1.         Record Number of Freshmen Arrive for UK’s 2002-2003 Academic Year

A record freshmen class, numbering 3,722, converged on the University of Kentucky campus in late August as the 2002-2003 academic year got under way.  The students were greeted by President Lee T. Todd Jr. and Patsy Todd as they moved into student housing and were exposed to the broad variety of campus social opportunities in a week-long “Kentucky Welcome” event.  The freshman class includes 272 Governor’s Scholars and Governor’s School for the Arts alums, 148 high school valedictorians, 51 National Merit Scholars, one National Achievement Scholar and one National Hispanic Scholar.  Total enrollment – also a record – is 34,182 students, which includes 8,291 students at Lexington Community College.

2.         UK Research Supercomputer Ranks Eighth Among American Universities

UK’s supercomputing capacity currently ranks eighth among American public and private universities, thanks to a supercomputer now assisting researchers on and off campus.  The Hewlett-Packard Superdome supercomputer handles 700 billion calculations per second, enabling researchers to obtain results more quickly.  Research areas that are benefiting from the supercomputer include biochemistry, pharmacy, medicine, mechanical engineering, and physics and astronomy.

3.         Officials Dedicate College of Engineering’s Ralph Anderson Building

The Ralph G. Anderson Building was dedicated earlier this month as the latest element in the plan to provide world-class facilities for students in the UK College of Engineering.  The $24.77 million facility offers laboratory space for undergraduate education and graduate research, teaching facilities, a student career/resource center, conference rooms, computing laboratories, and a student commons area.  The 114,800-square-foot, four-story complex is also the new home for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Office of the Dean, Student Support Services and the Office of Advancement.  The location of the building is designed to re-create an engineering quadrangle featuring the Joseph G. and Suzanne W. Teague Atrium and Courtyard and the Oliver H. and Anne Raymond Student Commons.

4.         Economic Impact of UK Research Rises 32 Percent to $432.5 Million

The UK Center for Business and Economic Research reports research grants and contracts from out-of-state sources resulted in a $432.5 million contribution to Kentucky’s economy, up 32 percent from $327.7 million during the same period last year. This total includes $138.6 million in personal income and 7,636 jobs, 5,759 of which are directly related to research.

5.         UK, U of L Researchers Collaborate on New Alzheimer’s Disease Study

In a joint project, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville researchers have used innovative scientific technology to identify oxidized proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease.  The findings may provide insight into better ways to detect and treat this devastating disease.  Allan Butterfield, Chemistry, and Alessandra Castegna, graduate student in Chemistry, have been working with Jon Klein of U of L’s Proteomics Center on the project, funded by the National Institute on Aging.  The results of the study have been published in Free Radical Biology & Medicine.

6.         College of Engineering Dedicates Haas Technical Center

The UK College of Engineering dedicated the new Haas Technical Center in the Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems in mid-August.  The center, dedicated to education, research and extension to improve machining and manufacturing processes, is the first in Kentucky and houses some $500,000 worth of equipment donated by Haas Automation Inc. of Oxnard, Calif.  The equipment is used to produce parts and components for cars, airplanes, dishwashers and other items.  Haas is the largest U.S. machine tools producer. 

7.         Officials Announce Route for Proposed Newtown Pike-UK Connector

The route for a proposed Newtown Pike extension through to South Broadway and UK was announced Sept. 5 by state, city and UK officials.  The extension would reach the UK campus in two places – at the Avenue of Champions (Euclid Avenue) and at Administration Drive.  Officials signed a set of guiding principles to direct the project, requiring that the project must improve downtown traffic patterns and access to UK and south Lexington.  The extension also must address the needs of current Davistown, Irishtown and Pralltown residents, particularly in the creation of affordable housing.

