Un iversit y of Kent uck y A lu m n i Associat ion
Alumni
UK VOLLEYBALL CAPTURES FIRST NATIONAL TITLE!
Summer 2021
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Contents
ON THE COVER UK Women’s Volleyball Team wins NCAA Championship. Cover photo by Jamie Schwaberow
12 22 26 28
UK PROVIDES SHOT IN THE ARM TOWARD NORMALCY By Linda Perry Thanks to the rapid response of the University of Kentucky at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that impacted the world, the university pivoted quickly and worked together to bring hope and a path toward the normalcy.
CAPTURING BRILLIANCE By Ann Blackford Michael Huang can typically be found with a stethoscope or a camera strap hanging around his neck. He’s a man of many talents but his passion for providing quality health care is matched only by his love of photography.
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UK ALUMNA NAMED NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF MADD
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PERFECTING SWEET & SAVORY
By Hal Morris Some tragedies can hold people back, but some give a new purpose in life. After experiencing a near-fatal boating accident, Alex Otte has since my history as the youngest president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
By Linda Perry Daniel King has been baking his entire life, but he only started doing it professionally last year. Now he’s gone bricks-and-mortar selling delicious treats in Lexington.
Q&A WITH NEW CAMPUS LEADERS By Meg Mills and Grace Colville Meet two of UK’s newest hires. Marilyn Clark is UK’s first supplier diversity manager and Tukea Talbert is the chief diversity officer in UK HealthCare.
CHAMPIONS! The UK volleyball team cut down the nets after winning the NCAA title, the first time in school history and the only team from the Southeastern Conference to win it all.
Plus... 5 6 8 11 30
From the President Pride in Blue News Research Sports
38 42 52 55 56
Alumni News Class Notes In Memoriam Creative Juices Quick Take
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL KENTUCKY ALUMNI MAGAZINE Vol. 92 No. 2 Summer 2021 Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is published quarterly by the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington, Kentucky, for its members. © 2021 University of Kentucky Alumni Association, except where noted. Views and opinions expressed in Kentucky Alumni do not necessarily represent the opinions of its editors, the UK Alumni Association nor the University of Kentucky.
HOW TO REACH US Kentucky Alumni UK Alumni Association King Alumni House Lexington, KY 40506-0119 Telephone: 859-257-8905 800-269-ALUM Fax: 859-323-1063 Email: ukalumni@uky.edu
UPDATE YOUR RECORD UK Alumni Association King Alumni House Lexington, KY 40506-0119 Telephone: 859-257-8905 Fax: 859-323-1063 Email: ukalumni@uky.edu Web: www.ukalumni.net For duplicate mailings, please send both mailing labels to the address above. Member: Council for Advancement and Support of Education
ASSOCIATION STAFF Executive Director: Jill Holloway Smith ’05 ’11 Editor/Sr. Associate Director: Meredith Weber Managing Editor: Linda Perry ’84 Marketing/Promotion Specialist: Hal Morris Graphic Designer: Whitney Stamper Brenda Bain ’15: Records Data Entry Nancy Culp: Administrative Services Assistant Caroline Francis ’88 ’93 ’02: Director, Alumni Career Services Jack Gallt ’84: Sr. Associate Director Leslie Hayes: Membership and Marketing Specialist Kathrine Hein ‘19: Programs Assistant Marissa Hillman ‘16: Administrative Support Associate I Kelly Hinkel ’11 ’18: Marketing & Communications Coordinator Marci Hicks ’87: Director of Philanthropy Albert Kalim ’03 ’16 ‘20: Technical Support Specialist Jesse McInturf ’10: Principal Accountant Mark Pearson: Computer Support Specialist II William Raney ’14: House Support Kathryn Schaffer ’12: Alumni Engagement Coordinator Amanda Schagane ’09 ’10: Associate Director Samantha Seitz: Program Coordinator Hannah Simms ’14 ’17: Alumni Engagement Coordinator Pam Webb: Administrative Services Assistant
Officers Hannah Miner Myers ’93 ED: President Mary L. Shelman ’81 EN: President-elect Antoine Huffman ’05 CI: Treasurer Jill Holloway Smith ’05 BE, ’11 AFE: Secretary In-State Representatives Michelle Bishop Allen ’06 ’10 BE Michael W. Anderson ’92 BE Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 CI Heath F. Bowling ’96 BE Jacob V. Broderick ’05 BE Andrew M. Cecil ’99 AS Kevin L. Collins ’84 EN William “Bill” M. Corum ’64 BE D. Michael Coyle ’62 BE, ’65 LAW Robert “Rob” L. Crady III ’94 BE Bruce E. Danhauer ’77 AFE Abra Akers Endsley ’98, ’01 CI James F. Gilles III ’10 AFE Austin H. Hays ’03 BE Emily C. Henderson ’01 PHA Vicki S. Hiestand ’93 BE Mark Hogge ‘97 EN Dr. H. Fred Howard ’79 AS, ’82 DE Dr. Michael H. Huang ’89 AS, ’93 MED Tanya Bauer Jones ’81 BE Shelia M. Key ’91 PHA Janie McKenzie-Wells ’83 AS, ’86 LAW Herbert A. Miller Jr. ’72 AS, ’76 LAW Grant T. Mills ’09 AS Sherry R. Moak ’81 BE Dr. W. Mark Myers ’87 DE Jennifer A. Parks ’77 AS Tonya B. Parsons ’91 AS Peggy Barton Queen ’86 BE John D. Ryan ’92 ’95 BE R. Michael Stacy ’95 BE Jonell Tobin ’68 ’95 BE Kendra Lorene Wadsworth ’06 ED Lori E. Wells ’96 BE Amelia Brown Wilson ’03 ’06 AFE, ’11 ED Out-of-State Representatives Brooke C. Asbell ’86 BE Robert Price Atkinson ‘97 CI Nicole Ramsey Blackwelder ’87 ’87 PHA Shiela D. Corley ’94 AS, ’95 AFE Erin Endersby ’01 EN Dr. Michael L. Hawks ’80 AS, ’85 DE Vincent M. Holloway ’84 EN John T. “Jay” Hornback ’04 EN Dr. Frank Kendrick ’90 ’92 DE Susan L. Liszeski ’84 AFE Abigail O. Payne ’05 CI Ronald “Ronnie” M. Perchik ’82 BE R. Brian Perkins ’97 EN Charles “Chad” D. Polk ’94 DES Robert J. Riddle ’11 AFE Lynn Spadaccini ’80 AFE Mary “Kekee” Szorcsik ’72 BE Quentin R. Tyler ‘02 ‘05 AFE, ‘11 AS Nicholas D. Wilson ‘03 AS, ‘06 GS Scott Wittich ’75 BE Alumni Trustees Dr. Michael A. Christian ’76 AS, ’80 DE Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED Rachel Watts Webb ’05 CI Living Past Presidents George L. Atkins Jr. ’63 BE Richard A. Bean ’69 BE Michael A. Burleson ’74 PHA Bruce K. Davis ’71 LAW
Scott E. Davis ’71 LAW Marianne Smith Edge ’77 AFE Franklin H. Farris Jr. ’72 BE William G. Francis ’68 AS, ’73 LAW W. P. Friedrich ’71 EN Dan Gipson ’69 EN Brenda B. Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED Cammie DeShields Grant ’77 LCC, ’79 ED John R. Guthrie ’63 CI Ann B. Haney ’71 AS Diane M. Massie ’79 CI Robert E. Miller Susan V. Mustian ’84 BE John C. Nichols II ’53 BE Dr. George A. Ochs IV ’74 DE Sandra Bugie Patterson ’68 AS Taunya Phillips ’87 EN, ’04 BE Robert F. Pickard ’57 ’61 EN Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED David B. Ratterman ’68 EN G. David Ravencraft ’59 BE William Schuetze ’72 LAW David L. Shelton ’66 BE J. Fritz Skeen ’72 ’73 BE J. Tim Skinner ’80 DES James W. Stuckert ’60 EN, ’61 BE Hank B. Thompson Jr. ’71 CI J. Thomas Tucker ’56 BE Henry R. Wilhoit Jr. ’60 LAW Elaine A. Wilson ’68 SW Richard M. Womack ’53 AFE Leadership Advisory Council College Representatives Michelle McDonald ’84 AFE, ’92 ED: Agriculture, Food and Environment Winn F. Williams ’71 AS: Arts & Sciences Michael R. Buchanan ’69 ’71 BE: Business & Economics Jeremy L. Jarvi ’02 CI: Communication & Information Dr. J. Clifford Lowdenback ’99 AS, ’03 DE: Dentistry G. Haviland Argo III ‘03 DES: Design Cathy Crum Bell ’76 ED: Education Dominique Renee Wright ’08 EN: Engineering Joel W. Lovan ’77 FA: Fine Arts Benjamin D. Gecewich ‘03 HS: Health Sciences Janis E. Clark ’78 GS, ’85 LAW: Law Dr. Debra J. Sowell ’82 MED: Medicine Laura B. Hieronymus ’81 ‘15 NUR, ’83 ED: Nursing Lynn Harrelson ’73 PHA: Pharmacy Keith R. Knapp ’78 AS, ’05 PH: Public Health Willis K. Bright Jr. ‘66 SW: Social Work Appointed Jo Hern Curris ’63 AS, ’75 LAW: Honorary Katie Eiserman ’01 ED: Athletics Thomas W. Harris ’85 AS: University Relations Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS ’98 ED: Honorary Stan R. Key ’72 ED: Honorary D. Michael Richey ‘74 ‘79 AFE: Office of Philanthropy Marian Moore Sims ’72 ’76 ED: Honorary Bobby C. Whitaker ’58 CI: Honorary Bilal Shaikh: Student Government Association
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JOIN A UK ALUMNI BOOK CLUB!
FREE
Just get a copy of the book.
FLEXIBLE
Participate when convenient for you.
FUN
Network with fellow Wildcats.
Whether you are interested in actively continuing your lifelong learning or advancing your professional development, you’re invited to join one the of the UK Alumni Book Clubs! Both clubs read a variety of books that stimulate engaging discussions through a private online community.
PICK ONE OR BOTH!
We aim to help you continue to learn and grow through every phase of life. If you love expanding your knowledge across a range of topics, cultures and ideas, then this book club is for you!
We strive to be a relevant resource for your professional development to help you succeed and achieve. Whether you are in a period of career transition, growth or exploration, this book club will be beneficial and help you achieve your professional goals!
Register today at www.pbc.guru/uky The book clubs are managed by PBC Guru. PBC Guru manages professional book clubs for companies and alumni associations and will be moderating the group to help make this program a great experience for all participants.
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From the President E
very day that passes, we get closer to returning to a more familiar way of life, reminding us of the importance of health and human connection — two things for which I am deeply grateful. Indeed, I know this past year we have all struggled with both. But your university has, in so many ways, turned the tide of this disease. We’ve offered free COVID-19 testing to members of the university community and the broader Lexington community and opened a mass vaccination clinic where we administered nearly 250,000 doses of a life-saving vaccine. That’s an extraordinary number of people who can now safely reach out to their neighbors, embrace their loved ones and gather to celebrate what matters most. Now, our vaccine operations have transitioned to our health care pharmacies, still offering the same shots of healing and hope, but allowing our people — our most valuable resource — who have been running this large-scale clinic to return to their sacred duties in our health care enterprise. Because of these efforts, this community was able to witness 4,382 students walk across the stage for spring Commencement, taking part in a time-honored tradition to celebrate their success and those who helped our students achieve what’s possible. Even amid challenges brought on by COVID-19, I have seen members of our community rise with unmatched excellence, compassion and determination. Thanks to the work of hundreds of members of the community involved in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Implementation Plan, the university has tapped a highly regarded expert in the local community to be its first supplier diversity manager as part of a long-term effort to bolster and strengthen ties to minority-owned businesses and vendors.
Marilyn Clark began her work as UK’s first supplier diversity manager Jan. 19, 2021, after more than five years with the Fayette County Schools in a similar role. Additionally, Tukea Talbert, who has been instrumental in our efforts to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to underrepresented communities in Lexington, oversees UK HealthCare’s DEI efforts across the entire system as the chief diversity officer. In April, the UK Volleyball team gave us a moment to celebrate, winning its first national championship in volleyball as well as the first for the Southeastern Conference. And, only one month prior, the UK Rifle team won their third national championship. It was the first time that UK’s storied athletics program won two NCAA championships in a single year. Two teams, in historic fashion, met the moment and overcame every challenge they faced, symbolizing what can be done when people come together in common purpose to achieve uncommonly big things. Our very own graduates also have shown us what’s possible amid a global pandemic, taking on new leadership roles and connecting with the community in creative ways. We have so much to look forward to as we plan for a more normal semester this fall, and these individuals are a compelling example of what we can achieve when we work harder and importantly, together. That is who we are. That is what we do. Thank you for supporting us in these efforts. Sincerely,
Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
Eli Capilouto President
Two of UK’s newest alumni celebrate Commencement just outside of Rupp Arena on May 14.
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Pride in Blue A
s the sights and sounds of summer grow near, there are signs that things are starting to return to
normal. UK held its Spring Commencement in person, albeit with smaller crowds and social distancing, at Rupp Arena in May. Graduates from 2020 were invited to take part in the 2021 ceremony after not having an in-person ceremony last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 4,400 graduates participated and it was a testament to their hard work and sacrifice to make that memory possible for our newest alumni.
UK Alumni Association president Hannah Miner Myers recorded a special message to welcome UK’s newest alumni at the 10 Commencement ceremonies this spring.
We held an in-person celebration to honor our 2021 Great Teacher Award winners in early May at the Gatton Student Center. It was a delight to meet each of the six award winners and thank them personally for their dedication to education. We are also hosting our annual Summer Workshop in a hybrid setting, in person and online, after holding a virtual-only workshop for our volunteers and club leaders last June. On May 14, the UK Kroger Field COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic concluded its operations due to decreasing levels of COVID-19 vaccine demand. Since its launch in January 2020, more than 240,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered at the Kroger Field clinic. This transition marks a new stage of UK’s vaccination efforts and is a sign of a “new” normal just around the corner.
a grand total of $3,251,169! The UK Alumni Association received more than $30,000 from 130 donors supporting the Jane I. Morris Endowment to benefit Alumni Career Services, as well as many other funds and scholarships that further the UK Alumni Association’s mission. Thank you for your support! We are also saying farewell to the managing editor of the Kentucky Alumni magazine and a valued member of the team. Linda Perry, who was with the UK Alumni Association for more than 21 years and at UK since 1994, retired on May 3, her birthday. This was the last issue Linda worked on and she joked she was “hanging up her green pen for greener pastures.” Linda kept alumni connected through her storytelling by highlighting fond campus memories and showing how UK continues to evolve and grow through the years. We will all miss her dearly. This is also my last letter to you as your UK Alumni Association president. To say it has been a privilege to represent you this past year would be an understatement. Our students and alumni overcame many obstacles, and your resiliency has reminded me how thankful I am to be a Wildcat. It has been a honor to serve as your president over the past year, and remember to always keep the University of Kentucky in your heart. Go Cats!
