By Jenny Wells

Martha Tillson (left) and Sarah Gossett will deliver speeches at the December 2017 Commencement Ceremonies Friday, Dec. 15.

In what has become a University of Kentucky Commencement tradition, two students have been selected to serve as speakers for the UK December Commencement ceremonies this Friday, Dec. 15. Because doctoral, master's and baccalaureate degree recipients are now recognized together based on their colleges, the selection committee accepted applications from students with all degree types, not just undergraduate students as in past years.

Martha Tillson will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony and Sarah Gossett will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony. Tillson and Gossett were selected among several candidates by UK President Eli Capilouto to represent the December

By Tatyanna Pruitt

Frank Ettensohn, professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has received the Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award for 2018 from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), an international association of petroleum geologists. The award is given in recognition of distinguished and outstanding contributions to geological education.

“This award has been given to some very prestigious educator/geoscientists. It is a veritable who’s who of geoscientists in the field of sedimentary geology,” said Dave Moecher, chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Dr. Ettensohn has contributed significantly to the field and is definitely deserving of this recognition.”

Ettensohn

By Julie Wrinn

“Kentucky Is a Pretty Special Place”

The Transformation of Andrew Grotto from High School Underachiever to Cybersecurity Wonk

As a freshman entering UK’s Honors Program in 1994, Andrew Grotto (B.A. Philosophy ’99) was on academic probation from day one. Though he would go on to a glittering career on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and now at Stanford, with graduate degrees from Berkeley and Harvard, Grotto didn’t apply himself to academics until his last year of high school. “I figured out in my senior year that maybe I should go to class,” he joked. Grotto is not really sure why he didn’t take school seriously, other than “teenagers’ brains aren’t wired to think about risk and long-term consequences.”

Despite a mediocre cumulative GPA coming out of high school in the Chicago area, Grotto had unusually high ACT scores

By Gail Hairston

The University of Kentucky recently announced the 16 undergraduate winners of the 53rd annual Oswald Research and Creativity Competition.

Established in 1964 by former UK President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Program encourages research and creative activities by undergraduate students at UK. The objectives of the program are to stimulate creative work by undergraduate students and to recognize individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievement.

Categories include biological sciences; design, including architecture, landscape architecture and interior design; fine arts, including film, music, photography, painting and sculpture; humanities, from creative and critical-research approaches; physical and engineering sciences; and social sciences. All submissions are sent anonymously to faculty reviewers in related fields and

By Whitney Hale

Ashley Judd delivers the UK College of Social Work Irma Sarett Rosenstein Lecture on campus Dec. 1. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

Watch a video above with "the silence breakers" created by Time magazine.

University of Kentucky graduate Ashley Judd is among the group of “silence breakers” that has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for their efforts to shine a spotlight on sexual misconduct in America.

“The galvanizing actions of the women on our cover … along with those of hundreds of others, and of many men as well, have unleashed one of the highest-velocity

By Tatyanna Pruitt

Each month the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) recognizes individuals who go above and beyond in their job with their “Of The Months” or “OTMs” awards. Jessica Pennington, academic living and learning success coordinator in the College of Arts & Sciences, won the campus level Institution Faculty/Staff member award for August 2017.

A large part of Pennington’s job requires crossover between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Residence Life.

“Jessica is simply amazing at building a bridge between our academic colleges and residence life here at UK, as well as bettering the department of residence life and campus community,” said Tyler Priest, Champions area resident director who nominated Pennington for the award.

Every August, Pennington prepares for the return of

By Whitney Hale

Students examine materials at UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

University of Kentucky creative writing graduate students studying with English Professor and award-winning poet Frank X Walker will present a poetry reading of work they created throughout the semester based on research done at UK Special Collections Research Center. The free public reading will run 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Library Building.

“This is the third time that we’ve done this, and the work they produce is absolutely astounding and very moving,” said

By Jenny Wells

John Postlethwait, a professor of biology from the University of Oregon, will deliver two lectures at the University of Kentucky this week as the featured speaker for the ninth annual Thomas Hunt Morgan Lecture Series. The series is sponsored by the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology.

