Keith B. MacAdam was born in Rochester, N.Y., attended Swarthmore College and earned a doctorate in Physics in 1971. After research at University of Stirling in Scotland, Yale University, and the University of Arizona, he came to UK as an Assistant Professor in 1977. He built a campus-based research program in experimental atomic-molecular-optical (AMO) physics with students and post-docs, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Research Corporation.