By Jennifer T. Allen

Ashley Cook, a biology alum, received a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series this year for her work on "General Hospital."  

When Ashley Cook graduated with a biology degree from the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, she thought her next step was medical school. Little did she know 16 years later she would receive a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series.  

“I thought I was going to be a doctor. I wanted to have a career that I was interested in and one that would do good in the world,” Cook said. “Med school is very competitive, and I was struggling to get in.”  

While Cook was waitlisted for medical school, she checked in with herself and thought about what it was she wanted to be doing and what would make her happy. “

A Q&A with Michael M. McGlue, professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, and Sebastian Bryson, chair of civil engineering in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, about the $20 million collaborative project to build climate resilience in Kentucky 

By Jennifer T. Allen

Sebastian Bryson, chair of civil engineering in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, and Michael M. McGlue, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences

University of Kentucky faculty are part of a team leading a recently announced five-year Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII Track-1) award from the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.  

The foundation is investing $20 million in advancing

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Bradley Elliott is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Carter Skaggs | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 17, 2024) — Bradley Elliott, Ph.D., lecturer in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

These awards recognize individuals who demonstrate dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 16, 2024) — The Office of the Vice President for Research and the University of Kentucky International Center  have announced the second cohort of UKinSPIRE fellows. 

UKinSPIRE is an internal funding opportunity for UK faculty intended to stimulate research projects in any discipline linking UK faculty and international collaborators and to establish collaborations with new international partner institutions or add greater depth to existing institutional partnerships.

Based on these recommendations, the following UKinSPIRE projects were selected for support, which started July 1: 

By Erin Wickey 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 16, 2024) — The University of Kentucky’s Igniting Research Collaborations program has awarded nearly $600,000 in pilot grants to support cross-college interdisciplinary research.

The goals of IRC include increasing interdisciplinary scientific engagement and leveraging the breadth of UK expertise to tackle problems in the Commonwealth.

Among the pilot grants are: 

By Jennifer Sciantarelli and Tom Musgrave 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 12, 2024) — University of Kentucky archaeologist Paolo Visonà, Ph.D., an adjunct associate professor in the University of Kentucky’s School of Art and Visual Studies (SA/VS), announced a major archaeological discovery in Calabria, Italy.

Visonà and his team discovered Spartacus’ first battlefield and Roman fortification systems built by Crassus to blockade Spartacus’ army.

Through fieldwalking and geophysical and remote sensing techniques, Visonà’s team followed the Roman lines for more than 1.6 miles in a dense forest and

By Amanda Nelson 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 10, 2024) — University of Kentucky Summer STEM Experiences Camps show what is possible when the university, local schools and community come together to bring STEM to life for youth. 

“UK stands out as one of the rare universities in the country that combines a land-grant mission, a medical center and various academic departments all within one continuous campus," said Margaret Mohr-Schroeder, Ph.D., professor of STEM education, STEM Experiences Camps co-founder and UK College of Education senior associate dean for academic programs and partnerships. "This setup offers an excellent environment to introduce campers to a wide range of specialty areas.” 

For faculty member

By Richard LeComte 

Alyson Ackerman

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Alyson Ackerman’s success as a doctoral candidate in chemistry at the University of Kentucky is attributable directly to St. Nick.  

“I don't know exactly what got me interested into chemistry, but I do know that I've always been into it,” said Ackerman, who grew up in Lexington, earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UK in 2018 and now is a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. “I did get a microscope for Christmas when I was 11. That was my big Santa gift. I played with my microscope a lot growing up to identify contents of the nearby creek.” 

As an undergrad in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences, Ackerman was a Patterson Scholar  and earned department honors in chemistry as well as the Nancy J. Stafford Award. After spending four years as a quality

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Daria Goncharova, a May 2024 doctoral graduate and former UK teaching assistant, has received numerous awards for her student-centered inclusive pedagogies. Carter Skaggs | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 3, 2024) — Daria Goncharova, Ph.D., a May 2024 doctoral graduate from the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of nine people to receive an University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Award.

The awards recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s 

LEXINGTON Ky. -- Bethany Abebe, a political science and international studies major in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences, participated in the Meridian-Cox Foreign Service Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Washington, D.C., in June. She was one of 20 students chosen for the program. 

The Meridian-Cox Foreign Service Fellowship for Emerging Leaders is a fully paid enrichment and training program seeking to expand awareness and access to U.S. Foreign Service careers to students from underrepresented communities. 

