By Joe Bandy

The 2024-25 Alumni Ambassadors. Photo by Joe Bandy.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 27, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Alumni Association announced the selection of 32 students who will serve as Alumni Ambassadors for the 2024-25 academic year. As official student hosts of the UK, Alumni Ambassadors promote the university at numerous events in partnership between the Office of the President, Office of Philanthropy and the UK Alumni Association.

Alumni Ambassadors represent the best and brightest of UK students, demonstrating high achievement in their collegiate careers and a dedication to the advancement of the university. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher and represent diverse backgrounds, cultures and areas of campus involvement.

By Jennifer T. Allen 

Hay Que Hablar participated in Campus Ruckus this fall co-tabling with the Latino Student Union (LSU) as an effort for Latinx-led organizations to work together and become a more united community. Hay Que Hablar executive board is from front far right to left, Veronica Diaz, president; Esteban Carreon-Leingang, vice-president; and Melissa Galvan Sanchez, secretary.

Having grown up in Mexico until the age of seven and traveling from Lexington to Aguascalientes often, Vanessa Diaz missed speaking Spanish when she came to the University of Kentucky. As a junior, she found Hay Que Hablar, a student-run Spanish speaking club housed in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Hispanic Studies. 

“I love getting together and being able to talk in Spanish,” she said. “One of the things that I always say is that it can get tiring

By Jennifer T. Allen

Dave Moecher, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Riley Grove, graduate student, use an SEM scanning electron microscope to analyze rare earth minerals.

What do battery-powered devices (phones, computers and electronic vehicles), air travel, wind-generated power and power transmission have in common? 

They all rely on critical minerals derived from the Earth. 

In fact, all battery-powered devices rely on these minerals and the reality is that they’re not readily available in the United States. According to two University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences professors, the United States relies heavily on foreign sources for these critical minerals, especially those containing the rare-earth elements (REEs). 

Dave Moecher and Ryan Thigpen, professors in the Department of

By Lindsey Piercy

Mark Cornelison | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 25, 2024) — The Kentucky Climate Consortium (KYCC) will host the inaugural 2024 Kentucky Climate Symposium from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 26, at the University of Kentucky.

The event, taking place in Harris Ballroom of the Gatton Student Center, will bring together students, leading experts, researchers, policymakers and community members to share information and resources on climate change.

The symposium is designed as a collaborative

By Daniel Flener 

Carter Skaggs | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2024) — The University of Kentucky International Center, UK College of Arts and Sciences, UK College of Fine Arts and UK Residence Life will hold a two-day celebration of UK’s international community on Sept. 26-27.

“Global UK: A Celebration of Our Campus Mosaic” will feature a student panel and special film screening and will culminate in an international festival at Alumni Commons.

“This event will be a fantastic celebration of our incredible international community here at UK,” said Francis Musoni, associate professor of history and director of international studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. “There are more than 100 countries represented

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Mack Thompson, a second-year master's student in the UK Department of Anthropology, is organizing first-ever Symposium on Dis/Ability & Debility in Appalachia, to be hosted at UK on Sept. 28. Carter Skaggs | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 20, 2024) — When Mack Thompson arrived at the University of Kentucky, adjusting to campus life presented challenges. Like many first-year students, he faced the usual hurdles of navigating a new environment. And as a person living with multiple disabilities — including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and suspected ADHD and autism — those challenges were even more complex. His health and limited mobility often created barriers to

By Lindsey Piercy 

Mark FIllmore

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 19, 2024) — Mark Fillmore, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, is serving as the 2024-25 College of Arts and Sciences’ Distinguished Professor and will deliver the annual Distinguished Professor Lecture next spring.

This honor is bestowed on the basis of three criteria: outstanding research, unusually effective teaching and distinguished professional service.

“Being named an A&S Distinguished Professor is a special honor,” Fillmore said. “It’s a broad

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

UK doctoral student Nolan Lok demonstrates how the different colors are seen in the sky during the Aurora Borealis. A class of eighth-graders, donning prism glasses, marveled at the emission spectrum. Photo provided.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 18, 2024) — As part of its mission to inspire the next generation of scientists and scholars, faculty and students from the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry visit local schools to engage students with hands-on demonstrations and spark curiosity in the world around them.

This past spring, a team of four doctoral students, led by Anne-Frances Miller, Ph.D., visited an eighth-grade class at Lexington Christian Academy. Armed with

By Richard LeComte 

Amy Murrell Taylor

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Amy Murrell Taylor, the T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Professor of history in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences, is chairing the panel selecting the 26th Frederick Douglass Book Prize. Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition gives the prize, which recognizes a book addressing the history of slavery, resistance and abolition. 

Taylor’s book “Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War's Slave Refugee Camps” received the prize in 2019. 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the Gilder Lehrman Center established the Frederick Douglass Book Prize in 1999 to stimulate scholarship in the field

By Richard LeComte

Kate Ponto

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kate Ponto, professor of mathematics in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has received a three-year, $313,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to explore questions involving topology in a project titled “Parameterized, Algebraic and Chromatic Traces.” 

The grant will fund Ponto’s continued research into algebraic ways of solving questions in topology.  

