By Robby Hardesty 

Seth Garcia

UK Libraries has recognized seniors Seth Garcia and Anna Watrous with the 2023 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Scholarship. The annual prize celebrates exceptional and original scholarship in a traditional paper and a media or digital project, and is awarded to students whose research makes substantive and creative use of UK Libraries’ collections, services and resources.

Garcia, a history, anthropology, and secondary social studies education major, was awarded for “A Peculiar Institution: White Supremacy and the Black Guides of Mammoth Cave.”

Analyzing mid- to late-19th century diaries, guidebooks and travelers’ accounts, Garcia examined the white perspective of enslaved and

By Ryan Girves

Weiss Mehrabi

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 18, 2023) — Weiss Mehrabi, a doctoral candidate and teaching assistant in the College of Arts & Sciences, is one of 10 winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2022-23 Outstanding Teaching Awards. 

These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

"I’m incredibly surprised, humbled and immensely grateful for this prestigious recognition," Weiss

By Daniel Flener 

Hugo Reyes-Centeno

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 16, 2023) — The Office of the Vice President for Research and the University of Kentucky International Center  have announced the first cohort of UKinSPIRE fellows. UKinSPIRE is an internal funding opportunity for UK faculty, jointly funded by the OVPR and UKIC, intended to stimulate high-impact research projects in any discipline linking UK faculty and international collaborators and to establish collaborations with new international partner institutions or add greater depth to existing institutional partnerships.

Among them is Hugo Reyes-Centeno, assistant professor of anthropology in UK's College of Arts & Sciences. His project is “Resolving the Austronesian Problem: Community Archaeology and Heritage Science Education in

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 12, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center is honoring 11 students with its annual research awards.

Eight graduate students received the James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia, and one graduate student and two undergraduate students received the center's Eller and Billings Student Research Award.

"The Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program are thrilled to support these students and their summer work,” said Kathryn Engle, director of the center. “This group of students represents a range of disciplines and research interests. Thank you to the research mentors and advisers from across the university that are helping train the next generation

By Meg Mills

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 11, 2023) — Katie Kohls, a graduate instructor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, is one of 10 winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2022-23 Outstanding Teaching Award.

Katie Kohls is one of 10 winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2022-23 Outstanding Teaching Award. Arden Barnes | UK Photo.

These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the 

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

<br /> Aaron Thompson, president of Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education, receives the&nbsp; UK Department of Sociology's Thomas R. Ford Distinguished Alumni Award from Carrie Oser at ceremony on May 5. Photo by Justin Conder.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 9, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences has awarded Aaron Thompson, Ph.D., president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, with the Thomas R. Ford Distinguished Alumni Award. The award is given to doctoral alumni who have distinguished themselves in a sociological career.

Thompson was presented with the award during the department’s annual awards ceremony on May 5.

As a first-generation

By Jesi Jones-Bowman 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 8, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research  has chosen 20 undergraduates for the 2023 Commonwealth Undergraduate Research Experience Fellowship program.

Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of the Vice President for Research, the CURE Fellowship program helps undergraduates to become leaders for their respective communities by providing opportunities to develop knowledge and skills through research within six of UK’s Research Priority Areas: cancer, cardiovascular health, diversity and inclusion, energy, neuroscience and substance use

By A Fish 

Kasimma

LEXINGTON; Ky. — Writer Kasimma traveled to Croatia in 2022 to promote “Portret Za Dar-Mar,” the Croatian translation of her book, “All Shades of Iberibe.” The book is a collection of short stories mostly about Igbo people.  

Every short story gives different perception into facets of life in Nigeria as well as her feelings as a devout feminist and her complex feelings towards religions. 

“I wrote ‘All Shades of Iberibe’ from a place of love, deep love, for Igbo,” said Kasimma, who is from Igboland in Nigeria. “The Pula Book Fair is the biggest festival of books in Croatia. The organizers of the book fair read my book, liked it, and wanted me to come talk about the book.” 

Kasimma was flattered to be invited to the Book Fair(y) in Istria, Croatia. One of the short stories in “Iberibe” is about the Nigerian–Biafran war in the late

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

John Anthony

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2021) — John Anthony, the C. W. Hammond Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named winner of the 2023 SEC Faculty Achievement Award for the University of Kentucky this spring.

Anthony, who also serves as associate director at the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), was awarded with 13 other SEC university professors for their “dedication to the classroom experience, the commitment to advance their disciplines and the determination to make a difference through service.”

"I am very grateful to UK and the SEC for this honor," Anthony said. "Given the interdisciplinary nature of modern science, my accomplishments represent the shared intellectual contributions of a global network of

By Whitney Hale

Rayleigh Deaton

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that four students have been offered Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships to travel abroad to teach, study or pursue research for the 2023-24 academic year.

Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 140 countries.

This year’s UK Fulbright recipients are:

By Brian Carrico

Gabija Ziemyte

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2023) — Walking across the commencement stage and receiving your diploma is a satisfying feeling and is the culmination of a lot of hard work. University of Kentucky graduate Gabija Ziemyte’s family will celebrate her accomplishments for the first time in the United States.

