By Whitney Harder

(July 17, 2015) — Summer: a time to catch up on neglected projects, reconnect with old friends and tackle that summer reading list. Whether it's an inspiring autobiography, the latest science fiction, or re-reading the classics, many are immersing themselves in a range of literature this season. For professors at the University of Kentucky, they are not only cracking open new books, but reflecting on those that have impacted their lives and careers in surprising ways. 

Read below for the first in a series of professors reflecting on the books that shaped them. 

John Anthony

J. C. Hubbard Professor of Chemistry

Quite a few books have resonated with me over the years. The earliest would be the "Lord of the

By Whitney Hale

The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that anthropology doctoral candidate Lydia Shanklin Roll has been awarded the National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Fellowship for up to $30,000 toward study of the Kurdish language and work on her dissertation research in Istanbul, Turkey. Roll is one of 101 graduate student award winners selected nationally from a pool of 385 applicants.

Boren Fellowships provide funding for study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and are underrepresented in education abroad. The awards are funded by NSEP, which

By Whitney Harder

(July 16, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences has named Shaunna Scott as the new director of its Appalachian Studies Program and Christopher Barton as the new director of the Appalachian Center.

"Chris Barton and Shaunna Scott will make a great leadership team along with the staff of the Appalachian Center," said Ann Kingsolver, former director of both the Appalachian Center and

By Whitney Hale

(July 13, 2015) — This weekend Lexington will be in the spotlight as C-SPAN airs coverage of the city as part of its "2015 C-SPAN Cities Tour." Viewers of "Lexington Weekend" will learn about the city's rich history, as well as the community's non-fiction literary culture on programming airing July 18-19 as part of "BookTV" on C-SPAN2 and "American History TV" (AHTV) on C-SPAN3. Many University of Kentucky experts from the College of Arts and Sciences and Libraries lend a hand in sharing Lexington's story.

C-SPAN’s "2015 Cities Tour

By Whitney Hale

(July 13, 2015) — Be sure to mark your calendar for the third annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) Symposium, scheduled for Sept. 20-22, 2015, at the Hyatt Regency, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The SEC Symposium addresses a significant scholarly issue across the range of disciplines represented by the SEC's 14 member universities. The event showcases their academic excellence and underscores their educational and economic contributions to the vitality of the region, nation and world. The 2015 symposium is titled "Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Driving a 21st Century Economy."

The 2015 SEC Symposium will focus on the development and impact of innovation

By Rachel Lorch

The American Sociological Association (ASA) named Margaret McGladrey, Assistant Dean for Research for the College of Public Health and part-time Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology, the 2015 recipient of the Student Forum Paper Award.

Comprised of more than 13,000 members, the ASA is the largest professional organization in the discipline of sociology. The association is the publisher of nine professional journals and magazines, and hosts an annual meeting for its members.  

Every year, the Student Forum Advisory Board Paper Sessions and Roundtables sub-

By Terrance Wade

(July 9, 2015) — University of Kentucky student Elizabeth Glass is participating in a highly competitive internship at the Cloisters Museum and Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City this summer.

A native of Lexington, the art history and visual studies/museum studies senior who is also working toward a minor in German, began applying for summer internships over the past winter break. She applied to such museums as the 

By Taylor McClure

(July 9, 2015) — University of Kentucky alumna Alyssum Pohl, a 2004 biology graduate and former Gaines Fellow, has embarked on a journey from source to sea kayaking the Mississippi River while documenting water pollution. The journey is a self-motivated effort to increase awareness about the health of our rivers and oceans. 

The trip will take Pohl an estimated three months. She started her trek June 27, in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the base of the Mississippi River, and will end it in the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans, 2,552 miles downstream. Pohl is calling the project

By Whitney Hale

(July 8, 2015) — University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that a seventh UK student has been named a recipient of Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among more than 1,900 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2015-2016 academic year through the prestigious program.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department

By Sarah Schuetze

“It’s too far away,” agree Madison Hood and Jim Hower when the question arises about Hood’s plans to pursue a Ph.D.. After all, Hood just graduated from high school.

And yet the question is not that abstract considering Hood is sometimes mistaken for a graduate student because of her contributions to the research directed by Professor Jim Hower of UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Hood has been working in Hower’s lab at UK for close to two years, studying samples of fly ash from coal power plants and coal fire emissions. In the time that Hood has been in the lab, she has given talks at four professional

By Auden Lohr

(July 6, 2015) — On July 4, University of Kentucky sophomore Clark Davis, Miss Horse Capital of the World, was crowned Miss Kentucky 2015 at the Singletary Center for the Arts. She will represent Kentucky in the Miss America Pageant to be held Sunday, Sept. 13, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The national pageant will be broadcast live on ABC.

A native of Lexington, Davis, 17, is the daughter of Ginger and Jonathan Davis. She is majoring in vocal performance with a minor in political science and will be a

By Jenny Wells, Whitney Harder

(July 7, 2015) — When Ann Kingsolver, former director of the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, began speaking with grandparents raising grandchildren in Appalachian communities, two things became clear to her. First, these grandparents need a break every now and then. Second, they may not always feel comfortable helping their child with the curriculum offered in schools today.

