ‘63 AS Sylva, N.C.
John B. Caywood ‘65 AS Danville, Ky.
Beverly Jeanne Jones ‘65 ED Lexington, Ky.
James E. Armstrong ‘66 BE, ‘69 LAW Greenup, Ky. Life Member
Carl J. Howell Jr. ‘66 LAW Hodgenville, Ky.
James R. Mahan ‘67 AFE Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Jerry J. Cox ‘68 LAW Mount Vernon, Ky. Life Member
Ann McGuire Wheeler ’68 FA Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Martha G. Sullivan ‘69 ED Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Dr. William Paul Bennett ‘70 DE Sulphur Springs, Texas
Elizabeth Harner Prewitt ‘70 AS Washington, D.C.
Mary C. Karnes ‘71 CI Lexington, Ky. Life Member
William F. McGee ‘71 LAW Paducah, Ky. Fellow
Robert L. Schoenhoff ‘71 MED Louisville, Ky.
Guy H. Smith III ‘71 AS Lake Charles, La.
Masten Childers II ‘73 AS Lexington, Ky.
William S. Dean ‘73 AS, ‘76 LAW Hodgenville, Ky.
Deborah Harmeling ‘73 CI Villa Hills, Ky.
Patrick A. Pfeifer ‘74 ED Louisville, Ky.
Thomas G. Balko ‘75 AS Lexington, Ky.
Brenda M. Courtney ‘75 AS Winchester, Ky.
Victoria A. Devore ‘75 NUR Gardnerville, Nev.
Dennis Wayne Zimmerman ’76 BE Roswell, Ga.
Louise S. Enochs ‘78 CC Fernwood, Miss. Fellow
Mark C. Collings ‘79 AFE Spring Hill, Tenn.
Christopher M. Judd ’79 BE Elizabethtown, Ky.
Roger L. Kehrt ‘79 BE Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Kenneth P. Nall ‘79 ED Louisville, Ky. Life Member
Todd Walton II ‘79 AS Flemingsburg, Ky.
Teresa E. Leslie Ph.D. ‘80 AS, ‘81 CI Carrollton, Ga.
Michael W. McWilliams ‘80 PHA Louisville, Ky. Life Member
Revelly Jean Swigert ’81 AFE Shelbyville, Ky. Life Member
Susan G. Swinford ‘81 ‘86 SW Lexington, Ky.
Michael L. Lucas ‘83 AS Clearwater, Fla.
Cindy Bauman ’86 AS Wixom, Mich.
Larry H. Feltner ‘86 BE Simpsonville, Ky.
Mark L. Kennedy ‘86 CC Almo, Ky.
William T. Pickett ‘88 FA Lawrence, Kan.
Amy M. Kennedy ‘90 ‘92 SW Lexington, Ky.
Jeannine T. Omohundro ‘90 CI Lexington, Ky.
Timothy L. Ethington ‘91 CI Shelbyville, Ky.
Julia Varga Hale ‘91 BE Louisville, Ky.
David A. Brown ‘92 CC Lexington, Ky.
Kay F. Stanton ‘94 NUR Leitchfield, Ky.
Patricia P. Conley ‘96 CC Lexington, Ky.
DR. GEORGE A. OCHS IV ’74 DE
Audrey E. Rooney Ph.D. ‘97 AS Lynchburg, Va. Fellow
Hugh F. Bloomfield ‘00 CC Lexington, Ky.
William R. Harris ‘01 BE Louisville, Ky.
Dr. Brian Nicholas Eigel ‘02 MED Dallas, Texas
Dr. George A. Ochs IV ’74 DE died on October 8. He served as president of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association from 2012-2013.
Ochs, 76, was a native of Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Saint Xavier High School before graduating from UK. At UK he was a member of Keys, Lances and Alpha Epsilon Delta Honorary Societies. He was an active member of Sigma Chi Social Fraternity, serving as secretary.
After graduation, he served as president of the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club and continued to serve for many years on the UK Alumni Association Board of
QUINTISSA S. PEAKE ’04 CI
Quintissa Sherri Peake ’03 AS of Neon, Kentucky, died on August 15 at the age of 44. She served on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors.
A native of Wise, Virginia, Peake graduated from Jenkins High School with honors before earning her degree in telecommunications from UK. While on campus, she was active in many student organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers and the Black Student Union, and was recognized with the Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award.
Peake built a career centered on advocacy and education, working as a community health worker, patient advocate and health
Sharon K. Hart ‘06 AS Lexington, Ky.
Matthew Harlan Fields ‘14 AS Frankfort, Ky.
Directors. He was honored with the UK Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2007. He was a Life member of UKAA and was a UK Fellow.
