Contact: Ralph Derickson

Another gift of $100,000 and a pledge of $400,000 from the Amerman Family Foundation of Santa Ysabel, Calif., will be used to create and endow the Amerman Family Equine Research Endowment in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Veterinary Science. Mrs. Jerry Amerman is a member of the UK Gluck Equine Research Foundation board of directors.

Mrs. Jerry Amerman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 9, 2003) -- The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today authorized the UK administration to negotiate the purchase of a 390-plus-acre farm in southern Harrison County that contains one of the best remnants of pre-settlement savanna-woodland in the Bluegrass.

The board set a purchase price not to exceed $1,120,000 for the acreage known as the Silver Lake Farm located on U.S. Highway 62 and Kentucky Highway 353. Wooded areas on the property contain a variety of mature trees, many of them 150 to 300 years old, including ancient chinquapin oaks, bur oaks, blue ashes, shagbark and shagbark hickory.

The purchase funds were authorized in a grant to the UK Research Foundation from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Board, a funding agency established by state law for acquiring and maintaining certain natural areas.

In other action, the board accepted several gifts to UK, including a $10,000 gift and a pledge of $25,000 from Louise Shouse of Lexington and a pledge of $15,000 from the Lexington Opera Society to establish and endow the Lexington Opera Society Community Endowment for Vocal Studies in the College of Fine Arts.

The gift will fund visits by vocal artists and teachers for master classes, Metropolitan Opera auditions, vocal workshops recitals, and other related opera programs.

Another gift of $100,000 and a pledge of $400,000 from the Amerman Family Foundation of Santa Ysabel, Calif., will be used to create and endow the Amerman Family Equine Research Endowment in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Veterinary Science. Mrs. Jerry Amerman is a member of the UK Gluck Equine Research Foundation board of directors.

Billy B. Wilcoxson, chair of the board’s Investment Committee, told board members that the committee had voted to enter into agreements with the venture capital companies of Fort Washington of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Vital Venture Capital of Louisville to invest $2.5 million of the UK endowment. The committee agreed to place $2 million in venture capital with Fort Washington and $500,000 with Vital Venture.

Wilcoxson also reported to the board that UK’s endowment grew by $17.3 million from June 30 to Sept. 30, 2003, for a total endowment of $441.9 million.