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Lisa Lockman, Kristie Law

(Feb. 24, 2016) — Twenty-three women at the University of Kentucky have been nominated for the 2016 Sarah Bennett Holmes Award, and registration is underway now to attend the award ceremony and luncheon 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 10, at the Hilary J. Boone Center. Visit www.uky.edu/womensforum/sbhal.html for more information. The registration deadline is Monday, Feb. 29. Due to the change of venue and the limited space, registrations will be taken on a first come, first served basis.

Coordinated by UK Women's Forum, the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award is granted annually to women working at UK who promote the growth and

By Whitney Harder

(Sept. 9, 2015) — Founding project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, Robert O'Dell, will speak on the University of Kentucky campus Sept. 10.  He is the guest for Sky Talk, a series of astronomy related presentations organized by the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy and the MacAdam Student Observatory.

The presentation, "Traveling Through the Orion Nebula," will take place at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, in Room 139 of the Chemistry-Physics Building.  The program will include a Japanese National Television documentary of O'Dell and his studies of Orion Nebula, followed by a question and answer period with O'Dell.

He

By Whitney Harder

(Aug. 12, 2015) — Sung S. Ambrose Seo, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kentucky, has received the prestigious five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award totaling $672,981.

The CAREER award is given in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of the university.

Funds from the award will allow Seo to investigate iridium oxides and unveil exotic collective phenomena, such as nontrivial topological states that are latent in bulk crystals, but emerge in

By Alicia Gregory, Whitney Harder

(Aug. 10, 2015) — Computer science and the St. Chad Gospels. Physics and Spanish. Math and international studies. The combination of these don't seem to make a lot of sense, but it is these interests that have shaped the undergraduate career of one UK senior.

Stephen Parsons, a computer science and international studies major, with minors in physics, Spanish and mathematics, has thrived in a range of studies during his time at UK.

He has also worked in research that merged the fields of computer science and humanities. Parsons, who is a

By Sarah Schuetze

They conduct lab research and teach classes, but they are neither faculty nor graduate students. Postdoctoral scholars, or postdocs, serve an important role at UK, a research institution. However, they are scattered across various departments and have not always had an opportunity to meet and share their work.

Professor Susan Odom in Chemistry said, “Most postdocs don’t have any kind of formal gatherings that are specifically targeted toward them.“ In 2014, Odom collaborated with Matt Casselman, a postdoc in Chemistry, to organize UK’s Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS). SOPS offers weekly activities like professional development workshops or research presentations.  

On Friday, June

By Jenny Wells

(May 8, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today approved University Research Professorships for 2015-16 for four faculty members. The professorships carry a $40,000 award to support research. Funds for these annual awards are provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Now in its 39th year, the University Research Professors program's purpose is to enhance and encourage scholarly research productivity, to provide an opportunity for concentrated research effort for selected faculty members, and to recognize outstanding research achievement by members of the faculty.

The 2015-16 University Research Professors are:

Lance E. De Long, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, has had

By Whitney Harder

(May 4, 2015) — In the fall of 2014, a group of 235 incoming students became the first class of STEMCats at the University of Kentucky. This week, they are not only wrapping up their first year at UK, but also a semester of original research; an unusual experience for many college freshmen.

The STEMCats living learning program, sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and directed by UK Department of Biology Chair Vincent Cassone, was launched to increase retention of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors at UK.

A key component of the program is an authentic research experience for the freshmen, in addition to pre-fall "

By Gail Hairston, Whitney Harder

(April 22, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will honor its faculty at 4 p.m. today at the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

The recipients of this year's college faculty awards are:

Charles Carlson, psychology, 2015-16 Distinguished Professor. For more information, visit http://uknow.uky.edu/content/carlson-honored-teaching-research-and-service

Beth Guiton, assistant professor of chemistry ‒ Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award

Guiton leads a materials chemistry group in the Center for Advanced Materials, investigates chemistry at the nanometer length scale, working at the intersection between solid

By Kelli Elam, Amy Jones-Timoney, Whitney Harder

(April 17, 2015) — What makes a university thrive as a community and a center for knowledge? At the University of Kentucky, it's the people, and not only the outstanding faculty, staff and students, but the alumni who create and continue a legacy of excellence. This year, the UK Alumni Association is recognizing 23 former UK students — leaders who have impacted the Commonwealth, the nation and the world through their work — with induction into the 2015 Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

This year’s class will be honored tonight, Friday, April 17, at the Hilton Lexington Downtown Hotel,

By Whitney Harder

(April 16, 2015) — Recognizing their outstanding contributions to teaching and scholarship at the University of Kentucky, two UK faculty members were honored with the William B. Sturgill Award and Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize yesterday, Wednesday, April 15, at the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony in the Lexmark Room of the Main Building.