Ochs owned and operated a private dental practice for 42 years. He was a long-time member of Owl Creek Country Club, serving as president in 1993. He was a celebrated member of the Anchorage community. He also enjoyed his memberships at the Wynn Stay and Dennbarr Clubs. He was a thoroughbred racing enthusiast, owner and active member of The Thoroughbred Club of America. ■
educator. Living with sickle cell anemia, she became a passionate voice for those affected by the disease, sharing her story widely and championing blood donation throughout Kentucky. She worked with the Kentucky Blood Center and later served as an ambassador for the organization, as well as a volunteer and board member for several community groups including Appalshop, the Cowan Community Center and the Hemphill Community Center. A recipient of the Carolyn Sunday Award from the East Kentucky Leadership Foundation, Peake was most recently employed by Rural Strategies in Whitesburg. ■
From day one, I was impressed with UK’s faculty and staff. I thoroughly enjoyed learning and conversing with every professor throughout my time in the program. Despite not having a business background and being completely remote, I always felt welcomed and engaged in every class lecture.
The professors and TA’s were very sympathetic to individuals like myself who traveled frequently during the semester. Every lecture was also recorded, which allowed for students to go back and revisit topics outside of class.
The curriculum’s groupwork and team-building exercises connected me with my peers on a personal level, which helped localize ideas and build long-lasting relationships.
It’s because of the
CURRICULUM’S FOCUS ON PRACTICALITY
that I am a stronger leader and naval officer.
I could not recommend this program enough to individuals looking to pursue a career in business or economics. The level of instruction and professionalism from the professors and faculty at UK rivals top-tier programs across the country. Their dedication and willingness to help you succeed is unlike other universities.”
-Nicholas
PART-TIME MBA:
The MBA That Fits Your Life
TILEY
Surface Warfare Officer, US Navy NICHOLAS
The Bookshelf
Kristin Stultz Pressley ’05
FA has written two books: “Jukebox Musicals: Crazy for You to MJ the Musical” and “Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals: Of Thee I Sing to A Strange Loop.” Both books examine musical theatre history. “Jukebox Musicals: Crazy for You to MJ the Musical” explores a style of show that’s dominated Broadway for the better part of two decades. Through a chronological look at the development of long-running hits, like “Mamma Mia!” and “Jersey Boys,” this book traces the jukebox musical from when it was an exception on Broadway to when it became the rule. “Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals: Of Thee I Sing to A Strange Loop” takes a chronological look at the 10 musicals that have won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Deep diving into the development of each show, this study unpacks the creation, production and reception of each musical.
Mary Jean Gandolfo ’75 SW has written “Beyond Grief: 101 Questions to Discover the Good Created by Your Loss,” a collection of thoughts to encourage readers to find purpose in their pain and to understand their inner child and their true self today. The book provides a space to journal thoughts and feelings.
One reviewer wrote, “Author Mary Jean Gandolfo shares her own story of family estrangement and the ambiguous grief that followed. Her heartfelt story helps you realize you are not alone in this journey of processing grief.” Gandolfo is a grief counselor at Camberwell Grief Sanctuary in Bedford, Kentucky. Also, she authored a paperback resource on grief, “Beyond Grief: 101 Questions to Discover the Good Created by Your Loss.”
Shaunna L. Scott ’82 AS and Kathryn Engle ’17 GS, ’19 AS edited “Toward Just Transitions: Visions for Regenerative Communities in Appalachia.” According to reviewer Michele Morrone, “‘Toward Just Transitions’ lends broad perspectives to the important dialogue on how to move Appalachia from an extractive to a regenerative economy. This collection raises questions about a range of social and environmental factors that must be considered in such a transition, while emphasizing local community engagement in the process.”
Patrick Leddin ’10 CI and bestselling author James Patterson collaborated on “Disrupt Everything – and Win: Take Control of Your Future.” Leddin, an associate professor and the associate director of the Practice of Managerial Studies at Vanderbilt University, and Patterson share their proven and effective way to turn disruption into a force for success. From their personal and professional experiences, advancement has always required abrupt, explosive change. Now they show how to turn disruption on its head too, using invaluable insights and practical tools to help leverage this force for positive change.
Steven Buchanan ‘17 ‘23 SW, ‘18 GS recently published “Where the Nails Hang: An Appalachian Horror Story” under the pseudonym Brynn Stevenson. His debut novel is described as a story that marries Appalachian folklore and myth to true psychological horror. Set in the mysterious town of Barrow’s Hollow, readers can join Calla Harmon, a seasoned forest ranger from the wilds of Oregon, as she takes up her new post. Soon after her arrival, the dark omens, dormant for two decades, begin anew.
Christina T. Hidek ’97 AS has written “The Principals’ Parent Group Playbook: Practical PTO Partnership Strategies for a Stronger School Community.” Through her many years of volunteering as a PTA leader, Hidek has seen that school parents’ groups aren’t always used as much as they could to lessen the load for educators and school leaders, especially when it comes to family engagement. This book explains exactly what school leaders and principals need to know about working with a school parent group, whether the group is just starting, is ready to level up or is distressed and in need of rejuvenation. A companion workbook is available in a printready and reproducible format.
UK and the UK Alumni Association do not necessarily endorse books or other original material mentioned in The Bookshelf. The University of Kentucky and the UK Alumni Association are not responsible for the content, views and opinions expressed on websites mentioned in The Bookshelf or found via links off of those websites.
Quick Take
‘SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW’
Just when you thought the University of Kentucky campus couldn’t get more beautiful, it does. This rainbow appeared in the sky in early October as students made their way to class. There are no reports on who found the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end.