“I am an algebraic topologist, which means I like to turn my topology into algebra,” Ponto said. “When I’m trying to solve topological questions. I say, ‘Well, you know, algebra can make these things easier.’ I take the topology problem, and I turn it into an algebra question.”

A key term in Ponto’s

By Daniel Flener 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 11, 2024) — The International Center at the University of Kentucky has announced the 2024 UK Global Impact Award winners.

The awards recognize faculty, staff, alumni and community members who have  contributed to the university’s global engagement through education, research and service, as well those who have fostered a culturally diverse, welcoming environment.

“These individuals are making a wonderful and positive difference with their dedication to helping create a more global University of Kentucky,” said Sue Roberts, associate provost for internationalization. “We are excited to honor their contributions to global engagement at the University of Kentucky.”

Among them are

Lt. Col. Alan Overmyer, right, UK professor of military science, instructs cadets during drill and ceremony on Sept. 4. Photo by Meg Mills.

By Jenny Wells-Hosley and Meg Mills LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 11, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Army ROTC program, based in the College of Arts and Sciences, is dedicated to turning college students into military leaders through classroom instruction, physical fitness training and special events.

For those who complete the program, graduation brings more than just a diploma. It marks the moment they receive their commission as second lieutenants in the United States Army. But before that milestone, cadets undergo extensive

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

The UK Army and Air Force ROTC programs will continue the annual tradition of placing flags in front UK’s Main Building and reading the names of those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 9, 2024) — This Wednesday will mark the 23-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. University of Kentucky Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC programs will remember those who lost their lives with a campus ceremony beginning at 8:30 a.m. 

Members of the UK Perishing Rifles program will set up approximately 8,000 flags on the front lawn of UK’s Main Building to honor lives

By Richard LeComte 

Alan Fryar

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Alan Fryar, professor of earth and environmental sciences in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences, will serve as the James B. Thompson Jr. Distinguished International Lecturer for 2024-2025 with the Geological Society of America. 

The lectureship funds a researcher who will present stimulating and cutting-edge geoscience research on world tours. Fryar will give his first lecture at the GSA annual meeting in Anaheim, California, on Sept. 24. He will travel to India in March 2025 and to Turkey and Kyrgyzstan in May and June 2025.  

His lecture topic is “Checking the pulse and taking the temperature: how do springs respond to environmental stresses?” His presentation

Samuel G. Awuah

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky has appointed Samuel G. Awuah, PhD, as the co-leader of the Translational Oncology Research Program. 

Awuah will assume a range of responsibilities in both the scientific and administrative leadership of the program alongside co-leader Dr. Susanne Arnold. As co-leader, he will be responsible for fostering collaborations within the Translational Oncology program and across other Markey research areas. He will participate in Markey committees to provide insight and feedback to senior leadership and clinical protocol and data management leaders, guide Markey’s broad research interests, mentor junior faculty and participate in the recruitment and approval of new Translational Oncology program

By Lindsey Piercy 

Janice Fernheimer has received a WOW award for women who have contributed to the whiskey industry. Photo courtesy of Chris Joyce Photography.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 5, 2024) — Janice Fernheimer, Ph.D., professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, has received a 2024 Women of Whiskey Award, presented by the Bourbon Women Foundation.

Fernheimer, a professor in Jewish Studies and the Department of Writing,

By Jennifer T. Allen

Megan Martin, a political science alum, is the marketing and project manager for VisitLEX.

Megan Martin, a political science alum, stepped foot on the University of Kentucky campus in 2013 and knew it was the place for her. 

“I’m from Louisville and toured a few schools in the state,” she said. “I really liked Lexington and how the campus was walkable. I liked how it was easy to stay connected to campus life as a student.”

Martin was also drawn to the College of Arts and Sciences political science department.

“Political science gave me outlets for all my interests. I chose political science because it has elements of history, problem solving and current events,” she said. “It was applicable in ways that were happening currently and looked to the future. It’s an ever-evolving discipline, and I knew that I could take the

By Tom Musgrave 

UK junior Carlee O’Neal of West Liberty, Kentucky, was selected for an Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, also called the Voyager Scholarship. Photo provided by UK Office of Nationally Competitive Awards.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 29, 2024) — University of Kentucky junior Carlee O’Neal, of West Liberty, Kentucky, has received an Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service.

Also called the Voyager Scholarship, this funding provides up to $50,000 in financial aid, including a “Summer Voyage” work-travel experience between recipients’ junior and senior years, with a $10,000 stipend and free housing. After graduation, recipients will receive a $

By Tom Musgrave 

Dylan Nguyen

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2024) — Four University of Kentucky students were awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships for educational experiences abroad. Among them is Dylan Nguyen, a psychology junior from Union, Kentucky.

The scholarship supports students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to national security and economic prosperity. The Gilman Scholarship is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and is administered by the 

As an English and French double major in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, Lewis Honors College student and Chellgren Fellow, UK junior Beaux Hardin has always been passionate about poetry. Photo provided by Hardin.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 23, 2024) – Just because classes are out for the summer at the University of Kentucky, does not mean students have put a pause on their educational pursuits. This summer, UK junior Beaux Hardin was immersed in research.  As an English and French double major in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, Lewis Honors College student and Chellgren Fellow, Hardin has pursed a passion for poetry.