Contact Us
Contact Us
Steve Byars
Director of Government Relations
213 Main Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0032
Office: (859) 323-6580
Fax: (859) 257-9065
sbyar2@uky.edu
Britt Pennington
Government Relations Coordinator
213 Main Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0032
Office: (859) 257-6398
Brittany@uky.edu
Stephen R. Byars is the Director of Government Relations for the University of Kentucky, serving in that capacity since February of 2004. Prior to joining the University he was the Vice-President of External Affairs for ALLTEL Corporation, the second largest telephone company in Kentucky. He has experience in government relations, regulatory affairs, media relations, public relations and economic development. Mr. Byars was also employed by Columbia Gas of Kentucky as the Director of External Affairs where he oversaw regulatory and government affairs as well as internal and external communications. Prior to joining Columbia Gas he was the president of Lexington United, the economic development organization for the greater Lexington area.
Mr. Byars has a degree in economics from The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio with a minor in urban studies. He serves on the board of directors of the Urban League of Lexington/Fayette County and is the chair of the Fayette Education Foundation. He is a past president of the Kentucky Industrial Development Council.
Britt Pennington is the Coordinator of Government Relations for the University of Kentucky, serving in that capacity since November of 2008.
Britt graduated from UK with a B.A. in Communications and has a very impressive resume of organizing student activities. She organized programming for Dance Blue, the student-run 24-hour dance marathon that raises money toward child cancer efforts. She was president of the Student Activities Board and a senator in the student government. She also served as a resident assistant and held leadership positions in a variety of other student organizations.