One thing that has not changed is the generosity of the University of Kentucky community. In April, UK held “One Day for UK,” a 24-hour virtual fundraising event where donors around the world gave to the UK cause they cared most about. Donors contributed more than 3,600 gifts for
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K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
Hannah Miner Myers ’94 ED UK Alumni Association President
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News Toyota announced a $1.7 million investment to increase opportunities for underrepresented students and assist them in earning engineering degrees. The gift will be used to establish and support the Toyota Engineering Technology Diversity Scholarship Fund, which will provide annual scholarships for undergraduate students from UK, the University of Louisville or Bluegrass Community and Technical College. Preference will be given to students whose ethnic, racial, gender or background would enhance the diversity of their institution, as long as these preferences are narrowly tailored to the university’s achievement of its interest in obtaining the educational benefits of a diverse student body. However, every student who is enrolled in the program, is a Kentucky resident and has unmet financial need will have an opportunity to compete for the scholarship. Beginning fall 2021, 35 students over a five-year period will be selected to receive full-tuition scholarships. In addition to the preferences, participation in the program and Kentucky
Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo
$1.7 MILLION TO HELP DIVERSIFY ENGINEERING WORKFORCE
residency status, recipients will be determined after a review of the applicants’ qualifications, such as academic merit, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and professional goals. The students will be mentored by Toyota engineers and participate in a paid co-op opportunity with the company earning $17-$21 per hour. Additionally, they will complete two to three co-op rotations that will provide critical hands-on experience. ■
DANCEBLUE GOES VIRTUAL FOR SWEET 16 More than 300 students and thousands of spectators gathered around their screens at home to celebrate one of the University of Kentucky’s richest traditions. Along with most events this year, DanceBlue had to adapt to a new virtual format for the 2021 marathon. But that didn’t keep folks from dancing! With joyful hearts and tired feet, the dancers at the 2021 DanceBlue marathon pushed through to honor the tireless pursuit of finding the cure for pediatric cancer. DanceBlue is UK’s largest student-run philanthropy — a yearlong fundraising effort involving thousands of UK students, culminating in a 24-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon. All of the money raised by DanceBlue goes to the Golden Matrix Fund and cancer research. In its 16th year, DanceBlue revealed a fundraising total of $1,011,115.49. While this is an incredible amount, the students don’t focus on how big or small the total is. They instead focus on the way that money can be used to support the children and families battling pediatric cancer in the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic. “In this year of so many shutdowns, DanceBlue didn’t stop. That’s because cancer didn’t stop. The 2021 marathon is a direct testament as to what can happen when a group of dedicated individuals band together for a common goal. In this case, that goal was ‘For The Kids.’ I am so proud that even a pandemic did not stop these students from working so hard all year for this goal. It’s truly amazing,” said Meagan Wilkins, DanceBlue marketing chairwoman. ■
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K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
ACT, SAT OPTIONAL FOR UK ADMISSION FOR NEXT 3 YEARS The test-optional policy for students applying to UK is being extended for the next three years. That means that students applying for admission to UK for the 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years will not be required to submit an ACT or SAT score. Last summer, the university approved a one-year test-optional admissions process for the admission cycle for the 2021-2022 academic year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking into consideration that prospective students are still experiencing issues with access to ACT/SAT testing, as well as access to college-going support from high school staff due to remote learning in high schools during the pandemic, the UK Office of Enrollment Management requested to extend the test-optional process for three more years. The UK Office of Undergraduate Admission will review applications in a holistic manner, taking into consideration the rigor of high school coursework, activities and engagement outside the classroom, as well as a written essay. For those students who have an ACT or SAT score and want to submit it, the score will also be used as another factor in the overall process. ■
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAMS The UK Gatton College of Business and Economics is launching two new programs — a Master of Science in Strategic Human Resource Management and Analytics (MS-SHRMA) and a Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management. “The demand for HR professionals who can adapt to a changing landscape and elevate organizational contributions will continue to grow as companies have increased expectations around the role of HR within the organization,” Scott M. Soltis, academic director of the MS-SHRMA in the UK Department of Management, said. Approved by the UK Board of Trustees and pending approval by the Council on Postsecondary Education, the new programs will begin fall 2021. The 11-month, 30-credit MS-SHRMA focuses on HR-based analytics and strategic decision making and includes coursework on organizational network analysis and human capital planning and integration. The personalized learning experience and flexible format allow students to choose 100 percent in-person, 100 percent online in real-time and/or a hybrid. The 11-month, 15-credit certificate is for current HR professionals looking to grow their current role participation and career trajectory, as well as recent graduates who want to better prepare themselves for a career in human resources. The certificate combines insights from top faculty with real-world application and also features flexible delivery (in-person, real-time online or hybrid). In response to the rapidly growing demand for strategic marketing experts, the Gatton College of Business and Economics also recently launched a Master of Science in Marketing (MSM). The program will begin in fall 2021. ■
Photo by Amanda Nelson
ANTI-RACIST TRAININGS CONTINUE ACROSS CAMPUS
Anti-racist trainings are led by Candice Hargons, a professor in UK’s College of Education. UK is moving forward with its anti-racist trainings, having rolled out additional training to the UK Board of Trustees, members of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) leadership team, workgroups, project leads and executive sponsors starting in February. Led by Candice Hargons, a professor in the UK College of Education, the training program is in response to a campus-wide initiative to “change the culture” as a community united against systemic racism. As anti-racism protests swept the nation in 2020, it is clear that returning to “business as usual” will not yield the results the American people are marching for. While the university has for many years implemented diversity trainings for its
employees, the university acknowledged that more must be done. So that the university can begin to move the conversation from what it means to be non-racist to one that is focused on being actively anti-racist, new methods of teaching have been put in to place. “This training weaves in encouragement, models of identity development and intentional care to help people sustainably work toward anti-racism,” Hargons said. “Most diversity and inclusion trainings avoid identifying, comprehensively defining and acknowledging the impact of systemic, interpersonal and internalized racism. Anti-racism training addresses fear and courage, how systemic racism has organized everything from neighborhoods to syllabi and it integrates intersectionality. Additionally, this training integrates psychological research to help participants understand their resistance to adopting an anti-racist mindset and how that has psychosomatic origins.” President Eli Capilouto, who was among the initial group to receive the anti-racist training, felt deeply impacted by what he learned and encouraged that the training will help move the campus toward a more inclusive and equitable space for all. “The anti-racist mindset workshops led by Dr. Candice Hargons are important opportunities for participants to learn more about how they can help ensure we are a community where all are accepted and afforded the same opportunities to succeed,” Capilouto said. “Dr. Hargons creates spaces that encourage open and honest conversations among colleagues. We are grateful for her invaluable expertise, and we appreciate the time and talent she has dedicated to this work.” While Hargons’ responsibility is to train those who have policy making positions, she noted that the university has amazing administrators, like George Wright and Nicole Martin, who are building out a process for the entire campus to receive similar training. ■
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The 2021 session of the General Assembly officially came to an end and legislators completed their work on a state budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. For the University of Kentucky, the news is good. UK will receive $266.2 million next year — July 2021 through June 30, 2022 — from the state in support of the essential work it does. That amount includes $80.6 million for mandated programs such as Extension services, the University Press and the Kentucky Cancer Registry and $1.3 million for debt service on $14 million of state bonds to improve the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging/Neurosciences Facilities. In addition to that base appropriation, policymakers have appropriated about a 2 percent increase — $17.3 million — toward a performance funding pool in which all state universities and KCTCS compete for funding. The performance funding program for the universities measures progress in critical areas such as the advancement of students toward degrees, credit hours earned, and bachelor’s degrees awarded to low-income and underrepresented minority students and bachelor’s degrees awarded in specific areas including science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health. UK also will receive additional investments in cancer and spinal cord and head injury research funding that will be split with the University of Louisville. With the state budget for next year in place, UK will begin the work of finalizing the university’s budget for next year, which the Board of Trustees will consider at its June meeting. ■
Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo
UK RECYCLING MAKES PROGRESS TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY GOALS
UK Recycling has continued to make progress throughout 2020 toward its sustainability goals, despite some of the complications the past year presented. Changes to campus included the expansion of the food waste composting program to coffee shops on campus, an increase of collection spots for yard/green waste by grounds, recycling concrete that comes from sidewalk repairs on campus and the development of online resources — such as the ‘IDK’ (I Don’t Know) recycling container — for faculty, staff and students. UK has a target of diverting 50 percent of its waste from the landfill by 2022. This goal — which means working to recycle, donate, reuse or compost at least as much material
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K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
as it landfills — is part of the UK Sustainability Strategic Plan. UK Recycling is leading the university’s efforts on this front and works diligently with partners throughout campus to increase recycling and reduce the university’s landfill waste. The university maintained a 34 percent diversion rate in 2020, the same diversion rate for 2019. Despite a 3,598-pound drop in overall waste generated on campus (decrease in recycling, landfill and organic volume), the diversion rate remained stable suggesting campus is making substantial strides toward sustainable behavior change. Academic campus, which includes classroom buildings, athletics and office buildings, reached a 42 percent diversion rate for 2020. UK HealthCare, in the face of all the many challenges of 2020, was able to achieve a 25 percent diversion rate. This rate is considered a great starting point to continue to grow and expand current recycling and waste reduction efforts. “Every action helps reach our goal — a student using a reusable bottle for water, a staff member recycling a piece of paper at their desk, an employee recycling a cardboard box at the bookstore or dining hall, a facilities employee recycling light bulbs and batteries or students donating clothes during move out,” said Joanna Ashford, recycling coordinator for UK. ■
Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo
STATE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET FINALIZED
Photo courtesy of UK College of Arts & Sciences
Research UK TO HOUSE, DIGITIZE 90 YEARS OF LINGUISTIC DATA UK is home to the largest survey of American dialects, which contains 90 years’ worth of linguistic data. Started in 1929 by the American Dialect Society, the Linguistic Atlas Project (LAP) aims to collect linguistic data using a comprehensive, systematic approach. Over the course of many decades, the project has moved from various institutions — eventually landing at the University of Georgia (UGA), where it stayed for more than 25 years. “I was introduced to the Atlas at UGA and worked on the project as a graduate student,” Allison Burkette (pictured), a professor in the UK Department of Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, said. “Eventually, I was tapped to be the next project editor, and UK was chosen as the permanent home. So, in 2018, both the Atlas and I came to Lexington together.” The LAP is a valuable historical record of not just language use but American culture. It includes more than 8,500 hours of digitized data, and the project has a strong reputation in digital humanities and complex systems research. UK was solicited because it has a strong and growing reputation in sociolinguistics and specifically linguistic geography. The LAP consists of several sub-projects divided by geographical region. Each project represents the collection of linguistic data (grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary) in the form of dialect interviews. Participants were asked a series of targeted questions. For example, “What do you call the piece of furniture that has drawers for you to keep your clothes in?” Bureau, chest of drawers and dresser were common answers in the 1930s and 40s. Researchers wrote down these responses in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a set of symbols that linguists use to capture pronunciation. Burkette has been tasked with transitioning this storied collection into the digital age. The interview data is in many formats, including handwritten field notes in IPA, aluminum disk recordings, reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, CDs — mediums that represent the technologies of many different eras. The material will eventually be made available via the forthcoming UK LAP website. Additionally, Burkette — and her team of faculty, staff and student researchers — plan to conduct follow-up interviews throughout the Commonwealth. The interviews will be compared to those from the late 1950s-1960s to learn more about how language in Kentucky changes over time. ■
STUDENTS WORK TO DEVELOP SAFETY STANDARD FOR EQUESTRIAN HELMETS UK students are working to develop a helmet testing method and collect data that will hopefully serve as the start of a crushing-safety standard for equestrian helmets. Crushing accidents, while rare, occur when the rider falls from the horse and the horse either steps on or falls on top of the rider’s head. While equestrian helmets certified according to ASTM standards protect riders in a variety of ways, there is no test in place to evaluate a helmet’s crush resistance. Students Stuart Nicholas, Sam Gilbert and Katelyn Rice are developing a helmet testing method as part of their senior capstone design course in the UK Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. All are interested in pursuing careers in the medical industry after graduation. Nicholas said he was interested in the project because it is related to biomedical engineering. “Since the project requires researching biological properties of the head and skull to develop an accurate model headform, it is an engineering problem that relates to the human body,” he said. “Our goal for the project will be to have a functioning headform equipped for providing real-time force data when tested on equestrian helmets and to develop a testing protocol that is based on actual injuries riders may face during equestrian events, such as getting crushed by a horse after a fall,” Nicholas said. “This project is the first step in the creation of an ASTM standard, as it will take many more years and research projects to reach this goal, but we hope our project shows the need for a lateral crushing standard for equestrian helmets.” Students began working on the project during the fall semester by researching the frequency and severity of equestrian crushing accidents, designing a headform to fit into a helmet for testing and developing sensors to record lateral forces applied to the headform. The students built and tested their headform design during the spring semester. To help fund their project, the students applied for and received a project award from ASTM International, which develops safety standards for materials, products, systems and services. The students will submit a final report to ASTM. ■ W W W.RESEARCH.UK Y.EDU www. u kal u mni. net
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By Linda Perry
A
land-grant university measures success in a variety of ways — the education of students, research, alumni services, among others — but what really counts is how it performs during an emergency, such as the coronavirus pandemic that impacted the world. A year ago, there was so much uncertainty. Today, there is so much to be thankful for, thanks to the University of Kentucky’s rapid response. Because of its ability to pivot quickly, by April 2021 UK was often vaccinating 4,000 people a day at the Kroger Field Clinic, which was set up at the athletic stadium to help change the trajectory of the pandemic. By April 8, UK administered its 200,000th vaccine dose in the fight against COVID-19. That occurred slightly over a month from UK’s first milestone of 100,000 vaccinations on March 4. “That’s 200,000 shots that represent thousands of members of our university and healthcare communities who have volunteered and made this fight their focus for more than a year,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. The UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital admitted its first COVID-19 patient on March 6, 2020, and medical staff and campus administrators scrambled to find the best practices for dealing with this new emergency in the Commonwealth. Rapidly, areas of the entire campus became involved in searching for solutions, from creating hand sanitizer for distribution, implementing social distancing guidelines and signage, to manufacturing protective masks for hospital personnel during the contagious outbreak. UK students were asked to leave campus and faculty and staff who could work from home began what would become a yearlong experiment of meeting new challenges in an environment 12
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On March 4, Roberta Mason became the 100,000 person to obtain the vaccine at Kroger Field. She was joined by her daughter, Sherry Brown.
that begged for wildly possible solutions to tough questions. A task force was formed to help guide the university during uncertain times to keep everyone safe and yet carry on providing essential services to UK students and the community. Many endeavors were conceptualized to help in our communities in a variety of ways, from providing information about best practices for K-12 online class implementation (College of Education faculty) to the Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC), housed in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, which provided critical support to Kentucky small businesses navigating the federal COVID-19 relief landscape through its 17 centers across the Commonwealth. “Our heroes on the frontlines of this pandemic worked countless hours, devoting time otherwise dedicated to loved ones to combat this unforgiving disease. Our faculty and staff adjusted in admirable ways to continue fulfilling our sacred missions of education, research, service and care. Our students found new ways to learn and engage, discover and grow in an environment so different from what they anticipated when they imagined their time in college,” he said. “Because of your efforts — your commitment to this place and its compelling purpose — I’m excited to share with you … a return to normal operations in the fall of 2021,” said Capilouto. These pages present just a glimpse of some of the overall efforts achieved by the UK campus coming together to make an impact and is not meant to be a comprehensive account of the overwhelming outpouring of aid that colleges and campus units provided during the last year. It is a small testament to what can be achieved when a challenge is approached with the thinking that anything is wildly possible. ■
Photo by Mark Cornelison, UK Photo
UK PROVIDES SHOT IN THE ARM TOWARD NORMALCY
UK Athletics played a crucial role in the university’s efforts to facilitate medical services in the community. In April 2020, the organization transformed Nutter Field House into a field hospital as the state anticipated a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. In June, Kroger Field was converted to a voting center for the presidential election because its size allowed for safe and physically-distanced voting. Kroger Field operated as the largest vaccination clinic in the state, allowing the university to administer nearly 400 shots an hour and nearly 4,000 shots a day. These huge logistical lifts have only been made possible because of the support of UK Athletics.
From bottling 2,000 gallons of sanitizer for essential workers to distributing over 8,000 masks, sending care packages to Kentucky’s independent pharmacists, hosting virtual town halls, and vaccinating people across the Commonwealth, the College of Pharmacy has been at the forefront of UK’s efforts to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Over 300 people in the college have participated in COVID-19 vaccine efforts, totaling more than 1,500 hours per week. The college supported COVID-19 vaccine efforts throughout the state. The Kentucky Commission of Public Health, corporate and independent community pharmacies, health systems, and UK needed assistance with mass clinic vaccination sites, as well as mobile outreach events to underserved populations. The college developed a rapid response vaccine
Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
The College of Nursing found myriad, remarkable and everyday ways to step up to support the state, local community and university during the COVID-19 pandemic. From day one, the college had faculty and student clinicians working on the frontlines to provide patient care and community testing for COVID-19. One undergraduate senior was deployed by the Army Reserve to work 12- hour shifts building a field hospital in Louisville while also managing 12-hour hospital shifts in Lexington to complete his clinical hours. The college has also been and continues to be very active in COVID-19 community education, outreach and research — participating in townhalls and pop-up clinics in underserved communities to educate about, and vaccinate against, the virus; receiving funding to study the impact of COVID-19 on African-American and rural communities; and launching a public letter-writing campaign called Heart-2-Heart that sent out thousands of handwritten messages of support to healthcare workers in hard-hit virus hotspots across the state and nation. As part of UK and UK HealthCare’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts, by the end of February 2021 approximately 450 faculty, staff and students from the college volunteered more than 3,500 hours to vaccinate over 21,000 Kentuckians. Starting with nearly 100 volunteers to support the Kroger Field Vaccine Clinic on Feb. 13, the College of Dentistry’s faculty, students and staff have since returned on several additional Saturdays to aid vaccination efforts. College faculty and students are able to provide vaccines due to an emergency administrative regulation filed by the Kentucky Board of Dentistry in January allowing for dentists to administer the vaccine. “The students, faculty and staff of the College of Dentistry are honored to participate in the vaccination process. This is certainly a wonderful way to serve our university and the community while gaining valuable experiences during a very unique time. Our students were excited about this opportunity, and they really excelled. It is our hope that our efforts will help UK HealthCare reduce the effects of this pandemic. It is a very rewarding time to be a healthcare provider and make a difference in someone’s life,” said the college’s dean, Dr. Jeffrey Okeson.
task force, creating a Vaccine Reserve Corps (VRC) pool of volunteers, and developed an online system to streamline communications and coordinate opportunities from entities across the Commonwealth to the VRC. To date, 381 individuals from the college have registered with our VRC and worked well over 700 hours per week vaccinating Kentuckians. The college is also partnering with Kentucky Indigenous Peoples, the American Indian Movement and the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission to develop PSAs and vaccine education material for people throughout the state. Their efforts ensure vaccine education and access are improved for Kentucky’s Indigenous and rural populations who have limited access to the internet and Indigenous Health Services.
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Photo by Ben Corwin
For the past year, hospital staff on the 10th floor of the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital have worked on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, tirelessly treating COVID-positive patients. A handful of these employees work in the COVID-19 Medical ICU (MICU), where the sickest of patients fight for their lives. As the number of COVIDpositive patients being treated at UK HealthCare dwindles, Jennifer Alonso feels cautiously optimistic. “For the past year, I have felt a constant sense of anxiety as we have experienced an ebb and flow of COVID-19 ICU patients,” she said. “Thankfully, over the past few weeks, my anxiety has subsided. I see hope in the vaccine. I finally feel like we can see the light at the end of this dark tunnel, and I truly hope this means there are better days ahead for all of us.” Alonso is a MICU nurse who was one of the original 10th floor nurses assigned to treat patients in the COVID-19 MICU unit after the first few cases came into the hospital. She helped treat UK HealthCare’s first COVID-positive patient.
