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By Richard LeComte 

Maddie Duff

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Maddie Duff is reaching out to her fellow Appalachians through a University of Kentucky research initiative called SPARK, or Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky.  

Duff, a junior neuroscience major in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences, conducts research through SPARK, the Appalachian Career Training in Oncology and the John Calhoun Wells Eastern Kentucky Scholars Fund. Each of these programs encourage and assist students with giving back inside their communities. For example, Duff conducts phone surveys of people with hearing issues.

“A lot of the participants I've dealt with just want to be heard,” said Duff, who’s from Prestonburg, Ky. “They want somebody to understand the struggles that they go through as a patient who has all these conditions Also, they have to

By Richard LeComte  

Dorian Hairston

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- For baseball fans, the game can be poetry in motion: Athletes swing, catch, run, slide and throw with both power and grace. Thus it’s natural that Dorian Hairston, a former University of Kentucky baseball player, English major and writer, would use poetry to chronicle the life of one of the sport’s greatest players. 

In the book, “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow,” Hairston collects a series of provocative poems about Josh Gibson (1911-1947), the legendary Negro Leagues player who hit more than 800 home runs and was compared favorably to Babe Ruth. Because of segregation, Gibson never got to play in the majors, and he died just before Jackie Robinson joined

 

By Kody Kiser and Kayla Gales 

George Wright, a UK alum and senior adviser to UK President Capilouto, reflects on Lyman T. Johnson's 1949 court victory, and the impact it's had on his personal UK experience, as well as on the cultural life of the university. Pete Comparoni | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 15, 2024) — This year marks the 75th anniversary of Lyman T. Johnson’s historic legal triumph against the University of Kentucky, a milestone that marked him as the first Black student to integrate the university.

A lifelong champion of education and its transformative potential, Johnson was an advocate for equality in both education and broader society, drawing inspiration from his experiences as both a student and a teacher.

By Lindsay Travis 

Marcelo Guzman leads a visit of University of Kentucky National Science Foundation Research Traineeship students at the AppHarvest high-tech indoor farms in Morehead.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 13, 2024) — Chemists at the University of Kentucky are researching how changes in the atmosphere’s composition may play a role in forming air pollution.

The study was recently featured on the cover of the journal American Chemical Society  Environmental Science & Technology Air, which focuses on investigations of air chemistry and physics, air pollution and climate change that impact human and ecosystem health.

Marcelo Guzman, Ph.D., associate professor in the

By Daniel Flener 

Ahmad Khalid Wardak

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 15, 2023) In August 2021, as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, many students in the country found themselves in limbo — unsure of whether or how to continue their education. As they searched for answers, and many fled their home country, the launch of the Kentucky Innovative Scholarship Pilot Project provided hope, and the University of Kentucky mobilized to provide a home away from home.

The program, funded by a $10 million appropriation by the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly, allows colleges and universities to provide scholarships up to the total cost of attendance for displaced students. One of those students who came to the University

By Jackie Wilson 

Crystal Wilkinson

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 30, 2023)  University Press of Kentucky announces the publishing imprint Screen Door Press, which will be edited by Crystal Wilkinson, professor of English in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences. 

Dedicated to discovering exceptional, and varied voices within Black literary traditions, the imprint will include short stories, novellas and novels across a broad range of categories. The goal of Screen Door Press is to publish thought-provoking books that feature relatable characters, strong narratives and beautiful language to champion

By Richard LeComte 

Lilly Bauer

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- To get a National Institutes of Health research internship, college students need to look through a website and find an investigator to take them on. University of Kentucky junior Lilly Bauer did just that — she spent the summer of 2023 working in the lab of Carole Bewley in Maryland.  

"I've always heard of the National Institutes of Health, and I know it’s a very. big deal in the science community," said Bauer, a junior biology major in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. “The cool thing I liked about the NIH internship is that you reach out to the principal investigators yourself. You’re on your own to get accepted. I am really interested in microbiology, so I looked under microbiology and just was

By Richard LeComte 

Tyler Patton

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tyler Patton exemplifies persistence: As a first-generation college student, he has weathered family and personal trauma, dropping out of college, a two-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps and financial obstacles on the way to a University of Kentucky bachelor’s degree in English and perhaps on to law school.  

Now he’s poised to graduate in May and head off to law school. He credits one faculty member in particular — Michelle Sizemore, associate professor of English — as someone who came through when he needed help, guiding him toward the College of Arts and Sciences’ Finish Line Fund

“I have a class with Dr. Sizemore called Reading Dangerously, and she's been very helpful to me,” said Patton, who’s from Lexington and graduated from Henry Clay

By Rebekah Frazier 

Large landslide mitigation project members visit near Kandy, Sri Lanka. They are Gina Belair, left (USGS), Corina Cerovski-Darriau (USGS), Laksiri Indrathilaka (NBRO), Matt Crawford (KGS) and Mahesh Somaratne (NRBO).<br>

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 20, 2023) — Geologist Matt Crawford, a landslide researcher at the Kentucky Geological Survey and recipent of a doctorate in geological sciences from the University of Kentucky, took discoveries from Kentucky landslides to international collaborators in Sri Lanka last month.  

Crawford was part of the U.S. Geological Survey Landslide Disaster Assistance Team, which included

By Sarah Geegan and Amy Jones-Timoney 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 15, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Office of the Provost has funded eight transformative projects, supporting an inaugural cohort of IMPACT Award recipients.  

Among the projects is the UK Hub for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The proposed project will transform the educational and research capacity of AI/ML work at UK by building a centralized hub connecting AI/ML method consumers, users, and developers.

