By Ralph Derickson

Honorary doctoral degrees will be bestowed May 5 upon Sister Rosemary Howarth, Wimberly C. Royster and Sanford T. Roach.

March 5, 2002 (Lexington, Ky.) -- The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today approved honorary doctorates for a Catholic nun who was involved in UK's famed "Nun Study," a UK mathematics icon and a popular former high school basketball coach. The degrees will be awarded at UK's commencement May 5.

Sister Rosemary Howarth, the general superior of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, will receive an honorary degree of doctor of letters. Sister Rosemary oversees the work of 4,000 sisters working in 33 countries. Sister Rosemary's work also included involvement in UK's famed "Nun Study" in which 678 sisters underwent extensive examination and review in the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging's research on Alzheimer's disease.

Wimberly C. Royster, whose association with UK began as a graduate student in 1946, served nearly his entire career in mathematics endeavors at UK, rising to professor in 1962 then director of the School of Mathematical Sciences. He became dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1969 and later served as dean of The Graduate School. He became UK's first vice president for Research and Graduate Studies in 1988. Under Royster's leadership, the UK mathematics program became internationally known and was awarded a major Basic Science National Science Foundation development grant in 1968. He will receive an honorary doctor of science.

Sanford T. Roach, who will receive an honorary doctor of humanities, amassed a record 512 wins and only 142 losses as basketball coach at Lexington's old Dunbar high school. He was the first African American appointed to UK's Athletic Association Board of Directors in 1974 and has served continuously on that board since.