UK Health Corps, made up of approximately 60 dedicated staff members working to keep campus healthy and safe, has been managing everything from contact tracing and academic coordination to transportation and communications. Since July 2020, Health Corps has replied to more than 5,000 emails and managed 25,000+ phone calls. “The work the entire Health Corps team is doing is nothing short of remarkable,” said Hannah Simms, associate project manager with Health Corps and also an alumni engagement coordinator at the UK Alumni Association. “It’s amazing to think that in one year this team has built a modern public health infrastructure that has allowed our campus community to find a path forward in a challenging time.”
Not only did the College of Medicine lead the fight against Kentucky’s most crucial health challenges, educate future physicians and scientists, and develop new discoveries but it maintained this while taking on the global COVID-19 pandemic. It fostered strong collaborations across UK and within the college itself to develop strategies for combating the virus. The college led teams to find cutting-edge solutions through science and strategy to reopen the UK campus efficiently and safely, and it implemented virtual learning while preparing for safe in-person classroom settings. College of Medicine Dean Robert S. DiPaola* was selected to lead the UK Screening, Testing, and Tracing to Accelerate Restart and Transition (START) team that developed recommendations to the university’s Emergency Operations Center involving screening, testing, tracing and isolation/quarantine protocol that would allow students to return to campus. Dean DiPaola’s team was an interdisciplinary group of virologists, public health experts, physicians, pharmacists, information technologists, communicators and other experts. * Effective July 1, 2021, Dean DiPaola will be serving the University of Kentucky as acting provost. He will be in this role until June 30, 2022 at which point he plans to return to his role as dean of the College of Medicine.
The College of Public Health jumped in the trenches at the start of the pandemic, with faculty and graduate students volunteering to staff information call-in shows for Kentucky Educational Television. Students volunteered to assist with contact tracing at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and faculty worked with Kentucky public agencies on tasks ranging from statistical modeling to coordinating the state’s COVID-19 response in long-term care facilities. An ongoing project led by Public Health faculty is evaluating the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of K-12 school staff in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. More than 30 students, staff and faculty from the college have volunteered at the UK COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Kroger Field since the clinic opened in January. “As public health teachers and trainees, ensuring health equity is our passion and our purpose. While working at the Kroger Field vaccine clinic, our students are learning valuable real-world skills that will be essential in their future careers in public health and healthcare organizations. Most important, they are helping thousands of their fellow Kentuckians gain life- and health-saving protection from COVID-19,” said Dean Donna K. Arnett. Representatives from the college participated by serving in roles including wayfinding and helping with registration.
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Third-year law students advise, counsel and represent needy clients on a variety of civil legal matters at the J. David Rosenberg College of Law Legal Clinic. Under the Kentucky Supreme Court’s limited practice rule, and with the supervision of the director, law students represent clients before state agencies and in state court proceedings. Students also interview clients, draft legal documents, file pleadings and conduct discovery — and they have continued this important work for the community during the pandemic. The clinic has provided services and conducted business via phone, Facetime, and Zoom as much as possible. Legal Clinic Director Allison Connelly is present for all court proceedings, many of which occur via Zoom. The Legal Clinic reduced staff to ensure the ability to social distance according to CDC and university guidelines. Students and clients are required to wear masks in the building, and clients must sign a visitor log. The UK Intercollegiate Debate Team, housed in the College of Communication and Information, was not able to defend its title as the 2019 National Debate Tournament Champions when the National Debate Tournament was canceled in 2020 for the first time in tournament history. The team turned to focus its efforts on helping high school debate adapt to the new, unique virtual competition environment with its 48th annual Tournament of Champions (TOC) hosted online, rather than in person on UK’s campus. In 2020, nearly 1,100 students from 300 high schools, 37 states and four countries participated. With the 2021 debate season still in doubt, Kentucky Debate made the decision early to continue the virtual environment, allowing high school debaters to participate in a season amidst the uncertainty of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 TOC, held April 17-19, served more than 1,500 students from 380 high schools in 37 states and five countries.
In the College of Health Sciences, physical therapy second-year students go out on Tuesday clinicals in preparation for their first full-time clinical rotation. One student, Allison Hoey, worked at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington in its COVID-19 Recovery unit. “Some of my favorite memories of PT836 rotation with the ability to watch my COVID+ patients get off droplet precautions, gain cardiovascular endurance and help facilitate their discharge evaluation home. In the midst of the pandemic, you could see plainly the pure joy each patient had when they have the opportunity to go home or to another facility. This resulted in them being in community with more people and having the support system that they could see physically,” she said. Joneen Lowman, associate professor in communication sciences and disorders in the college, launched the first telehealth graduate certificate in Kentucky and shared her advice on the importance of telehealth training for all medical professionals — including helping alumni and co-workers throughout the university with their virtual pedagogy.
In response to COVID-19, the College of Social Work swiftly conceptualized new initiatives and adapted existing programs to meet the ever-evolving needs of citizens in Kentucky and beyond. Through its Training Resource Center, the college deployed an expanded service model for the Adoption Support for Kentucky — Virtual Interaction Program (ASKVIP), a program which provides virtual supports to foster and adoptive caregivers throughout the Commonwealth. Social Work also launched an innovative Learning Management System (LMS), which provides a comprehensive learning and support apparatus for users from multiple areas of need and interest without limitations associated with a physical location. Acting as a hub for high-impact training, learning, and support opportunities, the LMS empowered users to access needed training and information anywhere at any time. The college also assisted state government and local health departments in the distribution of information associated with vaccine accessibility. Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, Social Work has provided more than 100,000 pandemic-specific outreach, training and service occurrences to individuals in all over the world, including all 120 Kentucky counties.
Photo submitted
Whitney Walker, a College of Education alumna and current UK doctoral scholar, had a vision to enliven her empty social studies classroom seats for the background of her daily Zoom sessions with her students at Lafayette High School in Lexington. To help keep students engaged during the trials of teaching throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she solicited help from retired Lafayette librarian Susie Jolliffe and student teacher Mallory Shaw, who is a social studies master’s with initial certification student at the College of Education. There’s Dolly Parton in the front row, sitting next to Lin-Manuel Miranda. Kobe Bryant studies on one side, with Ruth Bader Ginsburg across the row. Jhana French (now an alumna) was student teaching at Wellington Elementary in Lexington when the semester was interrupted a little over a year ago. French was surprised by the abrupt change to the semester but knows that quick pivots will be necessary as a teacher, and her training in the College of Education served her well. “Nothing can really prepare you for what we are doing right now during the pandemic,” she said. “But things are going to be thrown at you every day as a teacher, without you being prepared for it. It probably will not be to this extreme, but it’s good to practice being able to adapt in every situation. That’s what teaching is. It will make us stronger teachers.” At UK, faculty expertise was called upon to talk about the overall impact that school closures would have on students and K-12 education. Also, how can education bridge the digital and health divide for students of color during the pandemic? Gregory Vincent, executive director of the college’s Education and Civil Rights Initiative, moderated a webinar with expert panelists from the National Medical Association and the NAACP in October.
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Photo by Julie Wilson
The College of Engineering contributed to the fight against COVID-19 in numerous ways, however, one unique way was by donating 40 boxes of overhead transparencies that were converted into makeshift face masks. Additionally, Isabel Escobar, professor of chemical and materials engineering in the college and associate director of the UK Center of Membrane Sciences, and Eric Wooldridge, professor of additive manufacturing at Somerset Community College and graduate of UK’s online master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering, teamed up to create a 3D-printed, membrane-filtered face masks that can inactivate the coronavirus. Escobar, shown here, perfected the components of the mask and Wooldridge’s group printed them. The goal, through passive decontamination, is to not only protect people from breathing in viruses, but to eliminate them on contact. Escobar is working to perfect the central component of the masks — the filter. This filter will contain a unique membrane composed of a polymer dissolved in a nontoxic, bio-derived solvent, which will then be chemically bound to medical-grade silver nanoparticles, known for their antiviral efficiency.
The College of Design became the hub and point of contact for the design and production of face shields, both the ones that cover the forehead down, as well as the ones that go from the neck to the top of the head, each one serving a different purpose to prevent the viral spread. Working with many team members, ultimately School of Architecture professor Mike McKay’s design for the shield and fabrication lab tech Pooya Mohaghegh’s band design were paired to become the final iteration shared with UK HealthCare. With input from Chief Technology Officer/Associate CIO Jason McReynolds and Assistant Chief Medical Officer for Inpatient Service Dr. Ashley Montgomery-Yates at UK HealthCare, the College of Design developed the prototype and produced hundreds of shields for front-line health care workers. Here, Pooya Mohaghegh and shopmaster Paul Masterson are shown working on a prototype.
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During the last year, UK Research took COVID-19 work into the field — literally. In Lexington on the UK North Farm, a team of researchers from the UK College of Medicine is using a special class of antibodies made by alpacas that could potentially lead to future treatments to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The smaller antibodies (nanobodies) could prove effective in fighting disease at greater rates than antibodies due to an increased ability to penetrate viral proteins. The researchers will share nanobodies with colleagues pursuing COVID-19 related research to aid in developing other treatments. Across the state in Eastern Kentucky, the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (UKCARES), in partnership with the UK Center of Excellence
in Rural Health, Kentucky Homeplace and the USA Drone Port, joined forces to overcome challenges of transportation and health care access. The Jericho Project uses aerial drones and community health workers to deliver Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and much-needed supplies to Appalachian Kentucky residents in an effort to bridge the gap of health care inequity in rural communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It could also provide a future cost-effective way to perform air, water and soil sampling for environmental health studies. In this photo, Bart Massey, executive director of the USA Drone Port, talks to Community Health Worker Carole Frazier (foreground) about visual observer training for the Jericho Project to deliver PPE to rural Kentuckians.
Information Technology Services (ITS) was there to support the University of Kentucky’s COVID-19 response from the very beginning – providing expertise and resources to the initial planning workstreams and START team, as well as distributing essential technology for those in need. The ITS Networking & Infrastructure team designed and installed networks to support response efforts at several locations including the Nutter Field House field hospital, COVID-19 testing tents, and the Y Academy for School Aged Children, which helped UK HealthCare employees with childcare needs. Several ITS teams worked to increase support and capacity for software and systems that were essential during remote learning, teaching, and working (Microsoft Teams, Virtual Den, GlobalProtect VPN client). As UK began to bring students back to campus, ITS teams worked to support Health Corps operations by creating the COVID-19 Daily Screening workflow to assist with contact tracing, as well as validating data for COVID-19 reporting dashboards. To ensure that students could learn safely, ITS installed new classroom technology resulting in 90 percent of the centrally managed classrooms supported by ITS being capable of providing live streaming and recording of class sessions. Geospatial teams used their technologies to map out campus sidewalks, classrooms and testing locations for optimal social distancing to meet safety guidelines. Once the university began to distribute vaccines to the community, ITS developed a scheduling tool that synced with university data to ensure reporting and operations went smoothly. Brian Nichols, chief information officer, said, “I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments ITS made toward the university’s overall mission to support not only our students, faculty and staff, but our whole community through challenging times.”
Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
An army of volunteers made it possible for UK and UK HealthCare to provide COVID-19 testing and vaccinations to the public. To honor those faculty, staff and students who stepped up for the greater good of the community, UK Dining hosted a thank you lunch in March at the Woodford Reserve Club at Kroger Field, providing complimentary meals to the volunteers. “This is a token of appreciation from our team for the tireless and important work done by the volunteers and health care workers during this unprecedented epidemic,” said Resident District Manager Pulkit Vigg with UK Dining and it’s dining partner Aramark. “Kroger Field is at the center of Kentucky’s battle against COVID-19 — we’re putting more shots into more arms than any other clinic in the state,” Lance Poston, assistant vice president for student success, said. “Without a doubt, what truly holds the clinic together and propels it forward is our outstanding volunteers.”
The UK Cooperative Extension Service in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment developed a rapid response approach with web-based programming to focus on emerging needs in all 120 Kentucky counties. Offices served as regional sites for PPE and medical supply distribution. Agents mobilized local volunteers to sew face masks, gowns, surgical caps and construct face shields in response to requests from local hospitals and healthcare facilities. Many county offices served as coordinators for food bank and commodity distribution to collect, package and distribute food. Local offices that had the capacity provided broadband access in their parking lots for students and families. Programming in packages became a highly popular way to share information and activities related to 4-H projects, family and consumer science topics, horticulture and other related themes. More than 100,000 program kits have been distributed across the state, such as this Grab-and-Go activity from the Leslie County 4-H and 4-H Agent Dawna Peters. Working with the governor’s office, Extension agents were also asked to assist in statewide vaccine education. They coordinated focus groups to aid the state marketing firm to design vaccine messages that resonate with diverse local audiences, particularly in rural areas. The unit also partnered with UK Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health colleges to further support vaccine access and education across the state. As COVID-19 spread, the College of Arts & Sciences stepped up to meet the needs of health professionals. The Chemistry, Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences departments donated more than 200,000 nitrile gloves, 81 lab coats, 100 safety glasses, 3,300 alcohol wipes and 330 face masks to the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital. Researchers in the Psychology Department joined efforts to understand humans’ response to the pandemic by starting and continuing research projects. Their projects range from exploring the virus’s effects on spike proteins on the brain to how middle- and high-schoolers
changed their consumption of media after schools went online. College of Arts & Sciences faculty also engaged students creatively in the humanities amid the pandemic. Nascent poets and writers (undergraduates and graduates) expressed themselves through haiku and other forms of poetry in the classes of Julia Johnson, a poet and professor in the Department of English and MFA program in Creative Writing. The results — students reading their poems on video or publishing their work online — are on display at english. as.uky.edu/pandemic-poetry-showcase.
At the onset of COVID-19, the Gatton College of Business and Economics stepped up to support students who were struggling financially. The Gatton Persistence Scholarship was a onetime grant initiated by Simon Sheather, dean of the college, and matched dollar-for-dollar by the college. Nineteen generous alumni raised more than $300,000 in just one month. That money has kept 160 Gatton students moving in the right direction. Brothers Scott S. Smith ’90 BE and Sean S. Smith ’90 BE recognized the impact the scholarships could have for the students. “It was a real heartfelt need and an easy one to decide on,” said Sean S. Smith. “Simon sent us thank you letters from the students. We read every one of those letters and realized what such a little donation can do and how far it can go.” www. u kalumni. net
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Working with community partners, the college’s students and faculty organized several virtual choirs to retain connections with patrons, from alumni percussion ensembles to no less than two renditions of “My Old Kentucky Home,” and the UK Chorale’s “Down in the River to Pray” received more than 19,000 views on YouTube. UK Creative Arts Living Learning Program (LLP) students participated in a Volunteer Experience Project and one group created and distributed e-cards to hospitals, nursing homes, and other related organizations, while students in the Comfort Through Music project coordinated with other Fine Arts students to compile music performances to send to those in need of comfort from being impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
When live performances were cancelled for safety precautions, creatives and makers in the College of Fine Arts contributed their talents to mask-making. Organized by School of Art and Visual Studies faculty Rae Goodwin and Crystal Gregory, the Sew-atHome network donated time and materials, with support from the College of Fine Arts, to provide homemade cloth masks for UK HealthCare. Masks were also donated to local organizations, including Homestead Post Acute, Ballard-Griffith Towers Senior Housing Center, Ampersand, The Refuge for Women and UK Pediatric Therapy Center. As of July 2020, the volunteer team of students, faculty, staff and parents made and distributed more than 2,000 masks to vulnerable populations. The School of Art and Visual Studies’ faculty Siavash Tohidi worked with UK HealthCare’s Dr. Michael Winkler and UK electrical engineering professor Daniel Lau to create customized PPE for healthcare workers through 3D technology. Based on scans of a health care provider’s face, the team designed quality masks and printed prototypes with stereolithography 3D printers housed in the Art and Visual Studies Building. Prints of the prototypes were outsourced to companies to create masks using safe and flexible materials.
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On March 9, 2020, UK activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to provide interagency coordination and executive decision making in support of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Led by the UK Police Department Division of Crisis Management and Preparedness, representatives from across campus and UK HealthCare stakeholders continue to coordinate the university’s response to, and recovery from, the impacts of COVID-19. The EOC facilitated a cross-departmental team with nearly 500 faculty, staff and students and formed 19 workstreams that produced UK’s Playbook for Reinvented Operations, a meticulous and comprehensive plan to safely reopen campus for the fall 2020 semester. Released in June 2020, the playbook outlined protocols for resuming in-person course delivery, on-campus work and residential experiences guided by the latest science and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our team of public health and infectious disease experts. This planning allowed the EOC to coordinate and conduct more than 200,000 student and community COVID-19 tests. In January 2021, at the request of the state, the EOC was tasked with organizing a central COVID-19 vaccination clinic and staffing hundreds of volunteers — from UK HealthCare, the College of Pharmacy, the College of Nursing and beyond. In April 2021, the UK administered its 200,000th vaccine dose in the fight against COVID-19.
Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
ANSWERING THE CALL
UK Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement staff volunteered at the Kroger Field COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic this spring.