8.         Plant Converts Coal Gasification Material Into Useful Byproducts

A $1.9 million first-of-its-kind gasification residue processing plant designed by CHARAH Environmental of Madisonville and the UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) has been operating in central Florida since the winter of 2001.  By January 2003, the plant will have converted 200,000 tons of waste material, known as “char” and which would have gone into landfills, into useful byproducts.  The project’s success has led to a CAER project to assess the use of recovered carbon from pulverized coal combustion and power plants as potentially marketable value-added carbon materials.

9.         Dentistry Researcher Leads Multi-institutional Periodontal Disease Study

Jeffrey Ebersole, director of the Center for Oral Health Research at the UK College of Dentistry, is principal investigator for a $3.3 million, multi-institutional study in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and The Forsyth Institute in Boston. The study, which uses baboons to see if expectant mothers with periodontal disease have an increased chance of giving birth to pre-term, low birth-weight babies, is being conducted with a five-year National Institutes of Health grant, the largest research grant in the college’s history. 

10.        Kentucky Geological Survey Releases Bluegrass Map, Displays State Maps

The Kentucky Geological Survey recently published the “Geologic Map of the Lexington 30 x 60 Minute Quadrangle, Central Kentucky.”  The geologic map includes Lexington, Cynthiana, Versailles, Lawrenceburg, Frankfort, Georgetown, Midway, Monterey, Millersburg and Paris.  The Lexington quadrangle map was digitally compiled from 32 separate 1:24,000-scale quadrangle maps and covers an area of approximately 31 miles by 54 miles.  Meanwhile, an updated map of the physiographic regions of Kentucky was used in an interactive, educational exhibit at the Kentucky State Fair in August.  The 32-foot-long, 16-foot-wide floor map was designed to be walked on and was perhaps the most popular feature in the educational exhibit.  More than 300,000 school children, adults and families viewed the exhibit and map.

11.        New Investigational Treatment for Acid Reflux Being Tested at UK 

A new investigational endoscopy procedure performed by a UK physician for the first time in the state last month could be the future answer to gastroesophageal reflux disease.  Nicholas J. Nickl, Gastroenterology, uses an endoscope to implant expandable hydrogel prostheses into the wall of a patient's esophagus in a short outpatient procedure.  The prostheses are intended to provide a barrier to acid reflux.  UK is only the third site in the U. S. to participate in the clinical research trial, with fewer than a dozen sites worldwide.

12.        Three Are Inducted Into College of Education Hall of Fame

Three alumni of the UK College of Education were inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame earlier this month.  The three are Janis P. Bellack, vice president for academic affairs and provost at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; Carolyn Reid Bond, a former first lady of Missouri who led a multi-million dollar campaign to restore the Missouri Governor’s mansion in the early 1980s; and Vito “Babe” Parilli, All-American starting quarterback for the Kentucky Wildcats under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant who led the team to victory in the 1950 Sugar Bowl.

13.        Family Practice Faculty Receives $1.5 Million Curriculum Grant

William Elder, Family Practice, has been awarded a five-year, $1,498,000 National Institutes of Health curriculum development grant.  The curriculum will focus on a patient-centered, evidence-based medicine approach to responding to patients' interest and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).  CAM usage is increasing in the U.S., with CAM expenditures currently exceeding outpatient care expenditures.  Improving health care professionals' abilities to appropriately respond to patient CAM usage should produce more efficient care.  The curriculum will be used to teach medical school students, residents, continuing education courses and later, health sciences students.  

14.        Technology Partnership Builds Community and Economy in Mountains

A UK partnership with Harlan-based Data Futures Inc. (DFI) has demonstrated success in using technology to develop efficient, inexpensive and innovative health care programs reaching Kentucky’s low-income and underinsured populations.  Elmer Whitler, Center for Rural Health, worked with DFI to develop software for the Kentucky Homeplace Program’s new hand-held computers to collect patient data and record it accurately and efficiently.  DFI recently received an entrepreneurship award from the Eastern Kentucky University College of Business and Technology.

