Archive issue
March 5, 2001

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People

Callahan finds great buddies at UK, Lexington horse farm
Five named Great Teachers
Heartful volunteers
Pride and Excellence
A&S's Olson named distinguished prof
People

Callahan finds great buddies at UK, Lexington horse farm

Philly native at home in Kentucky.

She grew up a city girl in a row house in Philadelphia, but Joan Callahan has turned into a true country girl.

After settling into her new job, Callahan began taking riding lessons. She soon bought a 7-year-old quarter horse gelding and named him One Good Buddy. Buddy took up residence at Windy Knoll Farm, where Callahan was training. As luck would have it, that led her to another love, farm owner, manager, horse trainer and riding instructor Jennifer Crossen. They now own the 46-acre farm together, which is home to a herd of roughly 15 working and retired school horses, as many boarding horses, three dogs, five cats, some foundling starlings and a small parrot. The two also have co-parented Crossen's 15-year-old son, David, for more than a dozen years. Crossen works full-time on the farm, and Callahan helps out when and as she is able.

"I was very enthusiastic when I first moved to the farm in 1988. But I learned quickly that too much involvement would be overwhelming," Callahan said. "The demands of a working horse farm are unending, and I've had to settle for pitching in on occasion by building horse jumps, fixing something in one of the barns or comforting a riding student who has lost her confidence."

Callahan's diverse interests also can be found in her work and academic life. She started her first-generation college career as an English major, taking night classes at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. A philosophy class fell into the mix and got her interested in that discipline. After leaving school for a few years to open a bookstore in Cape Cod, she returned to earn her bachelor's degree in philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, in 1976. She moved from Cape Cod to Boston, where, in 1977, she was the first graduate of Simmons College's new master of arts program in the humanities, combining studies of language, literature, philosophy and history. She went on to the University of Maryland, College Park, to complete a master's degree and doctorate in philosophy in five years. It was there that she began to reflect on her position as a woman in a white-male-dominated profession and world which, combined with her interests in ethics and society, led her to feminist scholarship.

Initially focusing largely on biomedical and professional ethics, Callahan entered the teaching arena in 1982 as an instructor of philosophy at Louisiana State University, where she stayed as an assistant professor until 1986, when she decided to come to UK. Now a full professor of philosophy, she became director of UK's Women's Studies Program in 1998. Part of her attraction to the program was its community of affiliated faculty, and a large part of her interest in directing the program was in helping it keep up and strengthen the momentum it had gained, particularly in recent years.

Since its beginnings in the early 1980s, the UK Women's Studies Program has grown from a loose organization of several interested faculty with a few classes to a program with a robust undergraduate minor, topical major and graduate certificate, with more than 40 affiliated faculty from a dozen departments and several colleges.

"The dean of the College of Arts and Sciences has been very supportive of the program. We're moving forward. But there is only so much Arts and Sciences can do to help us move toward the strength of our benchmarks," Callahan said. "For example, we desperately need more faculty who are at least partly assigned to the Women's Studies Program, particularly as we move forward this fall with a free-standing graduate certificate curriculum. On resources like this, we need substantial help from a central administration that is deeply committed not just to addressing issues regarding sex, gender, race, class, region and so on, but also interdisciplinary generally."

Callahan said she is optimistic about the program's future under UK's incoming president Lee Todd, despite faculty concerns about his arts and sciences loyalties.

"I'm confident that Dr. Todd knows he's facing a steep learning curve when it comes to disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs in some of the colleges," she said. "And I'm just as confident that he will take that seriously and do all that he can to ensure that we have a well-rounded university."

No matter what the day's lessons, accomplishments or frustrations, Callahan can look across her desk and smile. One Good Buddy is there looking back at her from a photo and waiting to greet her home on the farm.

"Our farm is a warm, supportive community of riders and their friends and families," she said. "Being there brings into my life a group of wonderful local people I wouldn't get to know otherwise. It's a real joy in my life."

Selena Stevens

Five named Great Teachers

Five University of Kentucky faculty members were honored Feb. 28 during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Great Teachers Awards, presented annually by the UK Alumni Association, in cooperation with student organizations Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board.

The awards, initiated in 1961, are unique on campus in that all nominations must be made by students. UK faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, concern for students and involvement in the academic community are honored as part of the oldest, continuously-running awards ceremony for UK teachers.

