By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2026 ) — Brad Plaster, Ph.D., professor of physics and associate dean for research in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor for the 2025-26 academic year, an honor that recognizes excellence in research, teaching, service and leadership. 

As part of the honor, Plaster will present the annual Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor Lecture, titled “The Quantum Nature of the Neutron as a Portal to the Cosmos,” 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

By Emily Houp

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A new research project at the University of Kentucky is examining the impact of the Step-Up Program, an interdisciplinary initiative that connects UK students with K–12 learners across Lexington through tutoring, mentoring and service learning.

The project brings together faculty from UK’s College of Social Work, the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Teaching and Learning to explore how participation in the program benefits both the university students who serve as Step-Up fellows and the schools and community organizations where they work.

The Step-Up program is directed by Francis Musoni, Ph.D., in the UK Department of History, who has led the initiative for several years and has helped expand its partnerships across Lexington schools and community

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2026) — Twelve University of Kentucky students have been selected as the newest Gaines Fellows, representing nine colleges across campus and marking a record number of applications for the highly competitive program.

The Gaines Fellowship in the Humanities is a distinctive two-year program designed to enrich undergraduate education through interdisciplinary coursework, independent research and community engagement. Fellows are selected for their academic achievement, research potential, interest in public issues and commitment to exploring the human condition through the humanities.

This year’s cohort reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the program, bringing together students from the College of Arts and Sciences; College of Fine Arts; Gatton

By Adrienne Clarke 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2026) — The University of Kentucky’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter inducted 37 members into the academic honor society March 24 and 12 new members in December 2025. This year’s induction ceremony in the Lewis Honors College Scholars Lounge featured a keynote address from Ana Franco-Watkins, Ph.D., dean of UK’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“Election to Phi Beta Kappa marks an important milestone in your academic journey. It reflects the curiosity, discipline and persistence that brought you here — and your willingness to engage deeply with ideas

By Christian Honce 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2026) — Kentuckians drink a lot of bourbon, and that means a lot of fermented grain leftover after distillation. For every bottle of bourbon produced, there’s up to 10 barrels of waste in the form of stillage.

That’s what drove University of Kentucky researchers to develop a way to transform this waste into high-performance components for supercapacitors. This solution repurposes an industrial byproduct in a way that could eventually help stabilize the electrical grid.

The project is a collaboration between Marcelo Guzman, Ph.D., a chemistry professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and graduate student Josiel Barrios Cossio. By using a technique

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2026) — Beaux Hardin, a University of Kentucky senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, Lewis Honors College student and Gaines Fellow, has been selected to give the 31st annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities.

 Hardin’s lecture will explore poetry as a creative medium that invents new language, connecting people across cultures and creating an immaterial space that redefines identity.

Hardin will deliver the lecture, “Black Que(e)ries: Bridging Communities through Poetic Origins from Black Archives,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in the Davis Marksbury Building.

“To me, being able to share my critical theoretical research alongside inspired creative work means other students can see that research can

By Robby Hardesty 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2026) — University of Kentucky Libraries is honoring award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist, short story writer, essayist, poet and professor Crystal Wilkinson, Ph.D., as the 2026 recipient of the UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement.

Wilkinson will be recognized at the UK Libraries Spring Celebration on May 14.

Born in Hamilton, Ohio, and raised in Indian Creek, Kentucky, Wilkinson’s writing explores Black Appalachia and the rural South.

Her genre-spanning work includes three

By Jackie Wilson 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 19, 2026) — The University Press of Kentucky is now accepting submissions for

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2026) — Civil Rights and Restorative Justice-Kentucky Legal Clinic and the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky have entered a joint partnership to research the history and legal outcomes of the 1919 racial removal in Corbin, Kentucky.

Initiated in the Spring 2025 semester, students from both programs collaborated on annotating legal documents from the 1920 court case which followed the violent removal of approximately 200 Black residents from Corbin on Oct. 30, 1919.

Law students within legal clinic a

By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 13, 2026) — It’s the familiar March Madness frenzy: bracket predictions, buzzer-beater highlights and, of course, the quirks of fandom.

Basketball fans have long found ways to feel like they can influence the outcome of a game — even from the couch.

We embrace traditions that range from lucky attire to sitting in the same spot.

