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College of Arts and Sciences to Induct 6 New Members at 20th Hall of Fame Ceremony

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will induct six new members into its Hall of Fame this week. 

This year marks the Hall of Fame’s 20th anniversary and the induction ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, in the Gatton Student Center's Worsham Cinema.

This year's honorees include:

Alumni Inductees:

Anne C. Deaton, English, bachelor's degree (1967)

Deaton grew up in Brooklyn, New York, but her father’s employment with IBM brought her to Lexington at age 13. After attending Lexington Catholic High School, Deaton entered the College of Arts and Sciences and devoured her courses, especially those in her major (English) and minor (history). She enthusiastically joined extracurricular activities, such as the English Club, the Education Club, the Cosmopolitan Club and the International YMCA. She also served as an Appalachian Volunteer. UK’s International YMCA program also offered Deaton a summer service-learning experience in Ecuador where she met her husband. Deaton graduated in 1967, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors and a teaching certificate.

Deaton then earned a master's degree in adult education at the University of Tennessee and an Ed.D. in adult education and aging at Virginia Tech. Her career focused on the socioeconomic, health and public policy issues related to seniors and led to a faculty appointment at the University of Missouri, service as deputy director of Missouri’s Division of Aging and director of the Missouri Division of Developmental Disabilities.

Gerald L. Smith, history, bachelor's degree (1981), master's degree (1983), doctoral degree (1988)

Smith was born in Lexington and is a graduate of Henry Clay High School. He attended UK as an undergraduate and graduate student from 1977-1988. During his time as a student at UK, he served as polemarch (president) of the undergraduate chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., and as secretary of the Black Student Union. He was also a disc jockey for the Graduate and Professional Students Association radio program “Rhapsody in Black.”

Smith taught at Memphis State University from 1988-1993 and returned to UK in 1993 as an associate professor. From 1997- 2005, he served as director of the African American Studies and Research Program. He is currently a full professor of history and former Theodore A. Hallam Professor and Martin Luther King Center Scholar-in-Residence. Smith is the author, editor or co-editor of four books and has more than 40 articles, essays and book reviews published in historical journals and encyclopedias. He is co-editor of the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia, which received the Thomas D. Clark Medallion Book Award. He has appeared in historical documentaries on CBS, NBC, KET, the CBS Sports Network and TruTV.

Stephen B. Sullivan, geology, bachelor's degree (1978) and master's degree (1983)

Sullivan's professional career began in 1979 in Lexington and focused on environmental and water resources consulting. Partnering with the transportation engineering, planning and construction management firm Schimpler-Corradino in 1989, he founded a Louisville-based environmental consulting firm which merged into the Corradino Group in 1997. Sullivan served as chief financial officer of the merged entity until his retirement in 2014.

During his professional career, Sullivan worked on several projects of lasting impact to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. These include the waste water approval process that paved the way for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky; the environmental documentation needed to approve construction for Yatesville Lake in Eastern Kentucky; the redevelopment of the property in Louisville that is now Waterfront Park; the development of the Louisville Slugger Stadium; and the expansion of the Louisville International Airport.

Robert N. Trunzo, political science, bachelor's degree (1978)    

A native of Louisville, Trunzo earned a bachelor’s degree from UK and a law degree from Marquette University in 1981. He completed the Kellogg School of Management Executive Program at the Kellogg Management Institute at Northwestern University in 2011.

Trunzo became the eighth president and chief executive officer of CUNA Mutual Group on Jan. 1, 2014. The company has $3.5 billion in annual revenue and is located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Prior to joining CUNA Mutual Group in 2005, Trunzo was one of three executive vice presidents at Frank F. Haack and Associates, which is now part of Willis Group Holdings.

He served as Wisconsin's secretary of commerce under former Gov. Tommy Thompson, where he directed the state’s economic development efforts. He also served as chairman of the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park Board of Directors, which oversaw the design, financing and construction of Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers professional baseball club.

Faculty Inductees:

Bradley C. Canon, Department of Political Science

Canon came to UK in 1966 and retired in 2008. He enjoyed many great colleagues in the Department of Political Science over those 42 years, and he loved teaching courses such as Civil Liberties in the U.S.: The Supreme Court, Constitutional Interpretation and Privacy Law and Issues. Canon also taught graduate seminars and was the major professor for 12 doctoral students. He was engaged in a variety of research projects, but his primary focus was on the impact of court decisions and what happened afterward. A Ford Foundation Fellowship gave Canon a year off to pursue one such study. Later, he co-authored a book on judicial impact, "Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact." He also held administrative positions throughout the years and was department chair twice, chair of the University Senate, associate dean of the Graduate School and acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Penny Miller, Department of Political Science

After earning a bachelor's degree (1965), a master's degree (1967) and a doctoral degree (1986) from UK, Miller returned to the Department of Political Science to teach in 1990. A specialist in state politics, she wrote "Kentucky Politics and Government: Do We Stand United?" and co-authored "Political Parties and Primaries in Kentucky" and "The Kentucky Legislature: Two Decades of Change" with Malcolm Jewell. She served on the Mayor’s Local Government Ethics Advisory Committee, chaired the state’s Commission on Women and chaired the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center Board. President Bill Clinton appointed her to serve for eight years on the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.

As the Department of Political Science's director of undergraduate studies, Miller worked tirelessly to revise and improve the quality of the department’s undergraduate curriculum, pedagogy and advising system.

For more information or questions about the ceremony, contact Sydney Baker at sydney_baker@uky.edu or visit www.as.uky.edu/halloffame.

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion two years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. The Chronicle of Higher Education judged us a “Great College to Work for,”  and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes' list of "America's Best Employers."  We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for three straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.