By Dan Adkins

"There's an economic driver behind House Bill 1 that we've got an obligation to pursue."

-- Lee T. Todd Jr.,
president,
University of Kentucky.

July 30, 2001 – (Lexington, Ky.) – University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. told the state Council on Postsecondary Education today that his administration will emphasize improving UK's national standing while providing leadership aimed at solving many long-standing problems afflicting Kentuckians.

"When the governor and the legislature passed House Bill 1 (in 1997), they were really saying, 'Let's move this state forward," Todd said in brief remarks to the council, which met in UK's William T. Young Library's auditorium. House Bill 1 set in motion many reforms in Kentucky's system of higher education and mandated UK's effort to join the ranks of America's top 20 public universities.

"There's an economic driver behind House Bill 1 that we've got an obligation to pursue," Todd added.

Todd said UK will adopt "a set of analytical measures" generated by outside organizations to evaluate the university's progress toward achieving top 20 status.

He also said his administration will develop a set of "Kentucky measures" designed to address how UK contributes to improving major health-care, education and economic problems besetting the state.

UK "will have to cooperate with other state universities" to be successful in solving those problems, he said.

Todd made his remarks only hours before joining Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton and University of Louisville President John Shumaker for a news conference in Frankfort. Patton announced the state is opening an office in Washington, D.C., to advance the state's federal agenda, including the pursuit of increased education and research funding.