News
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
By Guy Spriggs
From early childhood human beings have an understanding of rotational movement: we see tops spin and planets move and gain some comprehension of what rotation is. However, even the most gifted scientists don’t have a complete understanding of how rotation – or spin, a quantum analog – operates at a sub-nucleon level.
After being awarded a highly-competitive grant to perform Advanced Scientific Computer Research (ASCR) from the ASCR Leadership Computer Challenge (ALCC), UK physics professor Keh-Fei Liu and his collaborators (including colleague Terrence Draper, post-docs and students at UK, as well as 2 co-PIs at George
By Zachary Dodson
Research at the University of Kentucky expands well beyond campus, and thanks to Physics & Astronomy professor Gary Ferland we have to measure the distance in light years instead of miles.
Ferland’s research focuses on theoretical atomic & molecular physics and how matter in space produces the light we see. Unlike other scientists, astronomers cannot perform experiments – they can’t reach out and touch another galaxy. But they have an advantage – a time machine – they can look into the past by observing galaxies far from the Earth. It’s a science driven by observation and analysis. For this reason, Ferland and his colleagues are experts in remote sensing.
“We take the light that we can receive here on Earth and figure out
by Kathy Johnson
(July 21, 2014) — A portion of Rose Street closes today in connection with construction of the new $112 million Academic Science Building that will transform the way students, faculty and staff learn, teach and conduct research on the University of Kentucky campus.
To move forward on this critical facility, demolition of old buildings and the ensuing construction on Rose Street will result in the need for closure of a portion of Rose Street between Huguelet Drive and Funkhouser Drive, and the section of Rose Street from Columbia Avenue to Funkhouser Drive will be restricted to local traffic only. Traffic will be detoured around the construction area using the streets of Columbia Avenue, Woodland Avenue, Hilltop Avenue, University Drive and Huguelet Drive.
Meawhile, the portion of Washington Avenue from South Limestone to Gladstone Avenue
by Jenny Wells
(July 8, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Honors Program has selected nine incoming freshmen as recipients of the T.W. Lewis Scholarship. Representing Fayette County and a select group of Appalachian counties in Kentucky, these "Lewis Scholars" will serve as the first cohort of Honors students to receive the prestigious scholarship.
While T.W. Lewis has offered a scholarship program in his name and his mother's, Ruth Jones Lewis, since 2006, this year marks the implementation of the new Lewis Scholars program, housed in UK Honors. This January, the UK Board of Trustees accepted a pledge of $1 million from the T.W. Lewis Foundation to create and endow the fund.
"Mr. Lewis' generous endowment
by Whitney Hale
(June 10, 2014) — University of Kentucky juniors Matthew Fahrbach, of Louisville, Ky., and Samuel Saarinen, of Shelbyville, Ky., have been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship worth up to $7,500 per year. Fahrbach and Saarinen are among 283 students nationwide awarded the Goldwater Scholarship this year. This year's Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,166 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was authorized by Congress to honor the former Arizona U.S. senator who served the nation for 30 years. The scholarship program was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to
by Keith Hautala
(June 3, 2014) — The University of Kentucky has been awarded a $1.9 million grant to improve retention of students in the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and mathematics, through a collection of initiatives dubbed "STEMCats."
UK is one of 37 research institutions selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to receive an award, from among 170 institutions competing for a share of $60 million in total funding. The five-year awards, ranging from $1.2 to $2.4 million, are intended to enable schools to focus on "significant and sustained improvement in retaining students" in the STEM disciplines.
Although the need for STEM graduates is growing nationally, fewer than half of all students who enter college with the intention of majoring in
by Whitney Hale
(April 22, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Office of External Scholarships announces Samuel Saarinen, of Shelbyville, Ky., has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship worth up to $7,500 per year. Saarinen is one of 283 students nationwide awarded the Goldwater Scholarship this year. This year's Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,166 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was authorized by Congress to honor the former Arizona U.S. senator who served the nation for 30 years. The
by Keith Hautala
(April 17, 2014) — Physicist Juan Maldacena of the Institute for Advanced Study will visit the University of Kentucky Friday and will deliver the 2014 van Winter Memorial Lecture in Mathematical Physics.
The lecture, on "Quantum Mechanics and Geometry of Spacetime,” will take place from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Friday, April 18, in Room 155 of the Chemistry-Physics Building.