A partnership among Meridian International Center, the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and Community Colleges for International Development, the Foreign Service Fellowship provides undergraduate students with insight into American diplomacy while underscoring educational, internship and career paths within the U.S. Foreign

By Jennifer T. Allen 

Julia Bursten, Rebekah Duke-Crockett, and Chad Risko

When Rebekah Duke-Crockett, a first-year Ph.D. student in chemistry, took Julia Bursten’s Philosophy of Science graduate seminar, she began thinking about the wealth of insights philosophy has for chemists. The questions brought up eventually led to a collaboration between Duke-Crockett, philosophy professor Bursten, philosophy Ph.D. alum Ryan McCoy, and chemistry professor Chad Risko.  

That collaboration culminated in a recently published article in the Journal of American Chemical Society: “Promises and Perils of Big Data: Philosophical Constraints on Chemical Ontologies.” 

“Philosophers of science spend a lot of time thinking about problems and questions relevant for chemistry but, unfortunately,

By Neale Benjamin 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 28, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Advising Network recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Ken Freedman Awards during the Ken Freedman Day of Recognition awards ceremony.

This year’s professional adviser award went to Phyllis Nally from the College of Arts and Sciences. Nally serves as a senior adviser in the College of Arts and Sciences, primarily working with pre-health students. 

Each year, the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award is presented by the UK Advising Network to one full-time professional adviser and one faculty adviser for outstanding service. Ken Freedman, the award’s namesake, was one of the founders of the UK

By Lindsey Piercy

As one of the first Black undergraduate students to graduate from UK in 1958, Doris Wilkinson helped uniquely define and shape the history of the university.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 25, 2024) — Doris Yvonne Wilkinson, Ph.D., a Lexington native and one of the University of Kentucky’s first undergraduate African American graduates, died at the age of 88.

Today, UK celebrates Wilkinson’s inspiring legacy and honors her memory by recognizing the virtues and values that distinguished her life, which also speak to the community UK aspires to be.  

A nationally honored professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, Wilkinson’s influence spans beyond the boundaries of UK’s campus and beyond the borders of the Commonwealth.

As

By Jesi Jones-Bowman 

Aperture is edited and produced by an undergraduate student editorial board of peer editors. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 21, 2024) — Undergraduate students at the University of Kentucky who participate in research under the guidance of faculty mentors have the opportunity to publish the outcomes of their work and collaborative experiences. The first edition of Aperture Journal of Undergraduate Research launched June 1, highlighting seven student-professor partnerships.

Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the open-access, peer- and expert-reviewed journal, which will be published annually, aims to showcase

By Jonathan Greene

McKenna Green

University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences psychology and College of Public Health public health dual major McKenna Green is one of 14 UK undergraduates selected for the 2024 Commonwealth Undergraduate Research Experience Fellowship program. 

The fellowship will support McKenna as she works on research related to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

Sponsored by the UK Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of the Vice President for Research, the CURE Fellowship program empowers undergraduates to develop new knowledge and skills through research within eight of UK’s Research Priority Areas: cancer, cardiovascular health, diabetes and obesity, energy, equity (UNITE), materials science, neuroscience, and substance use disorder.

Students selected as CURE Fellows receive a $5,000 stipend

By Tom Musgrave 

Lexington Freedom Train organizers plan to unveil this monument (concept at left) to Lexington abolitionists Lewis and Harriet Hayden in mid 2025. Photos provided.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 18, 2024) — A proposed monument honoring a Kentucky couple who escaped enslavement and later became a force in the abolition movement has University of Kentucky connections. 

Four people with ties to UK are involved in the Lexington Freedom Train monument effort: 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 13, 2024) — In March, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association honored six recipients with this year’s Great Teacher Awards.

Launched in 1961, they are the longest-running UK awards recognizing accomplished and passionate educators.

In order to receive the honor, teachers must first be nominated by a student. The UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Committee, in cooperation with the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa, then makes the final selection. Recipients receive a commemorative award and stipend.

Zada Komara, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the Lewis Honors College and an affiliate

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Lukas Bullock

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 12, 2024) — Lukas Bullock, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies (GWS) in the College of Arts and Sciences, received one of the the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected through nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the 

By Lindsay Travis 

UKNow is highlighting the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 University Research Professors. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1976, the professorship program recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research at UK and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research.  

Haralambos Symeonidis

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 11, 2024) —  Haralambos Symeonidis, Ph.D., the John E. Keller Endowed Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Hispanic Studies in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, has been honored as a 2024-25 University Research Professor.

Symeonidis joined UK in 2007. His research focuses on the

Emmanuel Asante, Refah Tamanna, Jessica Nwafor, Nuwan Herath and Brittany Thomas.

On May 1, Anthropology Ph.D. students Emmanuel Asante, Nuwan Herath, Jessica Nwafor, Brittany Thomas and Refah Tamanna received Unite Predoctoral Research Enhancement Awards. The UNITE Predoctoral Research Enhancement Program provides benefits to graduate students interested in an academic career, including a $10,000 stipend, mentorship from UK professors, and research career development activities.