By Meredith Weber
On the morning of April 6, Amanda Trail knew there was only one pair of shoes to wear that day: her UK basketball shoes, a gift from her Duke-loving boyfriend. We won’t talk about that part. More importantly, Trail, a University of Kentucky gift and estate planning philanthropy associate specialist, wanted to show off her UK pride at the Kroger Field COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic as she signed up to volunteer with 32 of her colleagues from the UK Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement. “I am so proud of my state and my alma mater and I wanted to give back to show my appreciation,” Trail said. “I had already been vaccinated and volunteering was something I had been wanting to do. The opportunity to volunteer amongst my peers was the perfect opportunity.” Trail started working in the Office of Philanthropy in December 2020 and had hardly met any of her peers in person due to the pandemic and working remotely. She not only wanted to give back to her community after being vaccinated but saw it as an opportunity to develop and create relationships with co-workers she had yet to meet. “Coming to UK from a small company meant I was entering a large, new network and I wanted to take any opportunity I could to establish myself and meet people at UK,” Trail said. Lori Eckdahl, senior director of administrative services and planning, saw the urgency for volunteers from emails and UK news articles and thought it would be a great team building opportunity. “After not seeing each other for a long time and with new faces on our team, we thought it would be a soft reintegration back to life on campus for our staff while also giving back to an important cause.” Eckdahl wanted the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement staff to be together while volunteering at the vaccination clinic so she called on Health Corps associate project manager and alumni engagement coordinator for the UK Alumni Association Hannah Simms to help organize the day. Simms has been supporting the COVID-19 response and relief effort through Health Corps in addition to her daily duties with the UK Alumni Association. “We picked a day, and I was given instructions on exactly what to tell the staff in order to make the day a success. It couldn’t have been easier,” Eckdahl said. “The UK Kroger Field COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic is the largest in the state of Kentucky,” Simms said. It launched in January 2020 and supported the administration of more than 240,000 doses of the vaccine to first responders, K-12 employees, essential employees and the general public. “Volunteers are the backbone of the operation and having groups like this volunteer for a day is a win-win for everyone involved. We can keep vaccinating the community, and volunteers leave with a rewarding feeling knowing they are serving the
Commonwealth.” The 33 volunteers assisted with non-clinical volunteer responsibilities including registration, wayfinding and transporting patients in need of mobility assistance. Before the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement staff volunteer day, major gift officer Tina Pugel volunteered at the Kroger Field COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic on her own because she knew the need for volunteers was great. “The first time I volunteered, it was an incredibly moving experience,” Pugel said. “I saw people of all ages, ethnicities and abilities coming through to be vaccinated and they were doing it for themselves, their family and their community.” Plus, she wanted to see what the process was like behind the scenes so she could share with others. “I wanted to be able to tell people how easy it is to be vaccinated and encourage others to be vaccinated,” Pugel said. From her firsthand vaccination and volunteer experience, she was able to tell her friends and family how quick and easy it is to get vaccinated. “Volunteering and getting vaccinated is the best way to love your neighbor and I wanted to do my part.” Mike Richey, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement, also participated in the volunteer day and was moved by the rewarding experience. “We truly have a remarkable team that’s always willing to go above and beyond. I was so impressed that day with their commitment to giving back,” Richey said. Work-life balance is also important to Richey’s leadership of the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement. Every other year, the UK @ Work Work-Life Survey of Faculty and Staff is conducted on campus and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement typically scores high in all categories. In September 2019, more than 95% of staff said they believe strongly in the goals and mission of UK and more than 90% of staff agree the people they work with are willing to help each other, even if it means doing something outside their usual activities. “Our philosophy is to give of ourselves and our heart before asking others to give to this university,” Richey said. “We are dedicated to advancing this institution one day at time through not only fundraising, but through acts of service to our community.” Jill Smith, associate vice president for alumni engagement and executive director of the UK Alumni Association, was grateful to add the experience to her list of memories at UK. “Since coming to the university as a student 20 years ago, I’ve missed very few home football games at Kroger Field,” Smith said. “Over the years, Kroger Field has been a place full of UK memories for me. I’ll always remember the clinic that was housed in this space as our university served the community and the Commonwealth through the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. I was delighted to join my colleagues to serve our community through this outreach.”
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Traveling Wildcats 2021 Tours* July · Galapagos Islands – Northern Itinerary · Rhine Highlights · Viking Legends · Circumnavigation of Iceland August · Nordic Magnificence · Majestic Great Lakes · Imperial Splendors of Russia · Northern Gateways September · Cape Cod & the Islands · Flavors of Chianti · Coastal Life – Adriatic and Aegean Odyssey · Enchanting Ireland October · Byzantine Sojourn · Classical Cities of Spain November · Antiquities of the Red Sea and Aegean Sea · Iberian Immersion · Egypt & the Eternal Nile · Holiday Markets Cruise ~ The Festive Rhine River · San Antonio Holiday *All trips and dates are subject to change.
2022 Tours Coming Soon! Traveling, exploring and adventuring will soon return and the Traveling Wildcats are here for you! For more information and to view details on all trips visit www.ukalumni.net/travel or contact the UK Alumni Association at 859-257-7174.
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CAPTURING BRILLIANCE MICHAEL HUANG BEHIND THE LENS By Ann Blackford
Photos submitted
MICHAEL HUANG:
Michael Huang capturing photos at the UK men’s basketball game vs. Utah at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 18, 2019.
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f you ever meet Michael Huang ’89 AS, MED ’93, chances are you’ll see him with a stethoscope hanging around his neck, or a camera strap. Either way, you’ve met Dr. Michael Huang, Lexington physician, or Dr. Mike, well-known free-lance photographer about town. One-man, multiple interests, but his passion for providing quality health care to patients is matched only by his love of photographing iconic scenes from life around the Bluegrass. Huang’s connections to the Lexington community, and particularly to the University of Kentucky, run deep. On first impression, you can’t help but notice his big smile and upbeat, energetic personality. One could argue, however, that the most intriguing thing about Huang are the many titles he holds in both his personal and professional life: husband, father, son, brother, physician, educator, UK alumnus, rabid UK sports fan, community activist and photographer. Huang’s love for UK began at a very early age when his family, first generation Chinese immigrants, moved from Taiwan to the United States in 1961. Yang “Pete” Huang had a distinguished career in civil engineering and held many professional positions in both China and the U.S. He married nurse-midwife Jane Huang in 1955 and soon their family in Taiwan grew to include their first child Mary, followed by son John. By the time the family moved to the U.S. and Pete Huang had joined the UK Department of Civil Engineering faculty in
1967, Michael, the youngest of their three children, was born in Lexington. Huang was an exemplary student at Lexington’s Henry Clay High School and throughout his academic career at UK. He was taught very early in life to value the importance of education. “I had a very strict upbringing and I remember coming home from school and all my friends were outside riding bikes and playing basketball, but my mother wouldn’t let me go out until I completed my Chinese lessons,” he said. “I appreciate that now because I can speak the language well enough to communicate.” Early in Michael Huang’s life, he became captivated with Kentucky basketball and football, and some of his fondest memories involve the family gathering around a radio to listen to Cawood Ledford’s call of the games. UK basketball has particularly held a special place in Huang’s heart, and his memories are vivid as he can still, many years later, recall many details and all the players from games he attended as a UK student, including the 1992 Elite Eight
heartbreaker against Duke, and the 1993 Final Four. It was his growing love of UK sports that drives his current day passion for photography. While UK sports were a huge interest for Huang, science dominated his academic life at UK. “When it came time to apply for college, I had no doubt that I would attend UK,” Huang said. “I was ecstatic to receive one of the inaugural Otis A. Singletary Scholarships, the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships ever offered at UK, making my decision even easier.”
He graduated with high distinction with a B.A. in chemistry and minor in biology and was awarded the Otis A Singletary Award as Outstanding Senior Male in 1989. From there, it was on to medical school. Huang knew he wanted to become a doctor because he had always been fascinated with science and healing. Again, Huang graduated with high distinction from the UK College of Medicine
Michael Huang (third from left) poses with his family after graduating from the UK College of Medicine in 1993. From left to right is John Huang (Michael Huang’s brother); Katie Huang (Michael Huang’s niece and John Huang’s daughter); Michael Huang; Hannah Johnson (Michael Huang’s niece and Mary Ensom’s daughter); Mary Ensom (Michael Huang’s sister); Jane Huang (Michael Huang’s mother); and Yang “Pete” Huang (Michael Huang’s father).
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“My love of UK drove my passion to produce better pictures that fans like me would treasure, so I worked really hard at learning photography.” — Michael Huang ‘89 AS, ‘93 MED
in 1993. Although he completed his internal medicine residency at Vanderbilt, his deep love of UK lured him back to Kentucky where he joined the faculty at the UK College of Medicine. For the next 17 years, he poured his heart and soul into caring for his patients as he built his primary care practice and helped educate the next generation of health care professionals in the state. He attained the rank of associate professor and became medical director of the Kentucky Clinic South primary care practice. In 2013, after much deliberation, he accepted his current position as medical director for Marathon Health, where he runs the clinic providing health care for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government employees and their families. Huang remains closely connected to UK through the Alumni Association. As a Life
Member, he has served on the Board of Directors for UK’s Fayette County Alumni Club, the National Alumni Association Board, and has chaired numerous committees. Of course, his love of UK basketball and football never wavered and neither did his love of photography. He recalls striking up a conversation with Sigma Chi fraternity brother and local sports broadcaster Larry Glover about the SEC Tournament. “I was a little bitter that I was sitting high up in the rafters while Larry got to sit on the floor where all the action was taking place,” Huang laughingly reminisces. “I told him I needed to be his website photographer. When it actually happened, I went to Murphy’s Camera and purchased my first professional camera,” he said. “I had little clue about aperture or shutter
speeds, but the more pictures I took, the more I learned,” Huang said. “My love of UK drove my passion to produce better pictures that fans like me would treasure, so I worked really hard at learning photography.” Huang was credentialed for UK sports in 2010 and began his journey of taking some of the most vivid and compelling photos of Big Blue Nation basketball and football. His subject matter grew, and he is equally well-known for his action shots of horse racing, particularly the Kentucky Derby. His photos have been published in the New York Times, Tops in Lexington magazine, Cats Pause, Kentucky Alumni magazine, and he is currently the primary photographer for Kentucky Sports Radio.
THE PHOTO THAT LED TO A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL Huang met his wife Michelle in 2013 when a mutual friend introduced them at a “Thursday Night Live” outdoor social event in Lexington. Although they hit it off and exchanged numbers, they didn’t see each other again until Michelle attended a UK football game with her parents later that year. She knew he was a doctor but had no
Above: Michael Huang under the rails at the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Left: Michael Huang in his office at Marathon. 24
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Above: From left to right is Michael Huang; Michelle Huang (Michael Huang’s wife); Grayson Shively (Michael Huang’s stepson); Gabriel Huang (Michael Huang’s son); and Griffin Shively (Michael Huang’s stepson). Left: The legendary photo that led to a marriage proposal. Michael Huang snapped this shot of his now-wife Michelle Huang at a UK football game and that’s when “sparks flew” for the happy couple. idea he was a photographer when she spotted him on the sidelines with a big camera. She texted him and asked if he was at the game taking pictures. He said yes and asked her to stand up. He took a beautiful picture of her and tagged her on Facebook, which soon went viral among their friends. “We met for dinner a few nights later and really hit it off,” Michelle Huang says in her blog. “The rest is history. I found my husband because of a picture he took of me at a UK football game.” The Huangs were married in 2014 and their son Gabriel was born in 2015, joining his stepbrothers Grayson and Griffin Shively. Michael Huang says he has a deep love and appreciation for what the university has done for his family. In addition to providing his father’s professorship, Huang’s siblings also graduated from UK. His sister Mary graduated from the UK College of Pharmacy and his brother John, graduated from the UK College of Dentistry. He, his father and
his siblings have accumulated 81 total years at UK either as students or faculty. The UK tradition in the Huang family does not end here. Mary’s daughter Hannah is also a graduate of the College of Pharmacy and Michael Huang’s son Griffin will enter the chemical engineering program in the fall of 2021. Supporting the University of Kentucky and his community is very important not only to Michael Huang, but his entire family. “In order to give back to the place that has given us so much, my father, now 93, has pledged the majority of his estate to establish a $500,000 endowed Huang Family Scholarship Fund,” Huang said. Michael Huang has the heart of a giver, which is reflected in all areas of his life: his devotion to his family, his work as a physician, in his photography and in his volunteer activities with the American Heart Association, the Foster Care Council, the Living Arts and Science Center and
United Way of the Bluegrass. His family, his community and UK are huge parts of his heart and his life. “Everything I’ve accomplished goes back to my parents, who sacrificed so much to provide a better life for us.” “My life and the University of Kentucky are inextricably intertwined,” Huang said. “Much of what makes me who I am is directly due to the experience with my beloved alma mater.” ■
Follow Michael Huang on Facebook at Dr. Michael Huang Photography, on Twitter at @DrMikeUK and on Instagram at @drmikeuk.
Michael Huang’s family enjoying a UK football game at Kroger Field. From left to right is Michelle Huang, Gabriel Huang, Yang “Pete” Huang, Michael Huang and John Huang.
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Marilyn Clark: UK’s First Supplier Diversity Manager By Meg Mills
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Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
he University of Kentucky has tapped a highly regarded expert in the local community to be its first supplier diversity manager as part of a long-term effort to bolster and strengthen ties to minority-owned businesses and vendors. As part of UK’s plan to progress the institution toward diversity, equity and inclusion, the university has created 17 projects in phase one of its campus wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) plan. Included in this plan is Project 14, which seeks to expand UK’s supplier diversity procurement efforts. Led by Barry Swanson, UK’s chief procurement officer, a national search for a supplier diversity manager was conducted to ensure a dedicated focus for the effort. Marilyn Clark began her work as UK’s first supplier diversity manager Jan. 19, 2021, after more than five years with the Fayette County Schools in a similar role. Clark recently discussed the significance of her role and the impact it will have on campus.
Why is the new supplier diversity manager position significant? This is a pivotal moment for UK. How we respond to the social injustices we witnessed in 2020 will be documented in the university’s history. Supplier diversity will play a critical role in how we move forward. The lack of economic opportunity is really at the root cause of so many of the social issues minority communities continue to face. Because systems were created to limit economic opportunities for minority groups, we have to build intentional and inclusive systems to open access and level the playing field. We will be intentional about how UK engages with minority and other diverse vendors. UK will be a welcome, open and accessible place to do business. We want every person on campus, before they even think about making any purchase, to ask the question, “Are we including diverse vendors in the process?” Supplier diversity as an industry grew out of the social unrest in the 1960s. On March 5, 1969, President Richard Nixon signed Executive Order 11458 and created the first government agency — the Office of Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE) — to address the needs of minority businesses. That agency is now called the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). Other orders were passed later to develop programs for women and veteran owned companies. March is also recognized as Procurement Month.
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What will your role on campus look like?
What plans do you have in your new role?
My role is to be a connector — with businesses, the UK campus, departments, students, business resource partners and the community. There are a million moving parts to doing that, but that is the simplest way to describe my role. The fact that UK already has 17 work teams across campus dedicated to increasing DEI is amazing. I am so happy to be working with like-minded people in the DEI Supplier Diversity Group #14, led by Barry Swanson. Barry is not only a supporter and an advocate, but he is truly a champion for supplier diversity. He knows the people, and he knows how to get things done. I am very appreciative of his genuine enthusiasm for the work.
I am really excited to be here. It is a great place to work, great people and great benefits. My colleagues in purchasing are knowledgeable and very helpful. I’m passionate about working with businesses. First, I want to dispel the myth that there are no capable minority businesses to work with. They exist and my role is to help them connect to opportunities at UK. Secondly, this is not a program, it is a strategy that aligns with the university’s goals. I will work with Barry, Naomi Emmons, George Brown and the supplier diversity work team to create a four phased approach based on eight supplier diversity industry best practices: • Phase One — Discovery and Assessment • Phase Two — Writing a 100 Day Plan that will drive our written supplier diversity strategy • Phase Three — Implementation of the plan campus wide • Phase Four — Continuous Improvement And while we build our strategy, I will continue to work with business partners daily to strategically source for diverse suppliers for every bid and request for proposal. Our goal is to develop a level 5, world class supplier diversity strategy that is a model for other public universities and private companies. We want to engage all the resources available on campus, especially our students, to be an integral part of the process. The opportunities for collaboration are endless. This is truly an exciting time to be here at UK! I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity.
You were in a similar position before. How will that help you in your new role? I’ve had a varied professional background. I lived around the country and worked in television management. I am a small business owner and former adjunct and visiting professor with the UK School of Journalism and College of Communications and Information. I worked at the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government as the minority business enterprise liaison, the first to serve in that newly created position. I moved on to Fayette County Public Schools as the manager of economic development and supplier diversity. Every job I’ve had prepared me for the opportunity to work as supplier diversity manager for UK. Having past experience in the field and great relationships make it easier to jump start the strategy we need to be successful here at UK.