So the idea for UK Tomorrow Corps was born, tackling both issues of respite care and education enrichment. Eventually it expanded beyond the idea of aiding grandparent caregivers to support many types of families and students across Appalachia.

Kingsolver also realized the

By Whitney Harder

(July 7, 2015) — Two recent University of Kentucky graduates, Michael Delfino and Samantha Dougherty, are among only 34 high school mathematics and science teachers in the U.S. named to the 2015 cohort of Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSF) teaching fellows.

Michael Delfino’s calling took him from firmware engineering at Lexmark International to the classroom, where he will begin his first year teaching math to high school students. Delfino earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from UK in 2011 and a Master of Arts in secondary mathematics education from UK in 2015.

"It is exciting to see Michael, who has the technical skill to work for any of the top software companies, honored

By Rebecca Stratton

(July 6, 2015) —The University of Kentucky Confucius Institute and UK Education Abroad recently collaborated to offer a programming site visit to China. The visit allowed faculty and staff members from across different colleges to learn first-hand about international higher education issues in China and to explore education abroad programming opportunities for UK students to study in China.

The program was facilitated by Chen Gu, Chinese culture event coordinator of the UK Confucius Institute; Yiyi Tang, financial manager and scholarship coordinator for Education Abroad; Thomas Teague, advisor for the Gatton College of Business and Economics; and Anthony Ogden, executive director of

By Blair Hoover

(July 6, 2015) — In support of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World Initiative and the 2015 Year of the Middle East campaign, University of Kentucky Education Abroad partnered with the college to sponsor a faculty development seminar in the Middle East focusing on contemporary issues pertinent to the region.

The seminar was developed to provide faculty members with an opportunity to gain firsthand experience with the issues concerning the region and thus, to better equip them to share their knowledge and experience with their students and subsequent international initiatives, such as developing institutional partnerships and further education abroad programming at UK.

The following faculty

By Chris Shoals

(July 1, 2015) — Student-athletes from all eight of Kentucky's spring sports teams combined to earn a total of 84 spots on the Southeastern Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll, Commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Tuesday.


UK's honorees included 22 baseball players, 14 softball players, 13 women’s track and field members, 13 men’s track and field members, eight women’s tennis players, four men’s tennis players, six men’s golfers and four women’s golfers.

A total of 1,191 student-athletes from around the league earned spots on the honor roll, which is based on grades from the 2014 summer, 2014 fall and 2015 spring terms. In order to make the SEC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or his/her entire collegiate career, be at least a sophomore in

By UK Provost Timothy Tracy

At the University of Kentucky, our work is deeply rooted in a sense of community and in a spirit of partnership; we know that working together is the best way to address complex challenges.

It’s wonderful to see the impact this partnership and collaboration has upon our community members, our faculty and our students. It’s a great pleasure of mine to share these stories.

Take as an example, among many, Computer Science professor Brent Seales’ research. Seales and his team of undergraduate research assistants contributed to an international collaboration to decipher and analyze 2,000-year-old scrolls, using an innovative computer software tool. The group traveled to Paris, France this summer to work with a world-renowned papyrologist, who is learning to use the software, and to present their work at Google Paris, where Seales was a

By Jenny Wells

(June 26, 2015) — The University of Kentucky hosted the seventh annual Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative conference, "Go for the Gold," June 12 at E.S. Good Barn, bringing representatives from across the state together to help advance gender equality in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

"We are pleased to provide a forum for Kentucky residents to join us in this endeavor," said Sue Scheff, co-chair of the collaborative. "Our agenda included a full day of speakers and hands-on activities to excite and entertain girls as well as educate the parents, teachers, and community leaders of the many career opportunities available to young people in Kentucky."

Kentucky continues to rank very low in number of scientists and engineers, high-tech jobs, and

By Stephanie Meredith

(June 25, 2015) — On June 19, both Harold Kleinert and Katie Hastings were named by the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI) as the winners of the prestigious 2015 Paul Kevin Burberry Award.


Kleinert has served people with intellectual disabilities for nearly 47 years, the last 27 of those as part of HDI and is retiring June 30, 2015, from his position as the executive director of HDI. He also serves on the board of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities and the Commonwealth Council on Developmental Disabilities. He has improved the world for people with developmental disabilities both nationally and in Kentucky by building meaningful training programs for educators and medical providers, and he has offered

By Ashley Tabb

(June 25, 2015) — University of Kentucky Analytics and Technologies (UKAT) has reached an agreement to roll out Canvas by Instructure over the next year as the university’s new learning management system (LMS) for faculty and students.

Over the last four years, UK faculty, students and staff have provided feedback and usability preferences for a “next generation” learning management system. They worked in depth with UKAT’s e-Learning Team to review the existing and future state of the current UK LMS, Blackboard Learn, while exploring other systems through small working groups, pilots and a faculty-led LMS review committee.

During a request for proposal process earlier this year, several vendors proposed