While some might chalk these behaviors up to coincidence, one researcher at the University of Kentucky suggests there’s more at play.

Jenny Rice, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, believes superstitions offer a

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 9, 2026) — Every March, millions of Americans fill out brackets convinced they’re making smart, data-driven picks.

But when the upsets roll in — and our favorite teams advance further on our sheets than the stats suggest they should — it raises a bigger question: are we choosing with our heads, or with our identities?

In the Q&A below, Caroline Brooks, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, unpacks the hidden biases behind our bracket decisions, from in-group favoritism to the powerful pull of belonging.

The result: A closer look at how

By Haven L. Patrick 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2026) — Forty-eight University of Kentucky students will present their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research on April 13-15 in Richmond, Virginia.

The conference is one of the largest events in the United States for undergraduate students to share their academic work with peers, faculty and professionals.

Students will present their research, showcase their work and engage with scholars. The conference features oral presentations, poster sessions and discussions, providing opportunities for academic and professional growth while highlighting undergraduate accomplishments.

The UK students taking part in NCUR this year include: 

By Tom Musgrave 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2026) — When she was a child, Jaesylin Stephens, a senior biology major in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, saw nature documentaries on Madagascar. She never imagined that she would one day visit the east African county.

“I never dreamed I’d get to see it with my own eyes,” Stephens said. “I’ll never forget finding bamboo lemurs on my first day in the field. I couldn’t believe I was just a few feet below such a unique, rare and endangered

By Ariel Arthur 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 26, 2026) — The University of Kentucky’s Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky Program has named its seventh cohort.

Founded in 2019, the program trains undergraduate students from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and communities to conduct impactful research to improve health disparities early in their college experience.

Students interested in the joining the program go through a rigorous application process. Accepted students complete a semester-long health disparities research course.

SPARK has supported 27 students since its inception. Through a donation from

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2026) — A University of Kentucky history professor is lending his expertise to “Field Generals: History of the Black Quarterback,” a new four-part docuseries streaming on Peacock that explores the history of Black quarterbacks in professional football.

Derrick White, Ph.D., professor of history and African American and Africana Studies at the UK College of Arts and Sciences, appears in the series as a contributing historian.

The series, produced by NBC Sports and executive produced

By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 24, 2026) — The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 112 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing work in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal is a key step in sharing research findings and new discoveries. 

“Being cited is a sign that your work matters to the research community, and we congratulate these

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2026) – The University of Kentucky’s Creative Writing Division in the Department of English will host award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller as part of the Spring 2026 Visiting Writers Series.

The reading will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in the John Jacob Niles Gallery at the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Miller is the author of 11 books that range across several genres. His 2014 poetry collection, "The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion," won the Forward Prize for Best Collection. His 2017 novel, "Augustown," has won the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Prix Les Afriques, and the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde. He was the 2019 Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at

By Ariel Arthur 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 9, 2026) —  The University of Kentucky’s Center for Health, Engagement and Transformation (CHET) awarded pilot funding to three doctoral students to support research projects focused on improving the health of a population of high need.

CHET’s 2025 Doctoral Student Pilot Grants were awarded to Zachary Siegel, Abigail Moore and Thilini Samadhi Weeraratne.

Since 2023, CHET has funded doctoral student pilot grants to support projects and develop job market competitiveness for emerging health disparity researchers. Students in any college whose research focuses on reducing health disparities are eligible for 12-month awards of $5,000-$10,000.

By Meredith Weber 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2026) — Six educators were honored Feb. 17 as the 2026 Great Teacher Award recipients. They are: 

The two College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are:

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Blazer Dining Hall on the University of Kentucky campus might not strike one as a prime location for romance, but it worked great for Stephanie Carpenter, Ph.D., and Christopher Collins. 

The couple, now engaged, began their journey together in the hall in 2010 they were undergrads in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences.  

“When we first met, I had come from a dance rehearsal,” said Carpenter, who was a chemistry major from Nicholasville. “I was part of the University of Kentucky Dance Ensemble. I was between rehearsals, and I went to Blazer Dining Hall to get some breakfast. While I'm there, there's this girl from my high school, and she says, ‘Hey Stephanie, do you know this guy? He lives in your dorm, and he's from New York