 The UK Hub for AI/ML will position UK researchers well for transdisciplinary work, stemming from a leadership team of experts

By Jenny Wells-Hosley and Lauren Parsons 

Representatives from the Digital Access Project celebrated the completion of the first milestone of the project at an event at the Old Fayette County Courthouse in Lexington on Nov. 14. Photo by Honeysage Photo Co.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 15, 2023) — More than 77,000 physical pages of Fayette County’s historical records, spanning from the late 1700s through 1865, are now digitized and publicly accessible online, thanks to a project led by University of Kentucky scholars, students and community partners. The project aims to help families and researchers piece together information and previously unknown stories

By Jackie Wilson

Frank X Walker

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 14, 2023) — "A Is for Affrilachia" by artist, writer, poet and University of Kentucky professor Frank X Walker is the grand prize winner of the 2023 Black Authors Matter Children’s Book Awards. Illustrated by Ron Davis (upfromsumdirt), "A Is for Affrilachia" was chosen for best overall book and content and also selected as the best book in the educational category.

The Black Authors Matter Children’s Book Awards were established to honor excellence in African American literature. A panel of authors evaluated more than 150 entries. In addition to the grand prize, submissions were considered

By Richard LeComte 

Jennifer Cramer

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jennifer Cramer, professor of linguistics in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences, is participating in the nationwide 2023-24 Weekend HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) Leadership Institute for emerging leaders in higher education. She is among 63 higher education leaders chosen for the program. 

The HERS Leadership Institute is designed for faculty and staff who generally hold mid- to senior-level positions in higher education.  

Participants represent a range of racial and ethnic groups, gender identities, nationalities, veteran and disability statuses, religious affiliations, ages and years of experience in higher education, thereby broadening the range of perspectives and insights brought to each session. 

 "The goal of

By Ann Blackford 

Jim Embry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 9, 2023) — University of Kentucky alumnus Jim Embry, known as a civil rights activist, eco-activist farmer, social justice advocate and public speaker, was awarded the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award earlier this year in Chicago.

The James Beard Foundation Awards recognizes leaders in America’s food culture that exemplify the James Beard Foundation’s core value of championing a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity and sustainability. An

By Lindsey Piercy 

Hannah Pittard

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 9, 2023) For her intimate memoir, “We Are Too Many,” Hannah Pittard, English professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, is a Southern Book Prize finalist.

Designed to honor great Southern voices, the Southern Book Prize is awarded by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) to books published in 2023 that are Southern in nature — either set in the South, written by a Southern author or both.

Additionally, the 18 finalists received enthusiastic reviews from booksellers.

Now through Feb. 1,

By Lindsay Travis 

Hena Kachroo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 3, 2023) — From bettering life here on Earth to exploring what living off this planet could be like, Beckman Scholars at the University of Kentucky are advancing their branches of science through the prestigious program. 

The UK Beckman Scholars Program is named Scholars United by Chemistry: Cultivating Excellence through Science Stewardship. The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation funds 15 months of mentored research for two UK undergraduate students in chemistry, biological sciences and associated interdisciplinary combinations.

SUCCESS is an extensive multidisciplinary program that revolves around chemistry as the core science

By Richard LeComte 

Gurney Norman

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Gurneyfest, a two-day celebration of Gurney Norman, the acclaimed Appalachian writer and professor emeritus of English at the University of Kentucky, will be Nov. 17 and 18 on the UK campus. 

Events will include a musical performance, a master class, panel discussions and readings of Gurney’s work. Events are free, but registration is required; attendees can go to this website to register. 

Among the events are: 

A screening of a new documentary by Sean Anderson at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 17 at the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, in the Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library.  

A musical performance by. Appalachian cultural worker

By Richard LeComte 

Akiko Takenaka

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- After years of military rule and devastating war, women in Japan led the effort in promoting peace. During the Cold War, peace activism was considered a communist activity, but the women’s identities as mothers enabled them to avoid the label. The struggle of these women fascinates Akiko Takenaka so much that she wrote a book about it. 

“They said, ‘We are mothers, we produce lives, and therefore we are the protectors of lives. We care about children the most, and we must protect our children,’” said Takenaka, associate professor of history at the University of Kentucky and inaugural director of the Global Asias Program.  

Takenaka’s book, “Mothers Against War: Gender, Motherhood, and Peace Activism in Postwar Japan,” is due out in 2024 from the University of

Norina Samuels

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 26, 2023) — Growing up in Winder, Georgia, a historic suburb northeast of Atlanta, Norina Samuels discovered that the quality time she spent with her family differed from that of her peers. While others reveled in exhilarating amusement parks and lavish beach getaways, Samuels' single mother, Karen, defied convention as she loaded Samuels and her brother into the family car and visited cemeteries.

“All my classmates asked, ‘Where did you go for Spring Break?’” Samuels said. “They all went to Myrtle Beach, and I answered, ‘I was looking up dead people.’ That’s what my mom enjoyed — she was really interested in genealogy. We spent a lot of our off-school time just traipsing along to the graveyards, so I got into looking at the headstones and all that stuff.”

By visiting cemeteries scattered through Tennessee and

By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 9, 2023)  How important is word of mouth when understanding climate change?

A new project, led by the Kentucky Climate Consortium research team at the University of Kentucky, is proving that oral histories can provide an intimate view of our shifting world.

The consoritium acts as a catalyst for climate research and education across the Commonwealth by providing networking opportunities for Kentucky-based climate scholars.

Through her work with the consortium, Lauren Cagle, associate professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies and director of