The 2001 Great Teachers Awards were presented to:

-- Joseph L. Fink III, professor of pharmacy, has been at UK since 1981. He is also a professor of health administration, a professor of public health and a professor in the Martin School of Public Policy. He is assistant vice president for research and graduate studies, directing the ASTeCC program at UK, and teaches UK 101. He is a 1984 recipient of the Great Teachers Award.

-- William H. Fortune, professor of law, has been at UK since 1969. He joined UK as an assistant professor in the College of Law and was named associate professor in 1974 and professor in 1981. He has served as associate dean and is the chairperson of the UK Senate.

-- Donn E. Hancher, the Terrell-McDowell Chair and professor of construction engineering and management in the College of Engineering, came to UK as chairperson of the Department of Civil Engineering in 1992. He is serving as special assistant to the dean of the college.

-- Gail Mitchell Hoyt, associate professor of economics, has been at UK since 1988. She first joined the Gatton College of Business and Economics as a research assistant.

-- Robert G. Lawson, professor of law, began his teaching career at UK in 1966. He joined the law school as assistant professor and was named associate professor in 1969 and professor in 1973. He has served as dean of the college and as special assistant to the president of the University. He is a 1973 recipient of the Great Teachers Award.

Recipients received $1,000 from the Alumni Association and a plaque.

John Scharfenberger

Heartful volunteers

Todd Byrd
Ten UK teams participated in the recent American Heart Association's Heart Walk 2001 honorary chairpersons Larry and Doreen Ivy. Several walkers and volunteers from the Office of Admission and their family members were participants. Among those are, from left to right are, front row, Crystal Shepherd, Melanie Spencer, Billi West and Margaret Andrus; second row, Abbey Lyle, Pam Bolton, Rob Pierce, Karen Pierce, Kim Chaffer, Phyllis Chaffer and Holli Rickman.

Pride and Excellence

Selena Stevens
Seven University of Kentucky Communications and Network Systems employees were honored recently for their outstanding work and contributions with the office's Pride and Excellence Award. The awards were presented at a banquet held Feb. 14. Left to right are John Travis, Shara Hollan, Larry Bell and Paul Sprester. Not pictured are Charles Stewart, Don Phillips and Matt Defore.

A&S's Olson named distinguished prof

University of Kentucky history professor Robert W. Olson was honored recently as the College of Arts and Science's Distinguished Professor.

Olson earned his doctoral degree from Indiana University and joined UK in 1973 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1977 and in 1986 became full professor.

"Bob Olson is not just a prolific but a remarkably versatile historian. There are very few scholars who, like Bob, can boast of having written books that cover subjects pertaining to three centuries and two empires, and that have been translated into four languages. He is equally at home discussing contemporary Middle Eastern issues or 18th-century Ottoman issues, and his breadth of historical knowledge provides him with a distinctive and valuable perspective from which to analyze current events," said Philip Harling, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of history.

Arts and Sciences is the largest of the colleges on the Lexington Campus, the academic home to 350 faculty and more than a third of the University's students.

Kelley Bozeman

People

Research and funding
-- Patsy Anderson, Kentucky Transportation Center, $125,000, "FHWA/LTAP Technology Transfer to Local Agencies."
-- David Atwood, chemistry, $160,000, "Research Experience for Undergraduates."
-- Leonidas Bachas, chemistry, $160,000, "Research Experience for Undergraduates."
-- Zhi Chen, electrical engineering, $374,879, "CAREER: Fundamental Reliability Physics of MOS Devices Based on Deuterium Isotope."
-- Stephen Gedney and Cai Cheng Lu, electrical engineering, $304,000, Virtual Electromagnetic Testrange ­ Wide Band CEM Techniques Program, "Advanced Electromagnetic Modeling."
-- Ron Harrison, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, $178,794, "ILSSA-VA."
-- Theodore Hopwood, Kentucky Transportation Center," $125,000, "Maintenance Painting of Various Bridge Projects During 2001-2002."
-- Ranu Jung, Graduate Center for Biomedical Engineering, $268,637, "Locomotor Training in a Rodent Model of Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury."
-- Michael Montross, biosystems/agricultural engineering, $200,000, "Optimization of Aeration Systems for Value-Added Crop Preservation."
-- John Stencel, Center for Applied Energy Research, $400,000, "Kentucky Match DOE/EPSCoR Program."
-- Bruce Webb, entomology, $120,000, "Real and Apparent Complexity in Polydnavirus Gnomes."