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Tukea Talbert: UK HealthCare Chief Diversity Officer By Grace Colville
What made you want to get How is UK HealthCare’s DEI team working with the university’s DEI involved with DEI work? team to bring about change at this About six years ago, an administrator had asked me to take the lead on UK institution? Developing an anti-racist HealthCare’s Diversity, Equity and culture at an institution is Inclusion journey. While this was the In my role as chief diversity officer, it is one official beginning, the seed was planted of my major responsibilities to make sure I’m crucial to its success. What long before that conversation. optimizing the work we do in this space. It’s so are some ways everyone As a nurse, we hold ourselves important we achieve synergy with the campus accountable to provide culturally work because that’s where we can have our big can contribute? congruent care and advocate for patients wins. from all backgrounds. This role empowers me to take this work and passion through multiple partnerships and key stakeholders to a whole new level. Because this work cannot be successful without the full engagement of the entire, team members hold the key to success. Our staff and faculty represent our most precious and powerful resource, and I have the honor of working with them to achieve the outcomes of diversity, equity and inclusion. One of my favorite quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsburg is: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
We launched the COVID-19 vaccine clinics to provide access to vulnerable populations in Lexington. Through partnering with community leaders, we were able to identify four locations that will result in 2,000 or more individuals receiving both a first dose and booster over an eight-week period. My primary contact with the university is the Interim Vice President for the Office of Institutional Diversity Dr. George Wright. Wright has been a key supporter of intentional communications and sharing of DEI projects and efforts through the DEI Implementation Leadership Team that he chairs. Our deliberate efforts around partnership demonstrates our solidarity to UK HealthCare, the university and the community.
Everyone can contribute in some of the following ways: • Be committed to self-education. We cannot reconcile what we do not know. Learning about the history and lived experiences of others helps provide context and cultural humility. • People with privilege (We all have privileges of some kind.) must be willing to use their privilege and become allies to individuals who may be marginalized, who experience microaggressions and/or microinequities. • Everyone must be constantly mindful of how our environment supports or inhibits inclusive excellence. Everyone must be an upstander and exercise self-accountability to speak up when inequities and/or injustices exist. • Practice self-awareness and selfevaluation continuously because we all have biases, blind spots and unique lived experiences that influence how we perceive people different than I think the awareness is there. COVID-19 has magnified the structural oppression and racism that ourselves and our environment. has existed for centuries in Kentucky and nationally. • Show grace and respect. Create safe So much of the diversity, equity and inclusion work that we do, especially around health equity, is psychological space (brave space) not only looking at how we address those issues, but how we define them for UK HealthCare. We are for crucial conversations about looking very diligently through our metrics and analyses of our data because you cannot have quality uncomfortable topics to identify if you don’t have equity. We must incorporate what is commonly called data disaggregation. our commonalities along with a Data disaggregation by race, ethnicity and limited English proficiency allows us to identify and path forward. Dismantling systemic quantify any disparities unique to these groups. This will allow us to execute targeted strategies racism starts at the individual and and solutions to address the issues and impact change and improvements with the care of all of our interpersonal level. patients including those most vulnerable.
In Kentucky, a common misconception is that health disparities are only apparent in rural communities. However, BIPOC individuals (Black, Indigenous and people of color) experience disadvantages in the healthcare field often. How is UK HealthCare’s DEI team addressing this issue?
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Photo submitted
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ukea Talbert ’89 NUR is the chief diversity officer at UK HealthCare. In this role, she oversees all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts across the entire health system. Another important component of Talbert’s position is connecting UK HealthCare’s DEI efforts with those of the University of Kentucky and connecting those teams to the community. “The time is now for us to make bold changes and sustainable actions in this space to impact not just our workforce, which is very key, but also the people that we care for every day from all walks of life,” said Talbert. Talbert recently discussed the UK HealthCare DEI leadership council’s goals and how they are working to implement change here.
CHAMPIONS! After almost two full seasons this year, the University of Kentucky women’s volleyball team won the volleyball national championship for the first time in school history and became the first team from the Southeastern Conference to win it all. Kentucky beat Texas, 3-1, in the championship match held in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 25, 2021. After the match point, confetti fell from the ceiling as players and staff celebrated the victory. The Cats became just the 11th program to win a volleyball title since the NCAA Tournament was first held in 1981. It feels good to officially be a “volleyball school.”
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Photo courtesy of NCAA Championships
Photo courtesy of NCAA Championships
Sports UK VOLLEYBALL CAPTURES FIRST NATIONAL TITLE Kentucky volleyball coach Craig Skinner has bult a powerhouse program in his 16 years in Lexington. Now the Wildcats can add national champion to their resume! Kentucky (24-1) dropped the first set to Texas, but rebounded to post a 20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22 victory in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament final in Omaha, Nebraska. “This 100 percent validates what we talked about for years. You have a long-term vision of building a program that competes for a national championship. Obviously, you’ve got to get to certain stages before you can have that chance, but all along we’ve said we’re not going to compromise the way we do things, being honest and direct and open and caring for our players,” said Skinner, who was named American Volleyball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year and the AVCA’s All-Southeast Region Coach of the Year. “This staff was amazing this year — what we went through, along with our administration and our university. And all the players and coaches who came before, I hope they all feel a part of this because this is special. “It’s so hard to do this. I don’t know if this was the hardest, but it’s got to be in the top couple. It’s just amazing. I’m proud to be living a dream right now,” Skinner said. The Wildcats were 8-0 before the season was paused due to COVID-19. But once the season resumed in January, UK continued its strong play, finishing 19-1 and winning the program’s fourth-straight SEC title while dropping just seven sets all season. In the NCAA Tournament, UK posted 3-0 wins over UNLV, Western Kentucky and Purdue to reach the Final Four. There, the Cats beat Washington 3-1 before beating Texas in the final. Senior setter Madison Lilley was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She was SEC Player of the Year and became the first player in SEC history to be named AVCA Player of the Year. In the finals, she had 53 and guided UK to a .349 hitting percentage, logging a career-high and team-high 19 digs in the process. Lilley’s stuff block in the fourth set put Kentucky up 21-19, and UK saw the match out from there. During the tournament, Lilley averaged 13.8 assists per set, had six aces in UK’s five matches and was second on the team with 3.35 digs per set. She said the fact UK had so many obstacles this year made the title that much better. “The sacrifices, the hours put in, the extended season, I think it means 10 times as much. This has been a grind, to say the least. I know sitting here, it has all been worth it,” she said.
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UK volleyball teammates pose for a photo as they make snow angels in the celebratory confetti after winning the title.
“It was a lot this year. It took a lot of self-discipline. But to have this end goal in mind and to get through the hard moments — there were hard days — to push through those and see the end goal, that’s everything to us. In the championship match, junior Alli Stumler had a matchhigh 26 kills, hitting .471 on 51 swings against one of the best blocking teams in the nation, showing her AVCA All-America First Team prowess. Stumler also had five digs and closed out the NCAA National Championship match with a kill from the left side. Madi Skinner had a career-high 19 kills in the final, with her sister Avery Skinner logging 14 in the match. UK as a whole hit .349 as a team and held the Longhorns to just .333. A large part of that was the defense of Gabby Curry, who had 14 kills in the match and 13 assists, as well, a new career high. Along with Lilley, Avery Skinner and Stumler were all named to the 2020 NCAA All-Tournament Team. In the decisive fourth set, Kentucky faced its largest deficit of the tournament as Texas took a 6-1 lead with six-straight. UK rallied to take a lead at 14-13, its first lead of the set after trailing by an early five points. Elise Goetzinger stuffed a block, and Avery Skinner sent her 14th kill of the match to the floor as UK took a 21-19 lead in the set. A service ace from Riah Walker took UK’s lead to 23-21, and a kill from Stumler on the left side ended the match and gave Kentucky the national championship for the first time. Lilley was named 2020 Honda Award winner for the sport of volleyball which has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 45 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics.” The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2021 Honda Cup. Curry was named SEC Libero of the Year, and Azhani Tealer and Avery Skinner and Madi Skinner were named All-SEC. In addition, sophomore defensive specialist Maddie Berezowitz was named the winner of the NCAA Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships. ■
After not getting a chance to put the finishing touches in history to earn both the air rifle and smallbore gold at the on its impressive 2020 season, the University of Kentucky NCAA Championships. rifle team claimed its unfinished business as it won the 2021 Tucker is the first Wildcat to sweep gold at the event after NCAA Rifle National Championship as the Wildcats finished becoming the second Wildcat to earn gold in smallbore and gold and silver in air rifle inside Converse Hall in Columbus, fourth to claim the medal in air rifle. Tucker was named the Ohio. Most Outstanding Performer at the event. Shaner’s silver This is the third national title for Head Coach Harry Mullins medal is his first at the NCAA Championships. and the Kentucky program. The Wildcats also claimed the “This is a really big deal for this team. We have been team championship in 2011 and 2018. UK’s three titles going at it for two years now and this was long overdue for are tied for third most among all Division I programs with us,” Tucker said. “We all kind of knew that we were going to Tennessee Tech and TCU. Mullins is second in Kentucky do good. We went into the match confident and came out Athletics history in national championships — one behind on top … I was really proud of my team and like you said, Adolph Rupp, who has four. Mullins and Rupp are now the I normally do finish early, so I get to watch them finish up. only coaches in the state of Kentucky’s history to win three or Normally with four shots left, the rest of the team does stand more Division I national titles. back up on the line because we are a team, and we finish Kentucky earned the team championship after posting a together. The last couple of shots I do not get to watch, but 4731 overall team score with a 2352 in smallbore on the first I was proud of the team. They all did really, really well. There day and 2379 in air rifle on the second day. Kentucky’s team were a couple of things that could have stopped them, but score is the highest in championship history since the event they didn’t let it.” went to 120 shots per competitor from 160 shots in 2005. The Wildcats’ 2379 score in air rifle was second at the TCU posted a 2380 in air rifle on the second day to finish in event, finishing one off TCU’s 2380. Down the stretch, UK’s second at 4722, while Ole Miss finished third at 4710. West shooters were clutch with three scoring perfect 100s in the Virginia, Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska, Memphis and Air Force final 10 shots. Shaner paced UK with a 597, while Tucker rounded out the team competition. earned a 596. Junior Richard Clark posted an impressive 594, “That was huge for our team to be able to come in and while sophomore Jaden Thompson earned a 592. Senior close this out. We talked all year that this was going to be a Hailee Sigmon posted a 587. close match and come down to a shot or two,” Mullins said. Kentucky entered the second day with a 10-point lead “We even talked about it last week and asked the team, scoring a team smallbore score of 2352. UK’s high overall ag‘Who wants to be the one to take the last shot?’ To finish gregate gives the Wildcats four aggregates of 4730 or better that strong at the end as the gap started to close a little in this season, which is more than any other team in the nation. smallbore and in air rifle was huge. They were phenomenal. This was the 27th appearance all-time for Kentucky in the If you go into our range, there are two signs — one on the NCAA Championships. The Wildcats were regular-season right column and one on the left column — and they say Great America Rifle Conference Co-Champions earlier this finish. That kind of came with us talking to Mr. Barnhart years season. ■ ago and us to finish what we had started. “For them to be able to hold up under the pressure of knowing that every shot was going to count as other teams were finishing and we were still competing — I cannot say enough about what the team did.” The medals didn’t stop after Kentucky earned the team crown as sophomore Mary Tucker and junior Will Shaner finished first and second, respectively, in the NCAA air rifle individual championship. Tucker claimed gold, hitting a The Kentucky Rifle team won its third national title at the 2021 NCAA Rifle National Championship perfect 10.9x on her final shot in Columbus, Ohio. The Wildcats finished gold and silver in air rifle. to become the sixth shooter www. u kal u mni. net
Photo courtesy of UK Athletics
UK RIFLE WINS THIRD NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
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UK ALUMNA
Alex Otte
NAMED NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF MADD By Hal Morris
A
lex Otte ‘19 CI was not sure what her future held. A near-fatal boating crash due to an intoxicated boater turned her world upside down but also gave her a new purpose in life. Otte, who earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and minor in political science from UK in December 2018, made history as the youngest president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) on Jan. 1. A volunteer with MADD for more than a decade after her crash, serving as a National Teen Influencer in 2014 and receiving the National Youth Activist of the Year Award in 2015, Otte serves as the organization’s chief spokesperson and advocate. She briefly worked in corporate communications after graduation, then went to work for the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). “I knew I wanted to do something that meant something, so I got involved with NASBLA. I worked on boating under the influence research for the Coast Guard and continued to volunteer for MADD,” she says. “I was asked if I was willing to put my name in the hat to serve on the MADD board. I went through the process but was not selected to serve at that time. I was then asked to serve on a committee for the board, and I did that throughout 2020. It was a great experience and a great opportunity, and I ended up becoming more involved with MADD on a national level through that.” She was asked to run for president of MADD and was elected in 2020.
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This was also the perfect time for Otte to take on a role like this. “I’m getting married in May, and we don’t have kids or anything. It’s a two-year term and in a non-COVID year there is tons of travel, you’re gone about 75 percent of the year,” she says. “If I was going to do it, I need to do it now. Because in two years, the opportunity may not present itself, and I may be at a different stage in life.” Otte believes she was elected because of her “passion.” “I got a letter sent home in high school that I was missing too much school because I was in Frankfort busy trying to pass laws. I bring a new face to MADD. I’ve been involved with MADD for years, and I bring a new perspective in both my age and that I’m an injured victim,” she says. “MADD does an excellent job engaging with families who have lost loved ones, but they haven’t done as good of a job engaging with injured victims.” Engaging with victims is a perspective Otte knows well since her life was changed forever at age 13 on July 2, 2010. She was at Herrington Lake near Danville with her parents. Her mother and brother were docking the boat and she was on a jet ski 40 yards out in the water. “There was a 17-foot bass boat coming under a bridge and heading toward them. I gave my mom a thumbs up to let her know that I saw it coming, and I wasn’t going to move,” she says. The boat, however, banked left toward Otte and hit her at nearly 60 miles per hour. “He hit me from the side, and I landed face down in the water,” she says. Her injuries made survival nearly impossible. Otte suffered a brain injury she says was similar to shaken baby syndrome, a shattered jaw which requited metal plates and screws to repair, a broken neck and collar bone and a lacerated liver. She shattered both femurs that required inserting metal rods in both legs and had her right foot amputated. “The helicopter came and got me and told my parents to say goodbye to me because I probably won’t make it. My mom said she’s never seen anyone that badly injured and survive,” she says. “I had eight surgeries the first seven days and have had countless since. I was in the hospital for several weeks and then went to Cardinal Hill for rehab. “And this was my new life.” Otte was also in a medically-induced coma for seven days and the first four days the doctors said there was little hope she would survive. “But I did. I was told at the time I would never play sports again and probably never walk, and I couldn’t go back to school. That was not going to happen,” she says. Otte had been a straight-A student at Trinity Christian Academy in Lexington and was determined to get back to school. The second week of August that year, she made it back to school in a wheelchair and neck brace. She had tutors to help with schoolwork. She says her brain injury has given her short-term memory loss and anxiety when she is tired. “I work hard to make sure people don’t know, but people that do know me know that when I’m tired you can see I have no clue what they’re talking about,” she says. In 2015, Otte graduated from Trinity and enrolled at UK to study journalism and political science.
“I had a lot of incredible teachers at UK in journalism and political science. (Journalism professor) Kakie Urch really took an interest in me, and that was big for me. If a teacher wants me to do well, I will knock it out of the park,” she says. “And she really did care.” Otte says she minored in political science because with MADD she helped pass two pieces of legislation and wanted to know more about the legislative process. She credits political science professors Stephen Voss and Horace Bartilow for pushing her in ways she had never been challenged. “They really had no reason to know my name, but I really felt they cared and wanted me to do well,” she says. “So, we’ve all just kept up with each other.” Since her crash, Otte has had a chance to talk with various groups about her accident.
I WILL SAY IT NEVER GETS EASIER, AND THERE ARE DAYS I DON’T WANT TO GET OUT OF BED. BUT THE BIGGEST PART IS, IF I DON’T KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT, IT WILL KEEP HAPPENING. — ALEX OTTE ‘19 CI “I was the only girl at John Calipari’s basketball camp, and the only one with one leg. (Former UK strength trainer) Rock Oliver came up to me and asked what happened and why I was smiling,” she says. “Then he asked if I would be willing to talk to the UK football team. I didn’t think he was serious, but a couple of weeks later I was in front of 120 men with tears in their eyes.” And while her priorities eventually shifted, her love of sports did not. Her interest in becoming a sports journalist started at age 15 when she got a camera and got a chance to hang out with the UK football team. She was a freelance photographer for various news outlets for a decade. She has adjusted to her new life and thrived. But Otte says she has to put on a brave face at times. “I will say it never gets easier, and there are days I don’t want to get out of bed. But the biggest part is, if I don’t keep talking about it, it will keep happening,” she says. “I’m here for a reason, I believe everything happens for a reason, and I’ll spend the rest of my life figuring out what my reason is. I was not supposed to survive that by any stretch, and so there has got to be a reason for it. And trust me, it was not to be the next Erin Andrews.” ■
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College of Pharmacy Spotlight:
Vertner Taylor, '60 by Jacob Lewis
T
he year 1960 was a year of significant change. While Ruby Bridges was the first African American child to attend an all-white school, Vertner Taylor graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy (UKCOP), making him one of the college's first African American graduates. Taylor's completion of his degree predates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making his achievements that much more significant.
And while much has changed since Taylor graduated, too many things have remained the same. Black and African American students today are often faced with imposter syndrome —the idea that one is unqualified or undeserving of their accomplishments. In particular, students of color have to deal with the feeling that their achievements are based on a push for diversity as opposed to actual ability. To those students wondering about their place in a professional or graduate program, Taylor offers words of wisdom.
“Understanding people and gaining their trust is very important; that’s not a skill you learn in a classroom. You learn that just by living your life,” Taylor added. “Some patients can mask how they are really feeling, but by acquiring empathy and other social skills, you can see through that.” Taylor applied the skills learned both inside and outside of the classroom throughout his lengthy career in healthcare. In 1961, just one year after graduating, he became the first African American pharmaceutical sales representative for E. R. Squibb and Sons in Chicago. He later became the associate director of pharmacy for the University of Chicago. Following, he helped create the nonprofit organization Hunter Foundation (now Healthcare of the Bluegrass), named after Drs. John and Bush Hunter, an African American father-son duo who served the Commonwealth for a combined 113 years. Taylor’s career would come full circle in 1999 as he was the inaugural recipient of the Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award.
