by Jenny Wells & Grace Liddle

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 5, 2013) — As the first lecture of the Chellgren Seminar Series, Ganpathy Murthy, professor in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, will deliver a lecture titled “The Birth of Our Universe” 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. He will discuss the Big Bang Theory — not the television show.  A reception will follow in the Alumni Gallery.

Murthy, considered a dynamic speaker, is capable of bringing deep physical insights to an audience of non-specialists. He received his doctorate in theoretical

by Gail Hairston

(Oct. 31, 2013) — The 46 winners of the fourth annual Outstanding Staff Awards; their friends and colleagues; and several campus leaders, including University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, gathered at Spindletop Hall yesterday for a recognition luncheon.

Although the weather was a bit dreary, the mood was festive, enhanced by the performances of School of Music graduate quartet fellows, Maureen Kelly and William Ronning; and Iris Fordjour-Hankins, Alltech Vocal Scholar and doctoral candidate in Opera Theater, accompanied by UK School of Music faculty member, Tedrin Blair Lindsay.

“It’s a special pleasure to recognize our outstanding staff in this way – the many who work hard each day to represent the University of Kentucky, advance their college or unit, and support our impactful mission,” said President Capilouto. “I’m

Burt Davis, longtime associate director for the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research's Clean Fuels and Chemicals Group, has been selected as the 2013 American Chemical Society's Energy & Fuels Division Distinguished Researcher Award in Petroleum Chemistry. Criteria used for the award include excellence in research in the broadly defined area of petroleum chemistry, as evidenced by publications, patents, invention or commercialization of new technologies, and leadership in the research area. Dr. Davis is also a former ACS Storch Award recipient from 2002. One of the ACS top awards, the Storch Award recognizes distinguished contributions to fundamental or engineering research on the chemistry and utilization of all hydrocarbon fuels,

by Kathy Johnson & Sarah Geegan

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 30, 2013) ― The University of Kentucky is one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars in the country.  In a recently released ranking in the Chronicle of Higher Education, UK is ranked sixth among research institutions for its number of professors earning the prestigious Fulbright grants for the 2013-2014 academic year.

Sponsored by the United States Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program, which provides funding for

by Whitney Hale & Mack McCormic

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 30, 2013) — University Press of Kentucky (UPK) author and University of Kentucky part-time history instructor James C. Nicholson has been named the recipient of a 2012 Kentucky History Award given by the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) for his book "The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America’s Premier Sporting Event." This is the second award the book has garnered.

The Kentucky History

 by Whitney Hale

(Oct. 29, 2013) — In celebration of the University of Kentucky's upcoming sesquicentennial in 2015, the 68th of 150 weekly installments on the university looks back at the construction of the Chemistry-Physics Building.

On Nov. 11, 1960, construction began on the Chemistry-Physics Building. The current site of the building once was occupied by the president’s garden and tennis courts. 

Physics once occupied 33,600 square feet of Pence Hall and chemistry used 41,500 square feet in 

By Kendra Sanders

The relationship has never been made official, but everyone knows that Languages and the Arts are an item. As the story goes, the two got together sometime around the fall of Babel, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

For Jan-Piet Knijff, Agata Grzelczak, and Gonzalo Hernández Baptista, three A&S graduate students that share a common thread of knowing multiple languages and a passion for the arts, this relationship is an enduring one.

Jan-Piet Knijff was prepared to study Classics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, almost 30 years ago. A last minute switch to study music at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam, a specialized music university, led him to an international career as an organ and harpsichord player.

Knijff moved to New York in 1999, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts

By Victoria Dekle

Geography graduate student Malene Jacobsen is no stranger to travel for her research. While she is a student at UK and spends most of her time in Lexington, Jacobsen’s work on political asylum and migration requires her to move between Europe and the United States as she collects data for her degree.

All of those transatlantic flights, however, are expensive.

Jacobsen was fortunate to recently receive an Academic Excellence grant from the College of Arts & Sciences. The funds from this alumni-sponsored award enabled her to present a paper on her M.A. thesis work at the 5th Annual Nordic Geography Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, this past June.

“The aim of this research project has been to critically examine how everyday practices and spaces are produced and how asylum seekers navigate and understand themselves within this system,” she

By Victoria Dekle

“The moment I realized I could make a career by playing outside,” Olivia Woodruff exclaimed, “I was hooked.”

Thanks to the growth of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields over the past few years, this dream career is possible for Woodruff and millions of other women across the United States.

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is one example of this positive demographic change at the University of Kentucky.

“Earth science,” said Department Chair, David Moecher, “like all other STEM disciplines, was once considered to be defined as an underrepresented field with regard to the proportion of women and minorities

by Allison Elliott-Shannon

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 25, 2013) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry will host the 17th annual Lyle Ramsay Dawson Lecture today, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. in Room 139 of the Chemistry-Physics Building. This year's speaker will be Yury Gogotsi, professor of materials science and engineering at Drexel University, and director of the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute. The lecture is named after Dawson, a former UK distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry.

Gogotsi will provide an overview of research activities in the area of nanostructured carbon and carbide materials used for capacitive storage of electrical energy. Electrochemical capacitors or “

By Victoria Dekle

90 miles to the north of Lexington on the banks of the Ohio River is the “The Queen City.” The nickname itself could probably be the topic of a panel discussion when the 37th annual meeting of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) rolls into town in early November. There will be presentations, roundtables and workshops about anything and everything relating to critical studies of gender, from the ways gender is taught, experienced, and promoted in society including higher education.

Most notably, GWS chair Karen Tice will be headlined in an innovative feature of this year’s conference, the Authors Meet Critics roundtable. It is an event in which authors of recently published books hear and respond to comments from experts in

By Victoria Dekle

Piecing together the developments of Mesoamerican civilization is not easy… or comfortable. University of Kentucky archaeologists Christopher Pool and Michael Loughlin have spent many summers in southern Veracruz working among snakes, spiders and sharp sugar cane fields in dense humidity so they can learn more about ancient Mesoamericans.

Pool and Loughlin are both scholars of the Olmec culture -- considered by most archaeologists to be one of the earliest complex societies in Mesoamerica and the creators of giant stone heads that weigh over six tons -- and the succeeding Epi-Olmec culture that produced some of the oldest writing in the Americas.

One of the top scholars in Olmec archaeology, Professor Pool published one of the

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2013) — Kentuckians will have a chance to experience through music, crafts and cuisine the Appalachian culture that makes the region unique. The Pickin’ Time Mountain Music and Harvest Festival will offer all of those things Nov. 2 at the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability in Jackson. RCARS is part of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

“We have carefully planned and orchestrated this festival to be a celebration of Appalachian culture expressed through the talents of this region’s most valuable resource — its people,” said David Ditsch, RCARS director. “We invite all Kentuckians to come out and experience a taste of the mountains with us through musicians’ lyrics, crafters’

by Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

(Oct. 23, 2013) — University Press of Kentucky (UPK) author Helen Matthews Lewis has been named the recipient of the 2012 Appalachian Writers Association’s Book of the Year Award for Nonfiction for her book "Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia."

The Appalachian Writers Association (AWA) mission is to promote and recognize writing about the Appalachian region which includes those eastern mountains and foothills ranging from Alabama to Maine. The AWA aims to promote writers living in or having lived in the Appalachian region and those who have significant

by Whitney Hale & Amanda Miner

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 22, 2013) — Skylab astronaut Joe Kerwin will visit the University of Kentucky to present students Tyler "T.J." Flynn and Josiah Hanna each with a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) during a public lecture and ceremony, 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Memorial Hall Amphitheatre. If the weather turns colder, the event will be moved inside to the Engineering Commons, located in the Ralph G. Anderson Building. 

During the

by Cassie Schacht

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 22, 2013) — Families and children in Lexington and surrounding areas have an opportunity to learn about chemistry in a fun and exciting environment this week. The University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry opens its doors and welcomes a faithful crowd of "chem-enthusiasts" for an evening of colorful and educational chemistry at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, in Room 139 of the UK Chemistry-Physics Building, 505 Rose Street, Lexington.

Chemistry department students, staff and faculty will host an interactive and exciting demonstration show titled "Energy Now and Forever!" 

"We perform demonstrations that reflect many of the core topics being taught in chemistry classes, with many of our demonstrations requiring

Have you ever wondered what Dia de los Muertos is all about? As part of the Viva Mexico events and activities, all are invited to participate in several opportunities to experience Mexican culture and celebrations.

Learn more about the cultural significance of this day by making plans to attend a slide show that explains the Day of the Dead on Wednesday, October 23, at 5:00 p.m. in the Student Center Theater.

Build a Day of the Dead altar with local artists Jacobo and Janice Aragon on Thursday, October 24 from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Anyone interested is invited to meet in Room 122 of the Whitehall Classroom Building to learn more and help create an altar.

On Friday, November 1, The Living Arts and Science Center will be hosting a Day of the Dead Festival. Join the Lexington and UK community at 362 Martin Luther King Boulevard from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. for this celebration

by Grace Liddle, Whitney Hale

(Oct. 17, 2013) — The University of Kentucky Libraries will present several events in celebration of Open Access Week, Oct. 21-27. Now in its seventh year, the global event celebrates open access as an effective and efficient means of disseminating research and scholarship.

The first panel discussion “#Altmetrics: Demystifying the Link between Research Impact and Social Media,” will take place

by Allison Elliot-Shannon

(Oct. 21, 2013) — Prominent evolutionary biologist John Avise will deliver two lectures at the University of Kentucky this week, as the featured speaker for the fifth annual installment of the prestigious Thomas Hunt Morgan Speaker Series sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology.

Avise will offer two talks, the first a technical and scientific talk titled "Clones, Hermaphrodites, and Pregnancies." This talk will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, in Room 116 of the Thomas Hunt Morgan building on Rose Street. The second talk, titled "Genetics in the Wild," will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25, in the auditorium of William T. Young Library. The second talk will be appropriate for a general audience. Both lectures are free and open to the

By Benjamin Kandt

The work of Dr. Andrew M. Byrd was recently featured in an on-line article for "Archaeology Magazine," in which he reads two fables constructed in the language known as Proto-Indo-European (PIE). PIE is the prehistoric ancestor of hundreds of languages, including English, Spanish, Greek, Farsi, Armenian, and more. The language is typically thought to have been in use around 7,000 years ago, though some suspect it was spoken at an even earlier time. According to certain archaeologists and the majority of linguists like Byrd, people who spoke PIE were located just to the north of the Black Sea and were likely the first to tame horses and perhaps even invented the wheel. The primary focus of Byrd’s work is to