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College of Arts and Sciences Inducts Four into Hall of Fame

by Sarah Geegan

The UK College of Arts and Sciences inducted four new members to the A&S Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 19.

The "Celebrate A&S: Alumni and Faculty Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony" took place at the Singletary Center for the Arts. Two faculty members and two alumni joined the ranks of the current 30 alumni and 6 emeritus faculty A&S Hall of Fame members.

The ceremony followed an academic theme; the inductees wore formal academic regalia and received medallions with the UK A&S seal. 

The 2012 Hall of Fame inductees:

Matthew Cutts, current leader of Google’s webspam engineering team.

James C. Duff, previous counselor to US Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and current president and CEO of the Newseum in Washington DC.

Susan Abbott-Jamieson, an Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Anthropology.

Louis Swift, a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

Matt Cutts is a native of Morehead, Kentucky and graduated from UK with degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics in 1995. A Singletary Scholar, Gains Fellow and recipient of the Dean's Scholarship in Arts and Sciences, Cutts also worked for the Department of Defense as part of UK’s co-operative program.

One of the very first 100 Google employees, Matt Cutts is now the head of Google’s webspam engineering team. He wrote the first version of Safesearch, Google’s family filter, and works on improving search results. As a crucial member of the Google team and an avid blogger, Matt Cutts is one of the most public faces of the world’s largest search engine.

Jim Duff graduated magna cum laude from the UK Honors Program in 1975, and holds B.A. degrees in both political science and philosophy. While at UK, Duff earned a Phi Beta Kappa membership and was a “walk on” for the University of Kentucky Men’s basketball team.

From 1996-2000, Duff served as counselor William H. Rehnquist and was appointed as the director of the U.S. court system by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2006, where he oversaw the federal judiciary's 35,000 employees and its $7 billion annual budget. Last year, Duff was named the president and CEO of the Newseum, an interactive museum that educates the public about the importance of the First Amendment in innovative ways to inspire an engaged citizenry.

Susan Abbott-Jamieson joined UK as an assistant professor of anthropology in 1974, became an associate professor in 1980 and served as the chair of the department from 1990-1994. She retired in 1998 and began an applied research and program-development position with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). She served as Lead Social Scientist in the NMFS Office of Science and Technology from 2002-2011.

A fellowship established in her name, the “Susan Abbott-Jamieson Dissertation Research Fund Award” is given annually to graduate students in the Department of Anthropology to support pre-dissertation research. Abbott-Jamieson was also awarded a Bronze medal by the U.S. Department of Commerce for her work on Hurricane Katrina’s damage to the gulf fishing industry. Currently, she is the President of Abbott-Jamieson Consulting, Ltd and works on fisheries anthropology, environmental policy, and the oral history of occupations. 

Lou Swift graduated  from Johns Hopkins in 1963 and joined UK’s faculty as the chair of the newly reformed Department of Classics in 1970. His research interests focus on the study of early Christianity, including the issue of war and peace in late antiquity, and the relationship between religion and politics in America. Though he officially retired in 2001, he continues to teach an undergraduate course on the connection between religion and politics in America.

In addition to his teaching duties at UK, Swift also served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs from 1996-1998, the Dean of Undergraduate Studies from 1990-1999, and the Director of the University Studies Program from 1986-1999. He was also recognized by the National Academic Advisors Association in 1997 with the Pace Setter Award. During his tenure at UK, he was instrumental in forming the Central Advising Office, the Undergraduate Research Program, and the Preparing Future Faculty Program.

"The College of Arts and Sciences is honored to recognize these distinguished and accomplished faculty and alumni," said Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "They exemplify the academic and professional excellence for which the college strives, and showcase the success so many of our students, faculty and alumni achieve."