15.        ‘Scramble for Skeeter’ Features Golf Event for Education Fund

The College of Education sponsored its largest-ever fund-raising event with the Scramble for Skeeter Celebrity-Amateur Golf Event to raise money for the Bernard “Skeeter” Johnson Education Fund.  This event featured a Wildcat Downtown Shootout that basically turned the middle of Lexington into a giant miniature golf park; a celebrity-amateur scramble at Kearney Hills Golf Course; a reception gala; and a celebrity auction.  The event supports a fund named for one of UK's most beloved professors who also served as director of campus recreation for more than 20 years.

16.        UK Starts Search for Permanent Provost; President Names Advisory Panel

University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. recently launched the search for a permanent provost and appointed an advisory committee to assist the national search for candidates.  Todd appointed two co-chairs:  Douglas A. Boyd, College of Communications and Information Studies and associate provost for International Affairs, and Loys Mather, Agriculture.  The advisory committee is comprised of a group of prominent UK faculty and administrators, including Lee Edgerton, Animal Sciences; Kay Hoffman, dean, Social Work; James Holsinger, senior vice president and chancellor of the Medical Center; Thomas Lester, dean, Engineering; Everett McCorvey, Music; Karen Mingst, Political Science; Robert Shay, dean, Fine Arts; Tony Stoeppel,  student representative; Genia Toma, Martin School of Public Administration and Public Policy; Allan Vestal, dean, Law; and Don Witt, Admission and Registrar.

17.        Small Business Center Celebrates 10th Women Mean Business Conference

UK’s Kentucky Small Business Development Center held its 10th annual “Women Mean Business” Conference in late August.  Sessions were conducted on obtaining business certifications, promoting workplace diversity, using emotional intelligence to make wise business decisions, organizing your life and business, designing displays that sell, negotiating skillfully and creating unique businesses.

18.        Significant Activities of Students

Redonna K. Chandler, a recent graduate from the doctoral program in counseling psychology at the College of Education, was recently appointed health scientist administrator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  She serves in epidemiology services and prevention research branch.

Christina Charriez and Tyler DeGraw, Pharmacy, received renewals for second year pre-doctoral fellowships in the pharmaceutical sciences by the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education.

David Feola, Laura Land and Santos Murty, Pharmacy, have been awarded pre-doctoral fellowships in the pharmaceutical sciences by the
American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education.

Tierra Freeman and Deborah Burton, Education doctoral students, were accepted to participate in the Educational Psychology Doctoral Seminar at the American Psychological Association’s annual conference.  UK is the only university to be represented by two students this year.

Paul Naah Yemeh, Education doctoral student, published “The Dagaaba Dirge,” which studies the funeral dirges of the Dagaaba people of Ghana. Adwinsa Publications Ltd. of Ghana published the book.

19.        Significant Faculty and Staff Activities

Lynley Anderman and Eric Anderman, Education, are program chairpersons for educational psychology for the 2003 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Joseph Baber, Music, has been chosen as an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award recipient.  The awards are granted by an independent panel and are based on the value of original compositions and recent performances in areas not surveyed by the Society.  Baber has been an award-winning member of ASCAP since 1971.  He has written more than 200 songs.

Tom Barnes, Forestry, published “Kentucky’s Last Great Preserved Places,” which has been on the local bestseller list for three months.

Fitzgerald Bramwell, Chemistry, was recognized by the Counselor to the U.S. Secretary for Education, U.S. Department of Education, and the assistant director of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources in the National Sciences Foundation (NSF) for his participation in the review of proposals for the first Math and Science Partnership competition held by the Department of Education and the NSF.

Joseph Chappell, Agronomy, received a $116,746 grant from the National Science Foundation to study molecular regulation and transport of sterols in plants.

Jody Clasey, Kinesiology and Health Promotion, was appointed to the steering committee of the Lieutenant Governor’s Task Force on Childhood Nutrition and Fitness.

Glenn Collins, Agronomy, received a $125,000 grant from United Agriproducts Company to study foreign gene introduction into soybean.