“My parents are from Lithuania, and they both earned master's degrees there,” said Ziemyte, a Lewis Honors student and Chellgren Student Fellow who majored in physics and mathematics with an English minor in the College of Arts and Sciences. “I think my parents are proud that I've been able to grow into myself and find

Sarah Holmes

By Kody Kiser and Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 3, 2023) — This spring, the University of Kentucky is celebrating nearly 6,000 degrees conferred by the Board of Trustees*, with more than 4,000 of those expected to cross the stage of Rupp Arena during the UK Commencement Ceremonies this Friday and Saturday.

On this episode of "Behind the Blue," we once again spotlight a few of those graduates to talk about their time here at UK, the memories they’ll take with them and how they’re prepared to move ahead and make the most of what they’ve learned.

Sarah Holmes, from Louisville, is an international studies major with a Spanish minor, graduating from the UK College of Arts

By Lindsay Travis 

<br /> From left: Brian Murtha, Crystal Wilkinson, YuMing Zhang, Melinda Ickes, Bill Stoops, Matthew Hoch, Feng Li, Ron Zimmer, Allison Gordon, Luciana Shaddox, Ann Morris, Björn Bauer, Christopher Norris and Erin Haynes. Not pictured: Dieter Hennings Yeomans and Michael McKay.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 2, 2023) — On Friday, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approved 16 University Research Professors for the 2023-24 academic year. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1976, the program recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research at UK.

“The Commonwealth and university continue to benefit from the work and expertise of these dedicated

By A Fish 

LEXINGTON;, Ky. — Oswald Research and Creativity Competition is a staple at the University of Kentucky. The competition is intended to promote creativity in all fields of study and accepts many varied forms of media as part of the competition. Colton Barton, a College of Arts & Sciences junior from Scottsville, Kentucky, received second place in the Social Sciences category for the paper “Gaymer Avatars: Analyzing the Relationship Between Gay Men and their Created Video Game Avatars” and an honorable mention in the Humanities: Critical Research categories for “A Potential for a Queer Utopia: Queer Futurity and Potentiality in Octavia Butler's Dawn” in the 2022-23 competition. He is also a UK (University of Kentucky) peer tutor.  

Q: What are the papers? Why did you write them and what has writing them and submitting them done for you? 

A: The

By Kody Kiser and Jay Blanton 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 1, 2023) — Frank X Walker is the director of the University of Kentucky's Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program in creative writing. The state of Kentucky has a long and storied tradition of writers — across genres of fiction, poetry and essays — who are deeply connected to the state — its geography and landscape, its history and challenges. The program’s current faculty roster includes nationally recognized authors across a number of genres.

Walker is extending the legacy of UK and Kentucky’s reputation as central to the writing community, working as a poet, writer and artist. He has recently published a book geared toward a younger audience and is now at work on a new collection of poems that examines a dramatic family history

By Emily Sallee 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 27, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards announced that 10 students and five alumni were selected to receive government-funded National Science Foundation  Graduate Research Fellowships. In addition, one graduate student and one alumna received honorable mention recognition from the foundation.

As part of the five-year fellowship, NSF Fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $37,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees for a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) field.

The 10 students awarded fellowships are: 

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Anne-Frances Miller

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 26, 2023) — Anne-Frances Miller,  professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, is serving as the 2022-23 College of Arts and Sciences’ Distinguished Professor and will deliver the annual Distinguished Professor Lecture Monday, May 1, 2023.

The lecture, titled “Renewable: New Opportunities from one of Life’s Most Ancient Chemical Tools,” will begin at 5 p.m. in the William T. Young Library Athletic Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Alumni Gallery in the library.

The lecture will explore better ways to extract energy from abundant renewable

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

<br /> Shaunna Scott, left. poses with UK Appalachian Center Director Kathryn Engle at the 2023 Appalachian Studies Association conference. Photo by Kopana Terry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 26, 2023) — The Appalachian Studies Association has named Shaunna Scott, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky, winner of its Stephen L. Fisher Award for Excellence in Teaching.

This award honors individuals dedicated to intellectual rigor and pedagogical integrity in constructing and delivering inclusive knowledge about Appalachia and its people. The awards are sponsored by East Tennessee State University’s Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services. The ASA presents two Fisher awards each year — one to a K-12 teacher and one to a

By Lindsay Travis 

Ashley Seifert

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 26, 2023) — Research at the University of Kentucky is looking to nature to understand cellular processes that allow lost tissue to regenerate in spiny mice — processes that might lie dormant in humans.

Ashley Seifert,  an associate professor in the UK College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology, teamed up with scientists in Germany and the Netherlands to examine how identical injuries in two different rodent species lead to regenerative healing in one case but not the other.

The paper, published today in Science Advances, compared tissue healing in laboratory mice and spiny mice. Whereas

By Ann Blackford 

Christine Smith

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 25, 2023) — Two University of Kentucky students and one local citizen have received UK’s highest honor for humanitarian efforts — the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.

The Sullivan Award was established by the New York Southern Society in 1925 and was named in honor of its first president, Algernon Sydney Sullivan. Sullivan was a prominent businessman and philanthropist who was highly regarded as one who “reached out with both hands in constant helpfulness” to others. The Sullivan Award recognizes those “who exhibit Sullivan’s ideals of heart, mind, and conduct as evince a spirit of love for and helpfulness to other men and women.”

At UK, the Sullivan Award is bestowed each year on two