Postlethwait will give two talks, the first a public lecture for a general audience titled "An Icefish is a Nice Fish: Antarctic Oceans and Global Climate Change" at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Room 121 of the Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building. The second talk, a scientific lecture titled "Genetic Mechanisms of Sex Determination in Zebrafish," will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec, 7,

By Kathy Johnson

Ashley Judd. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

Ashley T. Judd, University of Kentucky alumna, feminist, and social justice humanitarian, will be on campus today, Friday, Dec. 1, to present the 15th annual Irma Sarett Rosenstein Distinguished Lecture at the Singletary Center for the Arts. All tickets for the event have been distributed and no general admission entry is available.

Hosted by the College of Social Work in partnership this year with the College of Arts and Sciences, the lecture is named for Lexington social worker and social justice advocate Irma Sarett Rosenstein.

“Irma Sarret Rosenstein's passion and life's work was

By Amaya DeVicente 

Last year, 18 percent of the University of Kentucky graduating class graduated with global experience. The university’s International Center has taken steps to increase that percentage.

The UK International Center’s Education Abroad and Exchanges program (UK EA) recently announced a new 2018-19 scholarship and program fee reduction initiative for selected UK exchange partners around the world, ranging from $1,000-$5,000.

UK students who participate in an exchange program have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the language and culture of a host university, city and country. They enroll in courses at the host institution for either a semester or an academic year and earn transfer credit, while still paying their regular tuition to UK.

Nicole Funk, a junior from

By Julie Wrinn

Judge Deborah Deweese grew up in a blue collar neighborhood in the south end of Louisville and remembers watching TV most nights with her parents and brothers. The family’s favorite show was Perry Mason, and one night her dad said to young Deborah, “Why don’t you be a lawyer like him?”

“That resonated with me,” remembers Judge Deweese, “and I can’t say that I ever wanted to do anything else.” It was typical of her father’s insistence that she could do anything, “that there was no difference between me and my two brothers”—not an ordinary viewpoint at the time.

A 1981 Political Science major at UK, Deborah Deweese came on the bench in 1994 when there were just five women judges on the District Court in Jefferson County out of 21 total. Now the majority of the District Court judges are women, the Circuit Court is about half women, and the Family

By Jennifer T. Allen

Alexis Abdullah came to the University of Kentucky from Atlanta with the goal of experiencing different cultures and gaining new perspectives. Ryan Thorn came to Lexington from his hometown of Mercer, Pennsylvania, to experience a new part of the country. As UK seniors, both traveled 8,241 miles last summer to the southwest coast of South Africa to engage in an immersive experience unlike any they had before.

“When I came to college, I knew I wanted to study abroad at some point,” said Abdullah, a senior environmental and sustainability studies major. “I wanted to experience a different culture and gain perspectives that expanded my own. The opportunity to study abroad in South Africa appealed to my interests because of the history of social injustice and human rights struggles that are associated

By Whitney Hale and Mack McCormick

For the first time ever, the Kentucky Book Fair will be presented in Lexington from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Alltech Arenaat the Kentucky Horse Park. Now in its 36th year, the fair will feature more than 180 authors and editors showcasing their most recent books, including several writers from University Press of Kentucky (UPK) and the University of Kentucky. The fair is free and open to the public.

Presented by Kentucky Humanities, the Kentucky Book Fair attracts thousands of avid readers and patrons from

By Whitney Harder

School is tough for a lot of children, but the classroom can be especially stressful for kids struggling with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As a matter of fact, nearly 15 percent of Kentucky children are currently diagnosed with ADHD, the highest rate in the nation. Many struggle to pay attention, sit still or finish school work, overwhelmed with distraction and hyperactivity. Is medication the answer? 

Although medication may help to manage some symptoms of ADHD in the classroom, mounting research indicates that medicine alone doesn't necessarily lead to improved academic performance in the long run.