Terry Conners, Forestry, was co-awarded a three-year, $1.1 million U.S. Department of Energy grant for implementing strategies for reduction of volatile organic compounds in wood industries.

Alberto Corso, Mathematics, gave an invited presentation in mid-June at the first joint meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Unione Matematica Italiana in Pisa, Italy.  He also gave a talk at the Instituto Superior Tecnico in Lisbon, Portugal in mid-July.

Patrick DeLuca, Pharmacy, has been named the 2002 Kentucky Pharmacist of the Year by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association.

Patricia Dyk, Community and Leadership Development, has received a $167,901 grant from the Kentucky Families and Children Cabinet to study stability of kinship care families-community collaboration for children.

Richard Ehrenborg, Mathematics, gave an invited talk, “Inequalities for Polytopes,” in Melbourne, Australia, at the 14th Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics.  In June he was a Visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Said Ghabrial, Plant Pathology, has been elected a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society. 

Stephen Greb, Kentucky Geological Society, made a presentation at the International Conference on Tidal Dynamics and Environment in Hangzhou, China, on ancient tidal environments in Mississippian strata in Eastern Kentucky.

Tom Guskey, Education, received the Article of the Year Award from the National Staff Development Council for “Does It Make a Difference?  Evaluating Professional Development,” published in the March issue of Educational Leadership.

Larry Harris, Mathematics, was the main invited speaker at the International Conference on Infinite Dimensional Function Theory in Pohang, South Korea, last month.  He spoke on “Fixed Point Theorems for Infinite Dimensional Holomorphic Functions.”

Lenn Harrison, Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center, received a $370,000 grant from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for diagnostic laboratory services for farmers and agribusinesses.

John Hartman, Plant Pathology, was a co-recipient of the American Society for Horticultural Science’s “Outstanding Extension Publication/Outstanding Fact Sheet” award for 2001.

Clair Hicks, Animal Science, received the 2002 Research and Development award from the Institute of Food Technologies in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of food science and technology.  Hicks also received the Kraft Foods Teaching award presented at the American Dairy Science Association meeting in Canada. 

Arthur Hunt, Agronomy, received a continuing $110,000 grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture to research functions of multiple polymerases.

Christopher Matocha, Agronomy, received a $190,000 grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture to research interactions of iron with the nitrogen cycle.

Dana D. Nelson, English, is co-editor of “Materializing Democracy: Toward a Revitalized Cultural Politics,” published by the Duke University Press.

Peter Perry, Mathematics, was a visiting researcher at the Mittag-Leffler Institute in Djursholm, Sweden, last month and gave an invited lecture at the workshop “Spectrum and Geometry” in late August.

Tony Pescatore, Animal Science, was elected first vice president of the national Poultry Science Association.  He will become association president in 2003 at the annual meeting held in Wisconsin.

Stephen Rankin and Barbara Knutson, Chemical and Materials Engineering, and Hans Lehmler, Toxicology, received a $1.1 million, four-year grant from the National Science Foundation through the Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) initiative for their project “NIRT: Tailored Fluorinated Surfactant Templates for the Design of Ordered Nanoporous Ceramics.” 

Margaret Roaddy, Mathematics, was a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota from the end of July to mid-August.  During her visit she gave the talk, “Two Rings in String Theory.”  This summer Roaddy was also a peer reviewer for the National Academies’ Collaboration in Basic Science and Engineering program.

Jeff Stringer, Forestry, received a $173,081 grant from the Kentucky Natural Resources Environmental Protection Cabinet to conduct training and education on best management practices for timber harvesters, forest and natural resources professionals, and timber owners.

Bonnie Tanner, Family and Consumer Science, received a $768,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to implement the Health Education Through Extension Leadership program.

John R. Thelin, Education, is co-author of three chapters in the recently published “Higher Education in the United States: An Encyclopedia.”  The chapters were titled “Important Books About Higher Education,” “Foundations and Higher Education,” and “Greek Life and Higher Education.”

Ron Whitley, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry.