By Blair Hoover Conner

The University of Kentucky recognized exceptional faculty and teaching assistants at the Outstanding Teaching Awards at the 2018 University of Kentucky Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 19, in the Lexmark Room at the Main Building. Recipients of Inclusive Excellence Awards, in partnership with the Office for Institutional Diversity, were also recognized.

UK Provost David Blackwell presented the William B. Sturgill Award, the Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, the Outstanding Teaching Faculty and Teaching Assistant Awards.

"The diversity of disciplines reflected in the Outstanding Teaching Award winners speaks to the breadth and depth that distinguishes the University of Kentucky," Blackwell said. "But, of course, no matter the discipline, each recipient shares something of lasting importance: the art of great teaching

By Gail Hairston

UK geology senior Adam Nolte explains his research on sinkholes in Woodford County to President Capilouto.

The University of Kentucky was represented by 16 undergraduate students and their 14 research projects at the 17th annual Posters-at-the-Capitol event last week at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort.

Posters-at-the-Capitol is an annual event that showcases undergraduate researchers representing colleges and universities throughout Kentucky. The annual collaborative event was created to educate Kentucky state legislators of the importance of undergraduate research and scholarly work.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, members of the General Assembly, representatives from students' hometowns and other guests toured the exhibitions and engaged directly with some of the state’s best young scholars.

By Linda Perry

Having authored or edited more than 10 scholarly books and many articles, Gregory S. Parks ’01 ’04 (College of Arts and Sciences) often focuses on issues dealing with diversity on university campuses in the United States.

Parks is the associate dean for research, public engagement and faculty development and professor of law at Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from UK. Parks also holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University (1996) and earned a law degree from Cornell University (2008).

His books include “The Obamas and a (Post) Racial America?” (Oxford University Press) and “Twelve Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America” (The New Press), which was turned into an off-Broadway production in 2016. He is co-authoring a book

By Tony Neely

Student-athletes at the University of Kentuckycombined to earn a total of 80 spots on the 2017 Southeastern Conference Fall Sports Academic Honor Roll, the league announced earlier this week. 

The 2017 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll includes the sports of cross country, football, soccer and volleyball. It is based on grades from the 2017 spring, summer and fall terms. Among other qualifications, student-athletes must have a 3.0 grade-point average to be on the honor roll.   

Fittingly, UK’s SEC co-champion volleyball team also tied for the most student-athletes on the SEC Honor Roll with 13. UK placed seven student-athletes in the sport of men’s cross country, six in women’s cross country, 27 in football, 13 in men’s soccer and 14 in women’s soccer. 

The CESJ is excited to host a book club dealing with issues of social justice. Our first book is going to be the critically aclaimed best seller The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. 

We will be reading the book now, with a meeting to discuss the book scheduled for early April. We hope everyone interested will join in the conversation!

Pick up a free copy of the book from one of our sponsors! Books are currently available in the MLK Center (313 Blaze Dining) and the CESJ office (location/hours) while supplies last.

Thank you to everyone who came out and made our discussion of this book great! 

If you're interested in learning more or continuing this conversation, check out our further reading options.

Talking about race

By Jenny Wells

Martha Tillson (left) and Sarah Gossett will deliver speeches at the December 2017 Commencement Ceremonies Friday, Dec. 15.

In what has become a University of Kentucky Commencement tradition, two students have been selected to serve as speakers for the UK December Commencement ceremonies this Friday, Dec. 15. Because doctoral, master's and baccalaureate degree recipients are now recognized together based on their colleges, the selection committee accepted applications from students with all degree types, not just undergraduate students as in past years.

Martha Tillson will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony and Sarah Gossett will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony. Tillson and Gossett were selected among several candidates by UK President Eli Capilouto to represent the

By Kristie Colon

The University of Kentucky’s Igniting Research Collaborations (IRC) grant program has awarded nearly $300,000 in pilot grants to support cross-college interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

IRC seeks to increase interdisciplinary scientific engagement and leverage the breadth of expertise across campus to tackle important health problems in the Commonwealth. UK is one of eight universities in the nation with the full range of undergraduate, graduate, professional, medical and agricultural programs on one campus, which creates distinct opportunities for collaborative research. 

"Programs like the IRC give us the opportunity to drive discovery and find creative solutions to complex problems in Kentucky," said Linda Dwoskin, associate dean of research at the UK College of Pharmacy. "Ultimately, we’re transforming patient-centered care by

A team of researchers led by Professor Suzanne Segerstrom of the University of Kentucky Department of Psychology has received a $3.3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to continue its study of healthy aging.

The “Thought, Stress, and Immunity” study has been investigating the interactions between psychological and immunological health among older adults since 2001. Over the next five years, the study will expand to include brain health. 

“Infections and products of the immune system are being recognized as important drivers of brain aging,” Segerstrom said.

“We hope to demonstrate that as the mind and the immune system ‘talk’ to each other, there are consequences for the brain. If that’s true, improving psychological and immunological health could improve brain health and reduce the

By Lori Minter

The University of Kentucky has released its Dean's List for the spring 2017 semester.  A total of 6,412 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance. 

To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes.  Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.

The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting: www.uky.edu/PR/News/DeansList/.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how