A Lexington native, Taylor graduated from the old Dunbar High School and received his undergraduate degree from Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following graduation, Taylor followed in his father’s footsteps and began his pharmacy education at UKCOP. He enjoyed his time at the college, where he was one of the first Black members of a pharmacy fraternity, helping him integrate socially with his peers and cultivate a support system for his college career. Vertner Taylor (Class of 1960) during a recent Zoom interview "The other students were very affable toward me; I had a good time “There is a certain standard schools a place, at the University of Kentucky,” Taylor said. and there should be no second thought about Dozens of Black and African American “Most of the other pharmacy students treated whether or not you are qualified,” Taylor said. students have graduated from UKCOP since me well. Of course, there were some Completing one of the top pharmacy Taylor’s graduation 61 years ago. However, prejudices, but nothing out of the norm for education programs in the nation provides he said he’d like to see those numbers increase the time.” graduates with a solid foundation to begin even further. Despite Taylor’s positive experiences at their careers. However, there are some skills “We do not have enough African American UKCOP, he was not immune to experiencing not taught in a classroom. For Taylor, his pharmacists,” Taylor said. “People become racism. Segregation and other racist ideals of family inspired him to stay focused, professionals when they see people that look the 1960s had a major influence on Taylor's motivated and to push through to complete like them succeeding in that field; I see very education and career direction. his degree. few Black pharmacists serving as a role model “African Americans were not always able to get “My family taught me some of my most for future Black pharmacists. It was true the same education as other students,” Taylor valuable lessons,” Taylor said. “UK has been during my time and is still true today.” said. “For instance, some high schools one of the top pharmacy schools since I The personal and professional legacy of provided students experience with chemical graduated and has given me a great academic Vertner Taylor serves as a leading light for equipment that would help to prepare them foundation. But as far as living and treating today’s pharmacists. Not only did he blaze a for college—Black high schools didn’t have others the way you want to be treated, my trail for himself, but he left a path behind for that—they had to learn on the fly. Even when family instilled that in me.” The values and the generations of African American I graduated pharmacy school, I was sent to skills passed down to him by his family pharmacists that followed. Chicago because Kentucky was not hiring would prove useful in his career as he Black pharmacists at the time.” navigated relationships with patients.
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Alumni News
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1. The Jacksonville UK Alumni Club celebrated the Kentucky Derby in style on the first Saturday of May at Monkey’s Uncle Tavern in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Those in attendance enjoyed a hat contest and door prizes with friendly wagers on the race raising money for the club. Pictured, left to right, are Carla Thompson, Nicole Blackwelder, Katie Wylie, Joyce Haworth, Amy Vincent and Doris Huebel.
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4 2. The McCracken County UK Alumni Club held their board meeting at Noble Park in Paducah this spring. 3. During his time at UK, Arizona UK Alumni Club president Chris McDaniel (third from left) lived in Haggin Hall on the second floor of the B wing with some of his closest friends. When it came time to name the residence hall touch football intramural team, they decided on the B2 Bombers. Ever since their college days, they have remained close and have even been in each other’s weddings with reunions every few years along the way. This spring they held their 25th reunion since their senior year in 1996 in Cincinnati, Ohio. McDaniel made matching t-shirts for the reunion (pictured). From left to right are Adam Rohrer, Jason Merder, McDaniel, Jason Crawford, Tyler Dingle and Travis Fisher. 4. The Jacksonville UK Alumni Club tailgated at the 2021 Taxslayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, on Jan. 2. They cheered on the Kentucky Wildcats football team as they beat NC State 2321. On, on U of K! 5. The Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati UK Alumni Club celebrated the UK women’s volleyball national championship with some of the players at Covington Yard in Covington on May 12. Pictured, left to right, front row: Nancy Teegarden and Gabby Curry; back row: Chris Deel, Danielle Reinhart, Pat Beckman, Madison Lilley, Avery Skinner and Kendyl Paris.
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DANIEL KING: PERFECTING SWEET & SAVORY
Photo by Tim Webb
By Linda Perry
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I
t’s fair to say that starting a new business during the height of a pandemic takes guts. That’s what Daniel King ’06 AS decided to do in October last year when he signed a five-year lease to open a small, carry-out bakery on Waller Avenue in Lexington — even as some businesses were closing. King had seen previous indications that his growing expertise with baked goods qualified him to pull off a venture like this one. Friends and family loved his confections, and one could say he had already experienced his 15 minutes of fame, just like American artist Andy Warhol predicted everyone would enjoy in the future. King was lucky enough to have appeared in the second season of “Christmas Cookie Challenge” on the Food Network in 2018 after a producer saw some of his sugary creations on his Instagram page. Although he didn’t win the competition that was filmed in Los Angeles, the program pushed him in front of a national audience and provided some level of name recognition. “The producer was really trying to reach to get guys on the show. When they approached me, I had maybe one decorated sugar cookie on my Instagram feed. I had never really done it before,” says King. “But then I got really interested by being on the show, and when I got back home, I started doing cookies in earnest. People saw me on the show, and I got orders and then I realized, ‘I can do this.’” “It was such a fun experience. Even today, I stay in touch with the other contestants,” says King. His new Futile Bakery (pronounced Fu-“til” or Fu-“tile” — he is fine with either) is the culmination of his love for baking that started as a child in Harrodsburg. “Call me whatever you like, as long as you call me,” he says. “With face masks, I’ve been saying Fu-“tile” more often because it is clearer to understand through the mask. I started dabbling more seriously with food and baking as a hobby when I started working at UK, but I was making a lot of mistakes. I used that name as a tongue-in-cheek approach to remind myself to keep experimenting and not be afraid of failure. Failure is just a step along the way to success. Not the opposite of it.” King had spent nine years employed in the UK Office of Philanthropy and UK Libraries when he decided to stretch himself in a new career path — one that was driven by a personal culinary interest and opening his own shop. “What’s next? What’s the worst that can happen?” he says he asked himself. “After two to three years into it, I could fail. I would just owe money. So, I told myself to get over my fear of failure.” Today his bakery offers weekly changing menus, with a list of goodies to entice both those with a sweet tooth and those who indulge in savory selections. Perhaps he is best known locally for his cinnamon rolls, but he also offers decorated cookies, bourbon pecan sticky buns, cupcakes, macarons, scones — well, the list goes on, with flavors changing weekly. But no doughnuts. “Everyone else already does really good doughnuts,” he says. His affinity with baking started in his mother’s kitchen. “My mother made something sweet every weekend, and at some point, I just took over,” he says.
His first true success, which led him to believe he excelled with baked goods, occurred when he won first prize at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville. “My older sister showed Saddlebred horses, and we were always going to fairs,” says King. “My parents told me that there were also food competitions. I was in middle school, and I entered my banana bread. I won, and I still think about that.” His interest in food continued in high school and college and included a stint working at the prestigious Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg. At UK, he was a member of Phi Sigma Pi, a co-ed honor fraternity, and he was involved with DanceBlue in some of its earliest years. He started out as a UK computer science major because, he says, he liked the creative aspect of it, expecting to design computer games. But he quickly realized that most jobs were more of a technical nature, something he wasn’t interested in. He turned to the liberal arts and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English. However, he says he very much enjoyed taking Italian courses. “Dr. Gloria Allaire was my Italian professor for two years, so I was in her classes three times a week. She was always so kind and helpful, and she gave such great advice when I was trying to decide on a career path,” he says. After he graduated and began to work for UK, he started honing his skills around memorable cinnamon rolls and festive cookies, posting photos to his Instagram account. Soon he was accepting orders from family and friends, and they were reposting on Facebook and Nextdoor. Then he appeared on the Food Network. All this led him to the decision to open a shop of his own. About two weeks after opening, Kentucky Sports Radio was talking about cinnamon rolls and mentioned the bakery. “That’s when things really took off, and we had to close early for several days because we just ran out of everything,” says King. Futile Bakery has five employees now, and while the bakery is known for its cinnamon rolls based on a King family recipe he perfected, his colorful holiday cookies in many unusual flavors are also very popular. These delicate confections are all decorated by King. “My team can handle the cinnamon rolls now from start to finish, but the macarons and decorating the sugar cookies are two skills that will stay with me forever. It takes a lot of time and practice,” he says. For fun on his days off, King likes to experiment in his home kitchen with — bread. “I love trying different types of bread. I love a no-knead bread, a focaccia or even just a sandwich loaf,” he says. “I don’t want to have to go to the store and buy it.” King tries for a balance in his life between taste-testing all the goodies in his shop, baking bread at home and working out to keep unwanted extra pounds at bay. He’s in this for the long haul. “I’ve got a five-year lease. I think I want something a little different in the future … not just another Futile Bakery someplace else … maybe expanding this into adding a café,” he says. ■
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Class Notes Georgia Portmann-Doubler ’48 ED is a retired art teacher living in Green Valley, Arizona, who recently turned 94 but still has a strong passion for creating art of all types. She previously taught painting and drawing at the Green Valley Recreation Department. Prior to moving to Arizona in 1996, she taught art education classes from elementary school to the college level for 20 years in the Kingsport, Tennessee, area. Portmann-Doubler also earned a master’s degree from East Tennessee University in 1967. She has recently shown her artwork at the Tubac Center of the Arts in Arizona and has paintings on view at La Posada’s Main La Vista Building in a retiremen community.
1960s James A. Scott ’63 AS, ’65 LAW is chairman and a founding director of Tripp Scott in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale, Florida, office and a former president of the Florida Senate. He was appointed to the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority Governing Board by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. W. Ronnie Coffman ’65 ’67 AFE is the Andrew H. & James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor and director of 42
international programs in the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca, New York. He was named to the World Food Prize Foundation Council of Advisors. Coffman is vice chairman of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, an international consortium of more than 1,000 scientists from hundreds of institutions working together to protect the world’s wheat supplies. Melvin F. Dolwick ’66 AS, ’71 DE lives in Gainesville, Florida, and is a professor in the University of Florida Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, director of hospital dentistry for UF Health, and the Academy One Hundred Eminent Scholar Professor. He received the American Dental Education Association Gies Foundation 2021 William J. Gies Award for Innovation-Dental Educator, which honors individuals and organizations that exemplify the highest standards in oral health and dental education, research and leadership.
1970s Virginia Massey Bowden ’70 CI lives in San Antonio, Texas, and is library director emeritus at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and a member of the iSchool Advisory Council. She and her husband, Charles Bowden, established the University of Texas at Austin
K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
School of Information Virginia & Charles Bowden Endowed Professorship in Librarianship. Marc A. Wells ’72 BE, ’75 LAW is the owner and operator of Marc Wells Attorney at Law in Princeton. He was recognized as a Continental Who’s Who as a Featured Top Attorney 2021. Janie W. Haley- Schwoyer ’73 CI lives in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, and is a freelance writer, editor and proofreader. She was elected president of the board of directors for the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living. She was previously the co-owner and creative director of Jangle Advertising, Marketing & Communications. Steven K. Wilson ’76 AS, ’80 DE is a dentist living in Henderson and the former owner of Audubon Dental
Photo courtesy of ExploreUK
Before 1960
Joseph Hoeing Kastle received a bachelor’s degree in 1884 and a master’s degree in 1886 from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, now the University of Kentucky. He went on to receive a doctorate in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. Kastle, a native Lexingtonian, returned to UK as a professor in 1888 and led the general, organic and agricultural chemistry program until 1905. In 1911, he returned to UK to head the Department of Chemical Research in the Agricultural Experiment Station. One year later, he was named director of the Experiment Station and held that role until his death in 1916. He was also dean of the College of Agriculture from 1912 until a few weeks prior to his death. Kastle authored more than 100 papers and was a regular contributor to farm journals and daily press. The UK Alumni Association traces its history to June 1889 when Kastle persuaded a few of his fellow faculty members who were also UK graduates to establish an alumni club, organizing the first group of alumni with the purpose of joining together to support the university. He served as the organization’s president from 1891-1902.
Center PSC. He was named to a three-year term on the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Community Advisory Council. Susan Stokley Clary ’78 AS, ’81 LAW lives in Lexington and is general counsel of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. She received the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks (NCACC) J. O. Sentell Award, which honors distinguished service to the legal profession and to the nation’s courts. Clary served as president of the NCACC, as well as chairwoman of various committees, including Nominations, Program, Finance and Alternative Funding, Strategic Planning, Bylaws and Executive committees, and hosted the most recent national convention. Cynthia H. Rushton ’78 NUR is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics and professor of nursing and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics and Schools of Nursing & Medicine in Baltimore. She is also the co-chairwoman of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Ethics Committee and Consultation Service. Lori Stewart Gonzalez ’79 HS is the executive vice president and provost at the University of Louisville. She was previously vice chancellor for academic, faculty and student affairs
at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Frances Fang West ’79 BE is the founder and owner of FrancesWestCo, an advisory company working with public, private and nonprofit organizations including start-ups to operationalize inclusion as a core business imperative to drive innovation. She was previously the chief accessibility officer for IBM.
1980s Ruth A. Geyer ’80 EN is the retired senior vice provost for academic affairs at Kansas State University in Manhattan. She was the chairwoman of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Instrument & Measurement Society Awards. She also served as senior past president of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society. Norman W. Baylor ’81 ’85 AS lives in Rockville, Maryland, and is president and CEO of Biologics Consulting Group Inc. He was named to the Sabin Vaccine Institute Board of Trustees. Baylor was previously director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Robert B. Conley ’81 BE lives in Ashland and is a
justice for the Kentucky Supreme Court 7th Supreme Court District, which comprises 22 eastern Kentucky counties. John J. Fossett ’81 CI is an attorney and is the chief administrative officer for the City of Dayton, Kentucky. He had been the interim city administrator and is the founder and partner in Strategic Advisers, a public relations, public affairs and digital media agency. Fossett earned his law degree from the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. Lee E. Collins ’82 AS is senior vice president for Paragon Flight Training at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. He was previously a pilot with United Parcel Service and served as president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Association and the government and legislative affairs chairman for the Independent Pilots Association. Geri Grigsby ’82 BA,’85 LAW lives in Lexington and is deputy secretary of the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet. She was previously chief of staff and general counsel for the cabinet and spent 12 years at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, worked for the Kentucky General Assembly for more than five years and spent nearly eight years in working on equal employment law.
Tamira Treffers-Herrera ’83 AS, ’85 GS lives in Atlanta and is co-head of North American Client Coverage for Rabobank, a food and agribusiness bank. She is also vice chairwoman and head of the Atlanta office, where she additionally oversees Rabobank Mexico. She was previously based in London as CEO of Rabobank’s European Region. Sandra M. Hammonds ’83 BE is chief financial officer and vice president of finance for Link-Belt Cranes in Lexington. She was elected to the Link-Belt Cranes Board of Directors. James W. Nuss ’84 AS is an internal medicine physician at Flaget Memorial Hospital, part of CHI Saint Joseph Health in Bardstown. He received the Flaget Memorial Hospital Foundation 2020 Physician of the Year Award. Martin P. Redmon ’84 EN, ’89 PHA is chief research and development officer for Stealth BioTherapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts. He had been the company’s vice president, discovery, development and technical operations, and was senior vice president of research, development and technical operations at Precision Dermatology.
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Class Notes David D. Allen ’85 ’93 PHA is president of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis. He was previously dean of the School of Pharmacy, professor of biomolecular sciences and executive director of and research professor in the University of Mississippi Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Brian K. Calnon ’85 CI lives in Louisville and is head of strategy and innovation for marketing agency Revered, supporting its expansion into the triangle, and the greater state of North Carolina. He had been a principal at BKC Consulting and digital marketing director for Turning Point Brands Inc. Matthew C. Lucas ’86 CI lives in Louisville and is an executive cardiovascular sales consultant at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. He received the Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. Golden Heart Award for outstanding sales performance and illustrating exemplary values and behaviors. Joseph Maggard ’86 ’94 SW lives in Lexington and retired as the senior metro director for the Central Kentucky Division of the American Heart Association after leading the organization for 15 years. Frederick K. Waters ’86 EN is an industry standards manager for Schneider 44
Electric USA in Lexington, responsible for overcurrent protective device and automation/control product standards, installation codes and enforcement. James B. Guess ’88 CI is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio in Cleveland. He also serves on the National LGBTQ Task Force in Washington and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland. David S. Kirn ’88 AS, ’92 MED is the owner of Kirn Plastic Surgery Center in Lexington and serves as medical director of Lexington Surgery Center, an affiliate of Surgical Care Affiliates. He received a Pikeville High School 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award. David T. Susman ’88 ’92 AS is a licensed psychologist, assistant professor and director of the UK Department of Psychology Jesse G. Harris Jr. Psychological Services Center, the department’s training center for graduate students in the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System and American Psychological Association-accredited clinical psychology doctorate program. Cynthia A. Crawford ’89 ’92 AS is a professor of psychology and director of the Cal State San Bernardino Office of Research Development in San Bernadi-
K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
no, California. She received the California State University Board of Trustees Wang Family Excellence Award in the Outstanding Faculty Innovator in Student Success category. Rodney N. Hieneman ’89 HS lives in Flatwoods and is CEO of Community Hospice Inc., which has facilities in Ashland and Ironton, Ohio. He was previously chief operating officer and vice president, operations for Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital. Amy Huffman Lewis ’89 CI lives in Xenia, Ohio, and was appointed a judge for the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. She was previously magistrate at the Greene County Juvenile Court. Lewis earned her law degree from the Ohio Northern University Claude Pettit College of Law. Jody M. Stowe ’89 PHA is a former senior vice president with Ingenix, a health information technology and data company that is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. She was appointed to the board of directors for Good Grief, which delivers grief and resilience building programs and services to children, families and schools.