Thomas R. Zentall, professor of psychology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the 2015 William B. Sturgill Award, given each year to a graduate faculty member who has provided outstanding

 

The College of Arts & Sciences is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s College teaching awards, They are Renee Fatemi, physics and astronomy (Outstanding Teaching Award), Moisés Castillo, Hispanic Studies (Outstanding Teaching Award), Charley Carlsonpsychology (Outstanding Teaching Award), Anna Voskresensky,

By Lydia Whitman

(March 12, 2015)   The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 12 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years. Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities.

Gaines Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years,

By Whitney Harder

(Feb. 24, 2015) – Ingrid Daubechies, the first female full professor of mathematics at Princeton and first woman president of the International Mathematical Union, will deliver the 2015 van Winter Memorial Lecture in Mathematical Physics at the University of Kentucky Thursday, Feb. 26.

Her lecture, "The Master's Hand: Can Image Analysis Detect the Hand of the Master?" will take place from 4-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in Room 155 of the Chemistry-Physics Building.

Daubechies, the James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics at Duke University, will describe

by Whitney Harder

(Dec. 18, 2014) — Thirteen University of Kentucky students took home top honors at the Kentucky Academy of Science 100th Annual Meeting in November, where hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students from Kentucky colleges and universities participated in research competitions.

Winners included graduate and undergraduates from the College of Agriculture, Food and EnvironmentCollege of Arts and SciencesGatton College of Business and EconomicsCollege of Health Sciences and College of Public Health.

Graduate oral presentations:

Video by the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments (Vis Center) as part of its "What's Next" series. It can also be viewed at Reveal Research Media.

by Alicia Gregory

(Dec. 4, 2014) — The University of Kentucky is shaping the next generation of scientists and scholars by exposing undergraduates to research early in their academic careers. For T.J. Flynn, of Lexington, research as an undergrad at UK shaped his path — he is currently a Ph.D. pre-candidate at the University of Michigan, with a focus on acoustics and fluid dynamics.

An avid undergraduate researcher, Flynn worked on projects including carbon sequestration using algae at the Center for Applied Energy Research, novel

(Nov. 20, 2014) — As University of Kentucky freshmen settle into life as college students, a new resource on campus has been helping them adjust to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs, known for difficult coursework. Undergraduate instructional assistants (UIAs) within one of the university's newest Living Learning ProgramsSTEMCats, use their past experiences to mentor incoming UK students.

The College of Arts and Sciences recently produced a podcast about the STEMCats community, featuring many STEMCats UIAs explaining what they enjoy about the program and their connections with younger STEM students.

"You get to help them succeed

by Gail Hairston

(Oct. 10, 2014) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame induction and festivities are slated Friday, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the UK Singletary Center for the Arts.

Honorees include:

2014 ALUMNI INDUCTEES

Ethelee Davidson Baxter

Her Honor Ethelee Davidson Baxter was born in Jackson, Kentucky, in 1939 and was raised in Lexington, Kentucky. Baxter graduated from Lafayette High School in 1957 and was inducted into the first class of the Lafayette High School Hall of Fame in 1989. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in English, speech and drama. While at UK, she was a Wildcat cheerleader, president of the Blue Marlins synchronized swimming team, and a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

By Mary Venuto   Big Blue Nation reaches far past Lexington’s city limits. Across the globe, faculty and students of the College of Arts & Sciences are always seeking out new endeavors and fortifying existing relationships overseas.   Alan Fryar in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Program scholarship by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Through its support of education and research, this program promotes collaboration between the U.S. and other countries to address common priorities and concerns. For his project, Fryar is working with professor Lahcen

by Gail Hairston 

(Sept. 30, 2014) — More than an “s” has been added since the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science was created in 1908 with only seven faculty members. In fact there was a College of Arts and Science even before the institution was named the University of Kentucky; the institution was called the State University, Lexington, Kentucky (previously Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky and State College) until 1916.

In those 106 years, several of today’s largest colleges were birthed from the original College of Arts and Science’s former programs, including today’s College of Education, College of Communication and Information, College of Social Work and College of Fine Arts.

The college grew quickly under the inspiration and commitment of President James Patterson, whose statue now graces the plaza next to the

By Robin Roenker   It’s an exciting time to be part of the Physics and Astronomy faculty at UK.   “I think we are in the midst of a pretty steep upward curve, particularly in terms of our research but also in terms of our education,” said the department’s Chair, Sumit Das, a high-energy physicist whose research interests focus on string theory and black hole physics.   As evidence of UK’s increasingly high-profile national reputation, Das points to the unprecedented 70 percent acceptance rate of the department’s top-choice graduate students this spring — 16 of the 22 students accepted will enroll in the fall.    “I think word is getting around that we have an active, engaged Physics and Astronomy faculty performing some of the best work in their prospective fields,” Das