Publications
-- J. A. Roden and Stephen Gedney, electrical engineering, "Convolutional PML: An Efficient FDTD Implementation of the CFS-PML for Arbitrary Media," Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 27, No. 5, Dec. 5, 2000.
-- G. Liu and Stephen Gedney, electrical engineering, "High-Order Nystr–m Solution of the Volume EFIE for TE-Wave Scattering," Electromagnetics, vol. 21, pp. 1-14, January-February.
-- Stephen Gedney, electrical engineering, "High-Order Method of Moment Solution of the Scattering by Three-Dimensional PEC Bodies using Quadrature Based Point Matching," Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, June 5.
-- Tim Struttmann, Amy Scheerer, Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, "Fatal Injuries Caused by Logs Rolling Off Trucks: Kentucky 1994-1998," Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Appointments
-- Celia Hayhoe, family studies, has been appointed to the United States Trustees/Consumer Educator Working Group on Debtor Education, sponsored by the U.S. Trustees Office, part of the U.S. Department of Justice.
-- Carol Brock, Arts and Sciences, has been invited to join the Board of Governors of the prestigious Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre.

Activities
-- Paula Burdette of the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute's Mid-South Regional Resource Center represented the unity of Kentucky at the Annual Conference of the Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers in the District of Columbia Jan. 22.
-- Kathy Chapman of IHDI's Mid-South Regional Resource Center represented the Kentucky unity at the National Title I Conference 2001 and met with a team of Kentucky educators.
-- Claudia Ernharth, Kentucky Supported Employment Training Project, co-chaired the Association for Persons in Supported Employment conference committee Jan. 12 in Frankfort.
-- Mid-South Regional Resource Center staff members Rich Lewis and Sammie Lambert conducted a symposium in Baltimore for State Education Agency staff from nine states in the Mid-South Region who are dealing with compliant management, hearing officer training and Local Education Agency monitoring issues.
-- Ken Olsen, director of the Mid-South Regional Resource Center, served as a "Critical Friend" on the evaluation team during the third party evaluation site visit to Burlington, Vt., Jan. 16.

Awards
-- Sylvia Daunert, chemistry, received the 2001 Findais Award from the Division of Analytical Chemistry of American Chemical Society.
-- Gladys J. Hildreth, family studies, was recently named a National Council on Family Relations fellow. The award is given in recognition of enduring contributions to the filed of family studies through a career of teaching, scholarship, outreach, professional service and leadership. There are only four other recipients in the United States who have ever received this honor from the council.
-- Thomas Leinbach, geography, received the 2001 Edward Ullman Award sponsored by the Association of American Geographers Transportation Geography Specialty Group for his sustained and high quality contributions to the study of transportation geography.

Presentations
-- Jacqui Kearns, Maria White, Mary Calie and Brent Garrett of the Including Students with Deafblindness in Large Scale Assessments project presented a Feb. 9 workshop on "Improving Academic Results for Students who are Deafblind" for school personnel and parents in Kentucky.
-- Vernon R. Wiehe, Social Work, was the keynote speaker at the Indiana Regional National Social Work Conference in Valparaiso, Ind., on Feb. 23. His presentation focused on the conference theme of the resilience of survivors of family violence.

Housing
-- House for sale: Spacious, gracious townhouse, walk to UK and downtown, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, $199,000. Call Donna at 422-2080, voicemail 294-2281. -- House for sale by owner: 2268 Camberling Dr. in Hartland subdivision. Cul-de-sac, backs to Hartland park. 3.5 years old, 2,340 sq. ft., well maintained. 2 story, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2-car attached garage, central air/heating, formal living room, dining room, family room. 2-story entrance, large hardwood area. Asking $195,900. Call Quinn 257-7511 (day) or 971-1049 (evening and weekend).
-- House for rent: In Versailles, brick, 1 mile from Blue Grass Parkway, south end of town, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, formal living room and dining room, family room, 385-square-foot enclosed porch, corner lot, single garage, double drive. $850 per month plus utilities and one year's lease (renewable), $850 security deposit. Call 268-4112.