1990s Susan Chambers Cantrell ’90 ’97 ED is a professor of literacy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the UK College of Education. Her research is focused on teachers’ professional learning, efficacy development and instructional change, particularly for underserved students. Marc G. Tagher ’90 BE, ’94 EN is area sales manager at Exel Composites for the United States, Canada and Mexico, and is based in the company’s U.S. headquarters in Erlanger. He had been sales manager for Nexus Elastomers. Angela M. Rodell ’92 GS is CEO/executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. in Juneau, Alaska, a state-owned corporation that manages and invests the assets of the $72 billion Alaska Permanent Fund and other funds designated by law. She was elected chairwoman of the board of directors of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute. Ronya A. Corey ’93 AS is a financial advisor with Bank of America Merrill in Washington. She was named a Working Mother Magazine Top Wealth Advisor Moms for the fourth straight year.
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Class Notes Rakesh H. Mehta ’94 ’96 EN is an attorney and partner at Baker & Hostetkler LLP in the firm’s Philadelphia office, focusing on patent prosecution, litigation and opposition practice, as well as trademark prosecution and opposition. He earned his law degree from the Widener University Delaware Law School.
James B. Holcomb ’93 BE lives in Grafton, Wisconsin, and is president of North America Chemical Distribution for Univar Solutions Inc. He had been CEO for Brenntag North America.
Matthew D. Sutton ’94 ’95 AS is an instructor of English in the Department of English in the Morehead State University Caudill College of Humanities in Morehead, teaching courses in composition and American literature.
Sivakumar Ramamoorthy ’93 EN is a consultant, India growth market for Feedback PLC, a medical imaging technology company headquartered in London. He will focus on evaluating the potential prospects for Bleep, the company’s flagship clinical communications platform. Michael S. Thomson ’93 BE is chief financial officer for Fauquier Health in Warrenton, Virginia. He was previously CFO for Methodist Southlake Hospital. Michael B. Wainscott ’93 AFE is chief financial officer for Revols Green, a producer of sustainably and hydroponically farmed lettuce varieties and is headquartered in Owatonna, Minnesota. He was previously the CFO for Benson Hill Inc.
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Joe K. Tannehill ’95 EN lives in Panama City, Florida, and is president and CEO of Merrick Industries Inc. He was appointed to the Gulf Coast State College District Board of Trustees by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Susan P. Baier ’95 CI is executive director of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was previously library director for McCracken County Public Library. Kevin Espinoza ’95 AS is chief compliance officer at Kaléo Inc., a pharmaceutical company where he is responsible for overseeing key operations. He was previously senior vice president of corporate compliance and a privacy officer at Boston Scientific and a global
K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
research and development compliance officer at Forest Laboratories. Justin D. Maxson ’95 AS lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and is deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. He was previously CEO of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. Brett A. Reynolds ’96 LAW is a partner at English Lucas Priest & Owsley in Bowling Green, Kentucky, practicing primarily in residential and commercial real estate, banking, corporate law and transactional law. He was named to the board of directors of the Kentucky Land Title Association, a statewide trade association representing the state’s land title industry. Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann ’96 MED is a professor of biology and biotechnology coordinator in the Department of Biology in the Middle Tennessee State University College of Basic and Applied Sciences in Murfreesboro. Michele R. Dickens ’97 NUR is dean of the Campbellsville University School of Nursing in Campbellsville. She has served as the ADN nursing instructor since 2008, BSN instructor since 2012, RN to BSN program director and assistant professor of nursing since 2015, associate professor of nursing tenure since 2018
Photo courtesy of ExploreUK
Kim Dupree ’93 AFE is an insurance agent with State Farm Insurance in Ruston, Louisiana, and became a member of the Million Dollar Round Table for 2020. Dupree has earned the Exotic Travel, Chairman’s Circle and Senior Vice Presidents Club Award since opening her State Farm office.
In 1961, University of Kentucky students (from left) Mary Blanche Smith, Lochie Overbey, Bill Gott and Tom Heilbron were among 27 students and chaperons who left to visit the United Nations (UN) in New York City. The students attended a General Assembly meeting, toured the UN building, had dinner in the delegates’ dining room and met with one of the U.S. delegates to the UN.
and associate dean and director of online programs since 2018. Rebecca Fleischaker ’97 GS is co-chief of Louisville Forward, the city’s community and economic development agency. She was previously the city’s director of economic development. Keat G. Ong ’97 ’98 ’00 EN is a professor in the University of Oregon Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene. He was named as a senior member in the National Academy of Inventors. He was previously the Portage Health Foundation Endowed
Professor of Technological Innovations in Health in the Michigan Technological University Department of Biomedical Engineering. Sadiqua Moore Reynolds ’97 LAW lives in Louisville and is president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. She was named a Healthy Kentucky Policy Champion by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky for her work to reduce racial inequities in health and other inequities in Louisville’s African-American community. She was previously chief of community building for the city of Louisville and a District Court judge for Kentucky’s 30th Judicial District, Division 11. Christopher A. Ford ’98 CI lives in Lexington and is commissioner of social services for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. He was previously on the Lexington-Fayette
Urban County Council representing the 1st District and was president and CEO of Resources Education & Assistance for Community Housing. Laura M. Schwab ’98 LAW is vice president of sales and marketing for Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer. She had been president of the Americas for Aston Martin.
tors. She is also is president of the National Association of State Offices of Minority Health. Michael Gould ’99 FA is professor of jazz and contemporary improvisation at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance in Ann Arbor.
Douglas P. Buffington ’99 LAW lives in Daniels, West Virginia, and is the West Virginia chief deputy attorney general. He had been the state’s senior deputy attorney general.
Aslihan D. Spaulding ’99 ’02 AFE, ’99 BE is a professor of agribusiness and food industry management in the Illinois State University Department of Agriculture. She received the Illinois State University Outstanding University Researcher Award.
Vivian A. Lasley-Bibbs ’99 HS lives in Lexington and is director of the Kentucky Department for Public Health Office of Health Equity. She was elected 2021 chairwoman of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Board of Direc-
Paula J. Vissing ’99 BE is chief operating officer for Little Caesars Pizza in Louisville, overseeing all domestic and international operations. She had previously been Little Caesar’s senior vice president-international.
Photo courtesy of ExploreUK
2000s
In summer 1896, the campus was still in its early, formative years. Here we see a bit of the old dorm at left; Main Building with its full cupola on the center roofline; Neville Hall (the new dorm); and the Experiment Station/Chemistry Building (now called the Gillis Building). Very young trees can be seen in the expansive yard in front of what is now a circular driveway — perhaps some of the same mature and majestic trees that thrive there today.
James B. Hutchinson ’00 ’02 AS, ’04 GS lives in Arlington, Virginia, and is president of U.S. federal government business at NEC Corporation of America. He was named chairman of the Security Industry Association Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board.
sional Golf Association director of instruction for junior golf for The Golf Academy of North Florida at Magnolia Point. He was previously the head professional at Deerwood Country Club. Marcus D. Dean ’02 AFE lives in Lexington and is the sports turf sales representative in Kentucky and Tennessee for Advanced Turf. He received the Dick Ericson Award, one of the Sports Turf Management Association Founders Awards. The award recognizes a member who effectively manages sports fields and their facilities, and exhibits the qualities of a team leader. Allison Snep Lorton ’02 BE lives in Jerseyville, Illinois, and is the resident circuit judge of Jersey County in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. She earned her law degree from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Law. Robert M. Duncan ’03 LAW is a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP in the firm’s Lexington office, focusing his practice on commercial litigation and government investigations, including False Claims Act and white-collar defense. He was previously the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Timothy J. Cooper ’01 ED lives in Saint Augustine, Florida, and is the Profeswww. u kal u mni. net
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Career Corner
Class Notes
ancis
by Caroline Fr
LIVE A LONGER, HEALTHIER LIFE THROUGH WORK What will you do if you find you have 10, 15 or even 20 healthy years to live after you retire? Looking at the rising life expectancies of baby boomers and Gen-Xers, it is very likely you will! For multiple reasons, people want or will need to continue working after the traditional retirement age. Work may take the form of full-time, part-time, seasonal, contract or gig jobs, as well as volunteer opportunities. Some will stay in their current field while others are ready and longing for a new career direction. Caroline Francis, director of Alumni Career Services, has recently obtained the Certified Professional Retirement Coach credential. She works with individuals who are preparing for their retirement years by helping them make smoother transitions. “Retirement work of some form or fashion is quickly becoming the new norm,” she says. “In addition to finances, there are many reasons people will continue to work during retirement years. The research is becoming clear that remaining mentally, physically, and socially active and engaged is healthy. This is often provided through work. Studies show that working in traditional retirement is also linked to lower risks of serious health problems such as dementia, heart disease and cancer.” Additional reasons people continue to work include: • Doing what they love and like. • Making a difference or contributing. • Still enjoying clients, customers, patients, colleagues, etc. • Mentoring early-careerists. • Lots of jobs and careers to explore. • Retirement not what they expected (bored or unfulfilled). • Hitting their career and leadership prime later in life, especially women and minorities. • Building more retirement savings and delaying claiming retirement benefits. Bill Sallee ’82 AS enjoyed his 34-year urban planning career tremendously. “I really believe I was put on this earth to work in the career I chose, in the city in which I grew up,” he says. Still, after 17 years of supervisory responsibilities, he was ready for a bit less stress in his daily life, but not necessarily a reduction in professional responsibility. “I was ready to spend more time directly helping people rather than supervising people. After spending some time with career counseling, testing and attending seminars with Alumni Career Services, I was able to identify my strengths and make a plan to continue ‘giving back.’ It gave me confidence to retire from my professional career and begin working for a local nonprofit organization, which I had volunteered for a few years. As much as I loved my career, I have not regretted making the change — not for even one day.” Don’t fail retirement. Plan this exciting life stage so that one does not miss out on valuable years of engaging work, quality living and making contributions to society. By choice or not, retirement in the future will include some form of work. The cognitive, physical and mental health benefits are numerous. The secret, however, will include finding roles and opportunities that are meaningful and/or provide passion, purpose and quite possibly a paycheck. Caroline Francis helps individuals who are preparing for or have entered the retirement phase of their lives find more passion and purpose. UK Alumni Association Active and Life Members are eligible for two complimentary appointments per year with a certified career counselor. Call 859-257-8905 or 800-269 ALUM (2586) to schedule an appointment. Visit www.ukalumni.net/career to learn more about resume critiques, networking events, Central Kentucky Job Club and other Alumni Career Services. To post a job opening, employers may visit ukalumnicareer@uky.edu or hireblue@uky.edu.
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Jason K. Ward ’03 ’04 EN is an assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering and leads the Advanced Ag Lab in the North Carolina State University Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. He is Extension specialist for North Carolina State University Extension in Raleigh. Tonya Collette Augustine ’04 BE lives in Louisville and is director of strategic marketing and communications for the University of Louisville School of Medicine. She was previously communications specialist in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the School. James G. Bell ’04 BE is vice president of racing for Keeneland Association Inc. He was the founder and president of Cromwell Bloodstock, a respected full-service bloodstock agency and consulting firm. Edwin M. Boyle ’04 EN lives in Lexington and is vice president of R.J. Corman Railroad Services LLC. He had been the company’s assistant vice president, project management for railroad services. Robert M. Brammer ’04 AS is chief of the Office of External Relations of the Law Library of Congress in Washington and a blogger for the library’s blog, In Custodia Legis, which is Latin for “in the custody of the law.” He had been
a senior legal information specialist for the library. Brammer earned his law degree from the Wayne State University Law School. Art T. Rainer ’04 ’07 BE is vice president for institutional advancement at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He was previously administrative pastor for the Family Church Network. Leah Parsons Simpson ’04 GS lives in Danville and is executive director for online learning at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. She had been an assessment specialist and director of assessment and curriculum development for the UK College of Pharmacy. Katherine Dixon Finney ’06 AS is an assistant golf professional and tournament director at Ibis Golf and Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was named one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America. Pamela Johnson Taylor ’06 SW is executive director for the Big Sandy Child Advocacy Center, also known as Judi’s Place for Kids, in Pikeville. She has been the assistant director for the center. Jill A. Grunenwald ’08 CI lives in Cleveland and is a marketing and communications specialist at OverDrive
Michael B. McNulty ’13 HS lives in Homer Glen, Illinois, and is minor league medical coordinator for the Chicago Cubs organization. He had been assistant athletic trainer for the organization’s Triple-A affiliate Iowa Cubs.
Sarah C. Marshall ’08 AFE is deputy director for the Office of Humanitarian Assistance and Resilience in the U.S. Agency for International Development in Zimbabwe, responsible for managing the United States’ humanitarian efforts and disaster response in Zimbabwe, including emergency food assistance.
2010s Kelsey J. Brudvig ’10 BE is an attorney and shareholder for Collins & Lacy in the firm’s Retail & Hospitality Practice Group in Columbia, South Carolina. She earned her law degree from the Charleston School of Law. She was previously a staff attorney for the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Photo courtesy of ExploreUK
Inc., a digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music and video titles. She is also cohost of the Professional Book Nerds podcast.
Over 200 students and faculty played tug-of-war, volleyball and enjoyed the faculty egg toss in 1974 at the annual student-faculty picnic in the former College of Agriculture. The Goodyear Blimp flew overhead while attendees feasted on barbeque and pork chops at the Ag-Barn. Even Joe B. Hall, men’s basketball head coach, was on hand to give away a basketball and football.
consumer science teacher at Anderson County High School.
Heather A. Hadi-Cupps ’10 CI is an immigration attorney and the owner of the Law Office of Heather A. Hadi PSC in Lexington. She earned her law degree from the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Natalie C. Voss ’10 AFE lives in Georgetown and is features editor and head’s the horse care section for the Paulick Report, a web-based horse industry publication. She won both writing divisions of the 2020 Media Eclipse Awards, the highest year-end honor for horse racing journalism. Voss is the first woman to achieve this feat and only the second person to do so in the history of the awards.
Jessica Bethel Harley ’10 AFE lives in Lawrencebuerg and is a counselor at Frankfort High School. She was named the Kentucky School Counselor Association Kentucky Counselor of the Year. She was previously a family
Leigh Ann Renfro Ballegeer ’11 BE is director of community health at Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. She was named to the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Community Advisory Council.
Frances J. Feltner ’12 NUR is director of the UK Center for Excellence in Rural Health in Hazard. She was named a Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Healthy Kentucky Policy Champion for her work to improve rural health care in the state. Brandon M. Gilles ’12 AFE lives in Owensboro and is regional vice president of crop insurance for Kentucky and Tennessee for Farm Credit Mid-America. He previously served as a financial officer in Western Kentucky for Farm Credit. Vernell A. Bennett-Fairs ’13 ED is president of LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. She had been vice president for student affairs at Delta State University.
Nathan T. Bush ’14 AFE lives in Bargersville, Indiana, and is a crop consultant for Greene Crop Consulting. He won the 2020 Indiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ag Professionals Discussion Meet. Bush had been a loan officer for Farm Credit Services. Autumn A. King ’14 AS is manager of behavioral health and addiction services for Margaret Mary Health in Batesville, Indiana. Justin A. Mathis ’14 ED is director of Olympic sports equipment at Stanford University in Stanford, California. He was previously a graduate assistant for UK Athletics, working with the soccer, softball and women’s basketball programs. Sookti Chaudhary ’16 BE is a visiting assistant professor of economics at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Zachary T. Tyler ’16 EN is energy manager for the city of Louisville. He was previously an energy consultant for the University of Kentucky.
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Class Notes Yisrael M. Safeek ’17 AS, ’20 LAW joined the SafeCare Group Board of Directors. He had been the company’s chief of operations and clerked with Office of General Counsel, Finance and Administration Cabinet, and the Kentucky Department of Revenue. Elizabeth A. James ’18 ED is the founder of Equine Career Coach, an equine career coaching program, and co-founded the International Liberty Horse Association, the first association dedicated to the discipline of liberty training. She received the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry.
Kyle A. Barron ’19 ED is vice president for student services at Jackson State Community College in Jackson, Tennessee. He was previously assistant vice president in student services at Volunteer State Community College. Meredith J. Brewer ’19 GS lives in Lexington and is the director of education policy for the Kentucky Department of Education, serving as the executive director for the Kentucky Board of Education and as the federal liaison with the U.S. Department of Education. She had been the department’s director of educator recruitment and development
STUCKERT HONORED BY KAPPA SIGMA FRATERNITY James W. Stuckert ’60 EN, ’61 BE was celebrated as the 2019 Kappa Sigma Fraternity Man of the Year. Delayed due to the pandemic, a special banquet recognizing Stuckert was held April 17 on the UK campus. Stuckert is an April 22, 1956, initiate of the Beta-Nu Chapter of Kappa Sigma at UK. He graduated from UK with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1960 and received an MBA in 1961. Stuckert was chairman and chief executive officer of Hilliard Lyons Inc. from 1995 to 2003. In 1976, Stuckert
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2020s Olivia Pinkelton Oney ’20 LAW is an associate at DBL Law in the firm’s Louisville office.