Maldacena is the leading string theorist of his generation. His 1998 discovery of the AdS/CFT correspondence set off a revolution in string theory and has found applications in many areas of physics and mathematics.
His work since then has included groundbreaking discoveries in theoretical particle physics, cosmology, and quantum gravity. He was awarded
by Gail Hairston
(April 14, 2014) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, as the principal investigator, will lead a multi-million-dollar initiative with Kentucky and West Virginia universities to increase underrepresented undergraduates studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The five-year, $2.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant establishes the Kentucky-West Virginia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (KY-WV LSAMP) in the STEM disciplines. Coordinated by the UK Office for Institutional Diversity and UK’s co-PI and engineering Associate Professor Johné Parker, the alliance of nine institutions of higher learning includes UK, University of Louisville, West Virginia University, Western Kentucky University, Centre College, Marshall University, Kentucky State University, West Virginia
by Whitney Hale
Feb. 10, 2014 — Celebrated chemist, novelist and playwright Carl Djerassi comes to the Bluegrass this week. Known for his work in organic chemistry and as a father of insect and human birth control, Djerassi will take part in several events being held Feb. 13-15, at the University of Kentucky.
During his visit to the Bluegrass, Djerassi will participate in three events. He will first serve as the featured speaker at a luncheon for business and academic leaders. The talk, "Academic Entrepreneurship: Facts through Fiction," will feature his perspective on academic-business relationships in science and technology and will be followed by a question and answer session. The luncheon is Feb. 13, at the Hilary J. Boone Center.
by Whitney Hale
(Jan. 28, 2014) — Renowned chemist, novelist and playwright Carl Djerassi, known for his work in organic chemistry and as a father of insect and human birth control, will take part in several events being held Feb. 13-15, at the University of Kentucky.
During his visit to the Bluegrass, Djerassi will participate in three events. He will first serve as the featured speaker at a luncheon for business and academic leaders. The talk, "Academic Entrepreneurship: Facts through Fiction," will feature his perspective on academic-business relationships in science and technology and will be followed by a question and answer session. The luncheon will begin at noon Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Hilary J. Boone Center. Cost for the luncheon is $
(Dec. 20, 2013) — Susan Gardner, professor of physics at the University of Kentucky, has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society, the nation's preeminent organization of physicists.
Selection as a fellow of the APS demonstrates exceptional accomplishments and contributions to the field of physics. Less than half of 1 percent of the APS membership receive the honor each year.
Gardner is being honored for her "pioneering work in strongly interacting physics and its interplay with weak decays and for numerous insights into important tests of CP violation and the Standard Model of particle interactions."
Her nomination was supported by her academic peers in the Topical Group for Precision Measurements and
By Guy Spriggs
Experimental work on quasicrystal tilings by UK physics and astronomy professor Lance De Long’s group was recently featured on the cover of “Physical Review Letters.”
De Long says the artificial ferromagnetic quasicrystals at the center of his work were celebrated because such intricate patterns had never been fabricated before.
“It’s all about topology,” he explained. “The fact it’s nickel-iron doesn’t matter in any details. We can do what we want with [the design] within reason. The basic properties of it are determined just by its pattern.”
The artificial quasicrystals De Long’s group produced are composed of a network of sub-micron-scale thin-film segments, taking the shape
by Whitney Hale
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 22, 2013) — In celebration of the University of Kentucky's upcoming sesquicentennial in 2015, the 70th of 150 weekly installments explores the history of observatories on campus.
By December of 1905, the college had purchased a telescope for $1,000 but there were no accommodations for its mounting. It was recommended to the Board of Trustees that to build a suitable observatory building and to cover the cost for proper care of the telescope would cost around $2,000. A request was made to the Board of Trustees that an appropriation in that amount be named. This first campus observatory was located on the northeast corner of what is now McVey Hall.
By 1928 the university campus had grown. The Board of Trustees minutes reflected the
video courtesy of UK Public Relations & Marketing
article by Jenny Wells
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2013) — In addition to research presentations, the 2014 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) will offer numerous volunteer opportunities for the entire campus community when the University of Kentucky hosts the conference April 3-5, 2014. From helping direct traffic, to managing technology, to just helping students find where they need to go, there will be a variety of positions available to students, faculty and staff.
Students will have even more flexibility to get involved, as the University Senate has given permission for faculty to redirect their classes April 3 and 4 so students can attend conference events and presentations.
"This is a bit unusual; it's a new
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
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