University of Kentucky researchers Elizabeth Lorch and Janice Almasi believe an answer may lie in a

Jared Delcamp never questioned where he would go to college. “Growing up in Kentucky and watching the Wildcats play makes you ready to be a part of the Big Blue Nation,” he said.

A native Kentuckian, Delcamp was born and raised in Monticello and chose to study medicine when he first came to the University of Kentucky as an undergraduate in 2000. He credits chemistry professor John Anthony with mentoring him throughout his college career, but when Delcamp first met Professor Anthony, he thought he wanted to pursue a career in medicine.

“I couldn’t decide if I wanted to do chemistry or medicine,” Delcamp said. “I thought chemistry was cool, but when you’re from a small town, if you’re smart, you’re supposed to be a doctor.”

It only took one semester for Delcamp to decide that he was passionate about chemistry. As an undergraduate, he continued to study under

By Kristie Colon

L to R: James Collard, Katherine Thompson, Penni Black, Madeline Krentz Gober

New findings from University of Kentucky faculty published in Scientific Reports reveals a novel cell signaling interaction that may prevent a key step in lung cancer progression.

Kentucky continues to lead the nation in incidence and death rates from lung cancer, and the UK College of Pharmacy is committed to reducing these numbers.

Lung cancers are often diagnosed in later stages, with very few treatment options available. Often patients develop a resistance to a targeted therapy, resulting in a need for a variety of therapies that can be administered in stages

By Nate Harling

Harrison Bailey (’49) had a palpable presence on UK’s campus while he pursued his degree in geography, both maintaining an active presence in his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and leading the charge in the acquisition of a charter for the University’s chapter of the International Geographical Honor Society, Gama Theta Epsilon. The charter bearing his name still hangs in the offices of the geography department to this day, but Bailey is not done leaving his mark on the University of Kentucky. Through his generous giving, the Harrison and Eva Lewis Bailey Geography Student Travel Endowment Fund has been established. The fund will award travel scholarships to geography majors seeking to study in Mexico. This is the second endowment fund he has graciously established at UK, having previously funded the Harrison and Eva Lewis Bailey Alumni Lecture Series in

Chemistry professor Pete Kekenes-Huskey is a recipient of the Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator grant from the American Chemical Society that supports fundamental research directly related to petroleum or fossil fuels.  The $110,000 award will seed the development of computational models for predicting methane transport in zeolitic materials, which could help improve our ability to extract valuable chemicals from an abundant catalyst. Methane is a primary content of raw natural gas that is released as a byproduct of shale oil extraction and is a very useful precursor to sought-after chemical products, including more useful liquid hydrocarbons. Methane processing has been explored in zeolite catalysts, which are inexpensive, porous, highly adsorbent, naturally-occurring minerals. Zeolites are already valued at $30 billion for petroleum 

By Gail Hairston

University of Kentucky Professor Emeritus Edward Stanton’s young adult, prehistoric fiction novel “Wide as the Wind” has received a second international award — the coveted Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, presented by the Jenkins Group for authors, illustrators and publishers from the United States, Canada and six additional countries.

Earlier this year, “Wide as the Wind” (Open Books Press) won the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Described by the publisher as “a timely piece of environmental fiction,” “Wide as the Wind” is the first novel of any genre to deal with the stunning, tragic history of Easter Island and its implications for our modern world. It has been described as “both a stirring novel of adventure and a prophetic tale for our times.”

That’s an impressive achievement for any book, much

By Jenny Wells

This weekend, the University of Kentucky Department of Mathematics will host the first Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival for middle and high school students across the state.  The event will be held 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 4, in the Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building.

"This is part of a national initiative begun in 2013 to have students work on mathematics puzzles in a collaborative, noncompetitive and fun environment," said Margaret Readdy, UK professor of mathematics, who is organizing the event with Richard Ehrenborg, also a UK professor of math. "Professor Ehrenborg and I became interested in this after I brought our two sons to a Julia Robinson Math Festival in Princeton three years ago while on sabbatical. It was a