Robert A. Stevenson ’20 LAW is an associate at Strauss Troy Co. LPA in Cincinnati.
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 Agriculture, Food Fine Arts — FA & Environment — AFE The Graduate School — GS Arts & Sciences — AS Health Sciences — HS Business & Economics — BE Law — LAW Communication & Medicine — MED Information — CI Nursing — NUR Dentistry — DE Pharmacy — PHA Design — DES Public Health — PH Education — ED Social Work — SW Engineering — EN
was elected president of the UK Alumni Association and remains on its board of directors. In 1980, he received the Distinguished Service Award for exceptional service to the UK Alumni Association. In 2009, Stuckert was appointed to the UK Board of Trustees for a term of six years. He served as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and as chairman of the Finance Committee for five years. He also was chairman of the UK Presidential Search Committee in 2010 and 2011, resulting in the hiring of UK President Eli Capilouto. Stuckert’s service is equally matched by his philanthropic activities on behalf of the university, which were recognized with the UK Career Center being named the James W. Stuckert Career Center in 2000. Stuckert was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame of the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics in February 1997. He was inducted into the UK Alumni Association Hall of Distinguished Alumni in May 2000 and the UK Engineering Hall of Distinction in April 2002. Among other honors, Stuckert was the recipient of the Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from UK in May 2004.
FROM THE BLUE THE UK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PODCAST Available now on major streaming platforms. www.ukalumni.net/podcast
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In Memoriam Harriett Abraham Rose ’41 Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
William J. Grubbs Jr. ’51 Simpsonville, S.C. Life Member
Josephine Howard Barrows ’42 Versailles, Ky. Life Member
Frank J. Maturo Jr. ’51 Gainesville, Fla.
Lora Barrow Tuttle ’42 Mountain Brook, Ala. Life Member, Fellow Helen Thacker Hill ’44 Belleview, Fla. Fellow Shirley Moser Marshall ’45 Louisville, Ky. Jewell Walker Sloan ’47 Lexington, Ky. Pauline Weight Wuerdeman ’47 Mims, Fla.
Virginia Hutton Bradley ’48 Cynthiana, Ky. Carojean Elsey MacDonald ’48 Lexington, Ky.
Owen H. Lewis ’49 Lexington, Ky. Life Member Elsie Stokes Moore ’49 Lexington, Ky. Life Member Suzanne R. Barnes ’50 Frankfort, Ky. Leslie E. Black ’50 Louisville, Ky. Marjorie Hall Pickering ’50 Laguna Niguel, Calif. Lionel E. Fannin ’51 Melbourne, Fla.
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Paul E. Fenwick ’52 Louisville, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Lowell B. Griffin ’56 Hedgesville, W.Va.
Franklin D. Hughes ’60 Sun City Center, Fla.
Ralph E. Mitchell ’56 Madisonville, Ky. Fellow
John L. Loving ’60 Du Bois, Pa.
Howard L. Schnellenberger ’56 Boynton Beach, Fla.
Mack W. Bailey ’61 Lexington, Ky.
Gene L. Tyler ’56 Louisville, Ky.
Tanner Ottley Gay ’61 Albuquerque, N.M. Life Member
Harry C. Stille Jr. ’52 Due West, S.C.
John F. Brewer ’57 Louisville, Ky. Life Member
Samuel M. Isbell ’61 Georgetown, Ky. Life Member
Hezzie Williams Jr. ’52 Glendale, Ky.
Delanore L. Cannon ’57 Plano, Texas
Thomas A. Southall ’61 Cincinnati, Ohio
George E. Burton ’53 Lexington, Ky.
Thomas J. Schneider ’57 Frankfort, Ky.
Alan P. Thio ’61 Tomball, Texas
Milton Evans Jr. ’53 Lexington, Ky.
Donald B. Buchanan ’58 Shelbyville, Ky. Life Member
Melvin C. Bunch ’62 Columbia, Tenn.
Jack A. Merritt ’52 Crossville, Tenn.
Edward L. Conder ’54 Richmond, Ky. William L. Hickerson ’54 Louisville, Ky. James P. Hudson ’54 Vandalia, Ohio Elizabeth Harris Tharp ’54 Hubbard, Ohio Robert M. Davis ’55 Georgetown, Ky. Alice Callahan Freeny ’55 Hattiesburg, Miss. Major John T. Walton ’55 Abilene, Texas Joseph W. Dearen ’56 Louisville, Ky.
K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
William J. Huffman ’58 Lexington, Ky. Nancy B. Simon ’58 Signal Mountain, Tenn. Albert W. Spenard ’58 Madisonville, Ky. Life Member Mary Kauffman Vaughn ’58 Lynchburg, Va. Carolyn Geurin Yarmy ’58 Black Mountain, N.C. James L. Hacker ’59 Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow Joseph M. Gilliam Jr. ’60 Gladwyne, Pa. Life Member
Gerald G. Leslie Jr. ’62 Lexington, Ky. Z. T. Lester Jr. ’62 Frankfort, Ky. C. Melvin Reitnour ’62 Oxford, Pa. Doris B. Wood ’62 Signal Mountain, Tenn. Thomas H. Burnett ’63 Lexington, Ky. Earl L. Campbell ’63 Harrodsburg, Ky. Andrea Dykes Daniels ’63 Russell, Ky. James W. Owens ’63 Wooster, Ohio
Rosemary W. Savage ’63 Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Joseph B. Thompson ’63 Lexington, Ky. Murray Toborowsky ’63 Louisville, Ky. James C. Van Meter ’63 Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow Paul J. Armstrong Jr. ’64 Nicholasville, Ky. Life Member Bobbie G. Cornelison ’64 Lexington, Ky. Edward W. Fliegauf ’64 Oxford, N.J. Lillian Barr Johnson ’64 Ewing, Ky. Life Member, Fellow Nancy Nollenberger Sallee ’64 Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Harvey D. Luce ’66 Mansfield Center, Conn.
William R. Meade ’70 Georgetown, Ind.
Larry W. Frederick ’73 Saint Matthews, Ky.
Elwyn L. Moore ’66 West Palm Beach, Fla.
Nita Huff Satterfield ’70 Hopkinsville, Ky.
Christine Lamar Goerz ’73 Owensboro, Ky.
Charles Shannon Stokes ’66 Frederick, Md.
Sara L. Sidebottom ’70 Crestview Hills, Ky.
William R. Long ’73 Nashville, Tenn.
James E. Trotter ’66 Georgetown, Ky.
Michael J. Stump ’70 Ashland, Ky. Life Member
Stephen D. Milner ’73 Lexington, Ky. Life Member
C. Brent Vinson ’70 Brea, Calif.
Lorraine Ditzler Rodriguez ’73 Lexington, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Barbara Bates Caton ’67 Frankfort, Ky. Life Member Wallace E. Herndon Jr. ’67 Franklin, Ky. Life Member, Fellow Nicholas E. Lawrence ’67 Lexington, Ky. Laura Larkins Murrell ’67 Louisville, Ky. Russell T. May ’68 Louisville, Ky. Martha Helm McConnell ’68 Danville, Ky.
Mary Smith-Stowe ’64 Frankfort, Ky.
Edward H. Ratcliff Jr. ’68 Cynthiana, Ky.
Wallace B. Sullivan ’64 Pueblo, Colo. Life Member
Norrie Wake ’68 Portsmouth, R.I. Life Member
William L. Crutcher ’65 Conroe, Texas Susan Donohue Houlihan ’65 Louisville, Ky. Eric Panitz ’65 Wyoming, Mich. Joann Arnzen Thinnes ’65 Florence, Ky.
Janet Peat Jones ’69 Lexington, Ky. John J. Liebermann ’69 Nicholasville, Ky. William H. Wagers ’69 Berea, Ky. Fellow Larry G. Wells ’69 Lexington, Ky.
Sam Brown Jr. ’71 Birmingham, Ala. Nada Steelman Cameron ’71 Portales, N.M. Susan A. Cannon ’71 Bowling Green, Ky. Herman C. Lawson ’71 Corbin, Ky. Robert A. Nolan Jr. ’71 Prospect, Ky. Jerry W. Whitehouse ’71 Mount Washington, Ky. Fred E. Fugazzi Jr. ’72 Venice, Fla. Life Member Patricia M. Latchaw ’72 York, Pa. George E. Monarch III ’72 Hardinsburg, Ky. R. Vince Sayre ’72 Lexington, Ky. Life Member Gary S. Bale ’72 Nashville, Tenn.
Harold C. Beck ’74 Benton, Ky. Irvin K. Rice ’74 Louisville, Ky. Joseph Ed Slack ’74 Guthrie, Ky. Life Member John S. Blenke ’75 Melbourne, Ky. Charles T. Cotterill Jr. ’76 Maysville, Ky. Fellow Thomas B. Mann ’76 Hebron, Ky. Jane E. Panther ’76 Louisville, Ky. Bradley J. Poll ’76 Richmond, Ky. Gary W. Roman ’76 Louisville, Ky. Wayne Cox ’77 Lexington, Ky. James E. Grant ’77 Lexington, Ky. www. u kal u mni. net
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In Memoriam Susan W. Landfield ’77 Homer, Ark.
Barry G. Whitaker ’83 Gilbertsville, Ky.
Joseph S. Kemp ’78 Lebanon, Ky. Eric A. Burnett ’79 Versailles, Ky. Robert P. Risley ’79 Owensboro, Ky. Edward S. Tamme ’79 Danville, Ky. Sharon M. Stone ’81 Barboursville, W.Va. Michael A. Freeman ’82 Louisville, Ky. Robert B. Brashear ’83 Columbia, Ky. Life Member
J. Thomas Rolfes ’89 Lexington, Ky. Fellow
Lynn W.J. Parrish ’00 Lexington, Ky. Life Member
Philip M. Cochran ’84 Austin, Texas Life Member
Stanley Jozefowicz ’90 Lexington, Ky.
Jason M. Martin ’00 Kansas City, Mo.
Teresa Hopkins Wilhite ’84 Lexington, Ky.
Melissa C. Outland ’92 Lexington, Ky.
James Patrick Buckley ’03 Louisville, Ky.
Dwayne A. Cobb ’85 Versailles, Ky.
Elizabeth Burklow Perry ’93 Lexington, Ky.
Natasha Angeliqueh Jones ’07 Lexington, Ky.
Roger W. Hoagland ’85 Florence, Ky.
Stephen R. York ’93 Scotch Plains, N.J.
Chad Alan Manley ’07 Winter Garden, Fla.
Sandra Ella Russell ’85 Norton, Mass.
Veronica Walker ’95 Lexington, Ky.
Barrett W. Brown ’08 Elizabethtown, Ky.
Kenneth W. Tramontin ’87 Lexington, Ky.
Sean A. Spiegel ’97 Lexington, Ky.
Benita Roberts Peoples ’09 Lexington, Ky.
George P. Allard II ’89 Saint Louis, Mo. Fellow
Linda M. Barnard ’97 Danville, Ky.
Joshua Michael Pettit ’09 Bardstown, Ky.
Michael W. Carlos ’97 Lexington, Ky.
Joshua N. Fox ’14 Nortonville, Ky.
Peggy Mickus El-Mallakh ’98 Louisville, Ky.
Reilly Irene Butler ’18 Lexington, Ky.
Marvin Daniel Gaston ’99 Russellville, Ky.
Jarod A. Galloway ’19 Convoy, Ohio
George W. Griffin ’83 Nicholasville, Ky. Life Member, Fellow
Jeffrey Coomer ’89 Nancy, Ky.
Brian C. Shafer ’83 Lexington, Ky.
Constance Smith Enlow ’89 Lexington, Ky.
Sivaraman H. Subramanian ’83 Phoenix, Ariz. Myra Leigh Tobin ‘62 passed away peacefully this past April. Myra, a native of Harned, received her bachelor’s degree at UK in home economics in 1962, a master’s degree in counseling psychology at Ohio State and a master’s in business administration from New York University. Myra briefly worked for U. S. Rep. William Natcher and in the Kentucky Department of Commerce before moving to New York. She began working at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and then moved to the New York based international insurance firm Marsh and McLennan Companies, where she eventually became senior vice president and then managing director, a position she held from 1982 until retiring in 1998.
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K E N TUCKY A LU MN I MAG A ZIN E Summer 2021
Myra was a leader in New York, yet remained connected to her Kentucky roots. Her support of UK HealthCare enabled the construction of the Myra Leigh Tobin Chapel. She served as president of the UK Alumni Association and served for six years on the UK Board of Trustees. Myra was inducted into the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2000 and College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2016. She was a founding charter member and remained actively involved in the UK Women in Philanthropy where she served a term as co-chairwoman. She was a fellow and life member of the UK Alumni Association, and loved her college sorority Delta, Delta, Delta. Memorial gifts to honor and celebrate Myra’s life may be made payable to the University of Kentucky and directed to the Myra Tobin Scholarship Fund in the UK Alumni Association, UK Philanthropy P. O. Box 23552 Lexington, KY 40523.
Creative Juices Katherine Ledford ’02 AS, is the co-editor of “Writing Appalachia,” a comprehensive anthology that features dozens of authors born into or adopted by the region over the past two centuries. The book showcases the nuances and contradictions that place Appalachia at the heart of American history. Despite the stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding Appalachia, the region has nurtured and inspired some of the nation’s finest writers. The book covers a diverse range of subjects, genres and time periods, beginning with early Native American oral traditions and concluding with 21st century writers such as Wendell Berry, bell hooks and others. Slave narratives, local color writing, folklore, work songs, modernist prose — each piece explores unique Appalachian struggles, questions and values. The collection also celebrates the significant contributions of women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community to the region’s history and culture. Alongside Southern and Central Appalachian voices, it features northern authors and selections that reflect the urban characteristics of the region. As one text gives way to the next, a more complete picture of Appalachia emerges — a landscape of contrasting visions and possibilities.
Richard L. Taylor ’63 ’74 AS, a former poet laureate of Kentucky, is the author of “Girty,” a classic work that assembles a collage of passages from diaries, travel accounts and biographies to tell part of Simon Girty’s story. Girty was one of the most hated men in early America. The son of an Irish immigrant, he was raised on the western Pennsylvania frontier but was captured by the Senecas as a teenager and lived among them for several years. He might be seen today as a defender of Native Americans, but in his own time he was branded a traitor for siding with First Nations and the British during the Revolutionary War. Girty’s bloody exploits made him hated and feared in Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley, but many who knew him respected him for his convictions, principles and bravery. Taylor uses the voice of Girty to unfold the narrative through a series of interior monologues, which take the form of both prose and poetry. Moments of torture and horrifying bloodshed stand starkly against passages celebrating beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Throughout, Taylor challenges perceptions of the man and the frontier, as well as notions of white settler innocence.
Ouita Michel, UK alumna, has written “Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes from Our Favorite Places,” which serves up the recipes that patrons of her restaurants have come to know and love, including the Bluegrass Benedict breakfast sandwich and Wallace Station’s Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup. Bili Morrow Shelburne ’70 FA has written “Racing with the Tide,” a sequel novel about Clemmie, a woman who returns to her roots on Hilton Head Island to reconnect with her friend and mentor, an enigmatic character who lives in the woods and appears to practice voodoo.
UK and the UK Alumni Association do not necessarily endorse books or other original material mentioned in Creative Juices. The University of Kentucky and the UK Alumni Association are not responsible for the content, views and opinions expressed on websites mentioned in Creative Juices or found via links off of those websites.
www. u kal u mni. net
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SOCIALLY DISTANT, BUT STILL TOGETHER By now, everyone has heard of the term “social distancing” where you stay at least six feet from people, avoid gathering in groups and stay out of crowded places. Sounds just like a graduation ceremony, right? Thanks to countless hours of planning and preparation, UK reimagined the time-honored tradition of Commencement while following health and safety protocols, including mask requirements, social distancing and limited seating. Nearly 4,400 UK graduates from the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 participated in 10 Commencement ceremonies at Rupp Arena this May to celebrate their achievements and join the UK alumni family.
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Photo by Pete Comparoni, UK Photo
Quick Take
RAISED IN 24 HOURS
3x THE FIRST ONE DAY FOR UK TOTAL
On April 21, 2021, the University of Kentucky embarked on its third university-wide giving day, One Day for UK. Your support is already making a difference at UK and now, we can do even more for the place that made you who you are.
MORE THAN $12,000 RAISED BY PHONATHON STUDENT CALLERS
MORE THAN 300 FACULTY AND STAFF DONORS
3,638 GIFTS TO MORE THAN 350 FUNDS 153 MEALS DONATED BY UK STUDENTS WITH A MATCH FROM UK DINING PROVIDING MORE THAN 300 MEALS TO STUDENTS IN NEED.
GIFTS FROM MORE THAN 1,200 ALUMNI
KENTUCKYCAN.UKY.EDU
400 Rose Street King Alumni House Lexington, KY 40506
“THEY JUST KEPT DIGGING, THEY DIDN’T STOP.” By the time Angela King met Dr. David Drake, she had already seen 14 other doctors. None of them knew what was wrong with her hand, which had been experiencing numbness and discoloration for months. Finally, after tests, hunches, and consulting with other doctors across disciplines at UK HealthCare, Dr. Drake, a plastic surgeon and hand specialist, found the source of the problem: a tiny hole in Angela’s heart that had been there since birth, which was allowing blood clots to escape. While those blood clots had gone to her hand, they could easily have gone to her brain instead. After finding the answer they desperately needed, Angela underwent surgery to plug the hole in her heart, saving her hand—and, ultimately, her life. Angela King is proof of The Power of Advanced Medicine.